Judge blocks Tenn. Gov's executive order letting students opt out of school mask mandates

The fight on behalf of America’s children to choose whether or not they want to “mask up” in schools across the country is ramping up, most recently in Tennessee as parents and students meet resistance from politicians and Democratic leaders across the country who claim to know better.

On Friday, a federal judge blocked Governor Bill Lee’s (R-TN) executive order allowing students to opt-out of school mask mandates.

U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman’s ruling came after two students who have medical conditions that make them more susceptible to the coronavirus brought a case against the executive order. The ruling was followed by a temporary restraining order against Lee’s executive order.

“Plaintiffs have identified ways that they have been excluded from participating in school programs and activities, including from physical education classes, and socializing with their peers when within the school buildings and at lunch,” the judge wrote in the ruling.

Lipman concluded that the students proved that the order excluded them from activities in school due to “their extreme medical vulnerabilities – in other words, due to their disabilities.”

As a result, the judge claimed that the executive order violated the plaintiffs’ rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The decision also notes that one of the plaintiffs caught coronavirus from another unmasked student at school.

“Defendant Shelby County is ORDERED to enforce its Health Orders without exception for Governor Lee’s Executive Order No. 84,” the ruling mandates.

The fight against mask mandates rages on across the country as parental discretion is sidelined in favor of health experts who claim to trust the science despite the slew of inaccuracies in evidence provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the impetus for increased COVID-19 guidelines.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis met a similar roadblock recently when Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper ruled that DeSantis’ optional mask order was unenforceable and unconstitutional.

DeSantis appealed the ruling this week and is confident the state will win in the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee because of a new law, the Parents Bill of Rights which gives parents the final authority on their children’s health.

In Georgia, parents in Gwinnett County, the state’s largest school district, sued the superintendent and school system over its mask mandate.

The lawsuit cites Republican Governor Brian Kemp’s July executive order that bars public school districts’ from mandating masks for students and employees.

The suit also cited a study from the Journal of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology on the consequences of prolonged mask usage and claims that the mandate violates free speech, which is protected under Georgia’s state constitution.

It’s not just parents who have had enough. Students in a Denver, Colorado area high school staged a walkout this week in protest of the mask mandates implemented in county schools.

‘If you’re scared, stay home’: Denver-area high schoolers walk out of class over mask mandate https://t.co/28AiqnMqeZ

— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) September 3, 2021

One Colorado student had a message for students like the two in Tennessee who sued over the governor’s executive order:

“This is going to be the third year of my high school that is compromised. I want a normal high school career. If you are scared, you can stay home,” the student told CBS4.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!