A Florida judge ruled Friday that Gov. Ron DeSantis could not ban schools from reinstating mask mandates through an executive order he signed last month.
After a group of parents filed a lawsuit against DeSantis over the mask mandate ban, Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper ruled that the governor's executive order was unconstitutional and "without legal authority."
Cooper issued an injunction to prevent the state's Department of Education from issuing penalties against local districts that require students to wear masks in school without a parental opt-out.
Florida's new "Parents' Bill of Rights" does not grant the governor or the Department of Education the authority to prohibit school districts from requiring masks, according to Cooper.
"The law expressly permits school boards to adopt policies regarding the health care of students, such as a mask mandate, even if a parent disagrees," Cooper said. "Parents' rights are very important, but they are not without some reasonable limitations."
State attorneys argued during the trial that there was a lack of conclusive evidence on the benefits of wearing face coverings and that parents should make the decision about whether their child should wear a mask.
However, Cooper said that mask requirements "are at this point in time reasonable and in the best scientific interest."
"The evidence clearly demonstrates that the recommendation by the CDC for universal masking … represents the overwhelming consensus of scientists and the medical community," Cooper said. "The evidence submitted by the defendants [the governor] I think reflects a minority of medical opinions."
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DeSantis slammed Cooper's ruling and said that he would appeal the court's ruling.
"It’s not surprising that Judge Cooper would rule against parent’s rights and their ability to make the best educational and medical decisions for their family, but instead rule in favor of elected politicians," DeSantis' office said in a statement. "This ruling was made with incoherent justifications, not based in science and facts – frankly not even remotely focused on the merits of the case presented."
"We are used to the Leon County Circuit Court not following the law and getting reversed on appeal, which is exactly what happened last year in the school reopening case," the statement continued. "We will continue to defend the law and parent’s rights in Florida, and will immediately appeal the ruling to the First District Court of Appeals, where we are confident we will prevail on the merits of the case."
The governor's executive order had barred school districts from reinstating mask mandates in order to let parents decide whether their child should mask up. The state's Health Department later said that public schools must allow parents to opt-out of mask requirements for their children without providing any reason.
DeSantis and the Florida Board of Education even threatened financial consequences for school districts that require children wear face coverings in school.
The Biden administration, however, offered to reimburse school districts hit with financial penalties for defying DeSantis' order and has directed the U.S. Department of Education to take action against governors that prevent school officials from imposing mask mandates.
At least seven Florida districts have issued mask requirements and only allow an opt out for students that can provide a medical reason.
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