Florida Judge Overturns Gov. DeSantis' Prohibition on Mask Mandates in Schools

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' ban on school mask mandates was placed in legal limbo this week amid a three-day virtual hearing in which a group of Florida parents argued that the governor's order puts the health and safety of their children at risk. DeSantis vowed on Thursday to appeal any decision not ruled in his favor.

Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper overturned the Florida Governor's mask mandate ban in a Friday decision that ruled DeSantis overstepped his authority with the Executive Order. 

Declaring the prohibition "without legal authority" the judge cited two Florida Supreme Court cases from 1914 and 1939, which both laid out that an individual's rights are open to limitation when they impact the rights of others.  

Big defeat for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and his ban on local mask mandates for schoolchildren without a parental opt-out.

Judge John Cooper just ruled DeSantis' action on mask mandates "does not meet Constitutional muster." pic.twitter.com/BJlOFi9oUA

— The Recount (@therecount) August 27, 2021

"We don’t have that right because exercising the right in that way is harmful or potentially harmful to other people," Cooper wrote, adding that the law "is full of examples of rights that are limited [when] the good of others … would be adversely affected by those rights."

During the virtual hearing on Tuesday, pediatric pulmonologist Dr. Tony Kriseman testified that there was sufficient data supporting the effectiveness and need to implement mask mandates. 

"If this were a noncontagious disease, like tetanus, you could say to a parent you’re free not to get a shot for your child," he noted. "But the parents' choice doesn’t only impact the child— it’s a global decision." 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a COVID-19 testing site, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. First responders and people over 65 years-old began receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday during a trial run of the site which will open to seniors at a later date. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

© AP Photo / Wilfredo Lee

Ashley Benton, a mother of four students attending Leon County Schools, took the stand a day later to testify in defense of the governor's order. She argued that her "fifth grader has childhood apraxia," and may have to be pulled out of school if the parents cannot secure a medical opt-out for the order. 

According to Benton, the medical waivers have been hard to come by. 

The ruling comes alongside state-wide defiance of the Executive Order, with least 10 Florida school boards voting to move ahead with mask mandates. Among those school districts is Miami-Dade County, the largest district in the state. 

While DeSantis has dismissed masking guidance set forth by the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona issued a memo to Florida school districts last Friday pledging to use federal funds to cover financial penalties associated with the governor's prohibition on mask mandates.