Mask mandate in Memphis area schools can continue, for now, judge rules

[Nevilledog]

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The Tennessee Holler
@TheTNHoller
JUDGE blocking @GovBillLee’s opt out order: “It is that unmasked presence that creates the danger to these plaintiffs… Universal masking is a reasonable accommodation the governor’s executive order refuses to make available…” 😷
Gov. Bill Lee squats to talk to elementary students at the front of the classroom while students raise their hands.
Mask mandate in Memphis area schools can continue, for now, judge rules
"It is that unmasked presence that creates the danger," said a federal judge in her decision allowing a school mask mandate to continue in Shelby County.
tn.chalkbeat.org
7:07 PM · Sep 17, 2021

https://tn.chalkbeat.org/2021/9/17/22679667/mask-mandate-in-memphis-shelby-county-schools-can-continue-for-now-judge-rules

Shelby County students will continue to wear masks in schools after a Tennessee federal judge once again blocked an executive order from the governor that had allowed them to opt out of a mask mandate.

The executive order challenged an earlier mask mandate from the county health department that covered public and private schools. The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit argued that the opt-out order violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by putting medically vulnerable students at higher risk of catching COVID from their unmasked peers.

U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman of Tennessee’s Western District granted the plaintiff’s request for a temporary injunction just as a 14-day temporary restraining order on the same issue was set to expire. Temporary injunctions, which require a higher burden of proof, typically cover a longer time period. In her ruling, Lipman said that the injunction will last until the conclusion of the case, and that it is necessary to ensure that immunocompromised students have easier access to their classes and school activities.

“It is that unmasked presence that creates the danger to these plaintiffs,” she wrote. “Universal masking is a reasonable accommodation that the governor’s executive order refuses to make available to schools, school systems and, in this case, the Shelby County Health Department.”

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