LITTLE ROCK: An Arkansas judge on Friday barred the state from temporarily banning the mask mandate after lawmakers dropped an injunction despite a rising number of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox issued a preliminary injunction against a law that Governor Asa Hutchinson signed in April to ban mask requirements by government entities. The ban was being challenged by two lawsuits, including one from an Eastern Arkansas school district, where more than 900 staff and students are in quarantine because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Fox ruled against the measure on several grounds, including the argument that it discriminated between public and private schools.
Fox said the law “cannot be enforced in any shape, fashion or form” pending further court action.
Fox released the ruling hours after lawmakers adjourned a special session called by Hutchinson to consider rolling back the ban for some schools. Hutchinson had said changes were needed to protect children under the age of 12, who can’t get vaccinated because of the state’s virus cases and hospitalizations.
Hutchinson faced heavy opposition from fellow Republicans, who in schools were flooded with calls and messages from opponents of masks.
The governor, who has said he regretted signing the ban into law, said he agrees with Fox’s decision, but does not plan to re-implement the statewide mask mandate lifted in March. He also criticized the lawmakers who opposed the action, saying many of them had taken a “casual, if not mounted, attitude” towards the state’s Covid-19 crisis.
“What worries me is that many people are just hearing loud noises and not standing up to compassion, common sense and serious action,” he told reporters.
Hutchinson was named as a defendant in the lawsuit along with state and legislative leaders. He left open the possibility of asking the state separately Supreme court To uphold Fox’s decision when it is appealed.
A House panel on Thursday rejected two measures that would have allowed some school districts to issue mask requirements.
There were growing calls for restrictions to be lifted before school reopens across the state later this month, and the mayor of Little Rock on Thursday issued a masked mandate in the city’s parks and buildings despite prohibitions.
NS Marion School District, which joined with Little Rock’s schools in challenging the ban, said Friday that 949 staff and students have had to be quarantined since classes began last week because of the coronavirus outbreak. The district said 54 students and 11 staff have tested positive for Covid-19.
Marion Superintendent Glenn Fenter warned lawmakers that his district’s experience could be a harbinger of what other schools would face. He said on Friday he would consult with lawyers and begin discussions with the local school board on the possibility of the mandate.
“This gives us yet another opportunity to potentially protect our students,” he said.
Pediatricians and health officials have said masks are needed in schools to protect children, as the Delta version and Arkansas’ low vaccination rates fuel the state’s rising number of cases. The state on Monday recorded its biggest single-day increase in Covid-19 hospitals since the start of the pandemic, and the health department said on Friday that only 28 intensive care unit beds were available in the state.
Only 37% of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated against the virus.
Arkansas ranks second in the nation for new cases per capita, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers. The state recorded more than 3,000 new virus cases on Friday, bringing the overall pandemic tally to over 400,000. It also reported 22 new Covid-19 deaths.
Opponents of lifting the ban before testifying Assembly Repeatedly cited false and discredited claims about the virus, including a woman who falsely suggested that COVID-19 did not exist.
Democratic Rep. Dennis Garner, who co-sponsored one of the proposals to lift the ban, “that’s disappointing, is we’re not making decisions on data, respectable data.”
The Republican sponsor of the mandate ban said he thinks the state needs to focus on other ways to address the outbreak in schools, such as leave for teachers who have to quarantine.
“What I don’t want is a false sense of security that masks seem to provide because it’s a handy political tool,” Republican Sen. Trent Garner said. “When this happens in our schools we come up with real solutions, and I think we are inadequate on that.”
house and managing committee On Friday, the session gave final approval to the only other item on the agenda, legislation aimed at preventing the state from resuming supplemental unemployment insurance payments to 69,000 people in the state.
A state judge last week ordered Arkansas to resume payments, ruling that Hutchinson did not have authority to deduct payments. Hutchinson was among more than two dozen GOP governors who ended their states’ participation in federally funded payments, which were due to run until early September.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox issued a preliminary injunction against a law that Governor Asa Hutchinson signed in April to ban mask requirements by government entities. The ban was being challenged by two lawsuits, including one from an Eastern Arkansas school district, where more than 900 staff and students are in quarantine because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Fox ruled against the measure on several grounds, including the argument that it discriminated between public and private schools.
Fox said the law “cannot be enforced in any shape, fashion or form” pending further court action.
Fox released the ruling hours after lawmakers adjourned a special session called by Hutchinson to consider rolling back the ban for some schools. Hutchinson had said changes were needed to protect children under the age of 12, who can’t get vaccinated because of the state’s virus cases and hospitalizations.
Hutchinson faced heavy opposition from fellow Republicans, who in schools were flooded with calls and messages from opponents of masks.
The governor, who has said he regretted signing the ban into law, said he agrees with Fox’s decision, but does not plan to re-implement the statewide mask mandate lifted in March. He also criticized the lawmakers who opposed the action, saying many of them had taken a “casual, if not mounted, attitude” towards the state’s Covid-19 crisis.
“What worries me is that many people are just hearing loud noises and not standing up to compassion, common sense and serious action,” he told reporters.
Hutchinson was named as a defendant in the lawsuit along with state and legislative leaders. He left open the possibility of asking the state separately Supreme court To uphold Fox’s decision when it is appealed.
A House panel on Thursday rejected two measures that would have allowed some school districts to issue mask requirements.
There were growing calls for restrictions to be lifted before school reopens across the state later this month, and the mayor of Little Rock on Thursday issued a masked mandate in the city’s parks and buildings despite prohibitions.
NS Marion School District, which joined with Little Rock’s schools in challenging the ban, said Friday that 949 staff and students have had to be quarantined since classes began last week because of the coronavirus outbreak. The district said 54 students and 11 staff have tested positive for Covid-19.
Marion Superintendent Glenn Fenter warned lawmakers that his district’s experience could be a harbinger of what other schools would face. He said on Friday he would consult with lawyers and begin discussions with the local school board on the possibility of the mandate.
“This gives us yet another opportunity to potentially protect our students,” he said.
Pediatricians and health officials have said masks are needed in schools to protect children, as the Delta version and Arkansas’ low vaccination rates fuel the state’s rising number of cases. The state on Monday recorded its biggest single-day increase in Covid-19 hospitals since the start of the pandemic, and the health department said on Friday that only 28 intensive care unit beds were available in the state.
Only 37% of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated against the virus.
Arkansas ranks second in the nation for new cases per capita, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers. The state recorded more than 3,000 new virus cases on Friday, bringing the overall pandemic tally to over 400,000. It also reported 22 new Covid-19 deaths.
Opponents of lifting the ban before testifying Assembly Repeatedly cited false and discredited claims about the virus, including a woman who falsely suggested that COVID-19 did not exist.
Democratic Rep. Dennis Garner, who co-sponsored one of the proposals to lift the ban, “that’s disappointing, is we’re not making decisions on data, respectable data.”
The Republican sponsor of the mandate ban said he thinks the state needs to focus on other ways to address the outbreak in schools, such as leave for teachers who have to quarantine.
“What I don’t want is a false sense of security that masks seem to provide because it’s a handy political tool,” Republican Sen. Trent Garner said. “When this happens in our schools we come up with real solutions, and I think we are inadequate on that.”
house and managing committee On Friday, the session gave final approval to the only other item on the agenda, legislation aimed at preventing the state from resuming supplemental unemployment insurance payments to 69,000 people in the state.
A state judge last week ordered Arkansas to resume payments, ruling that Hutchinson did not have authority to deduct payments. Hutchinson was among more than two dozen GOP governors who ended their states’ participation in federally funded payments, which were due to run until early September.
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