South Carolina U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis, a Barack Obama appointee has ruled against mask mandate ban which was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Henry McMaster after the ACLU filed a lawsuit claiming that the mask mandate ban “discriminates against at-risk students, like those who have asthma, by not allowing districts to enforce masks.” There’s a small problem with the Judge’s logic though: the mask mandate ban was attached to the state budget as a proviso which merely states that school boards cannot use state money to enforce a mask requirement. SC lawmakers told the school boards right up front: they could have their mandates, but the local taxpayers would have to foot the bill. They even suggested that the schools use their federal COVID19 relief money to do so.
Then the school boards and ‘parents’ (dubious) cried foul and the ACLU inserted themselves into South Carolina’s policies.
Susan Mizner, director of the ACLU’s Disability Rights Program said in a statement, “The court’s decision today makes clear that state legislators and Gov. McMaster can’t sacrifice the health and safety of students with disabilities for the convenience of others,” But the “students with disabilities” can wear masks all they want and get vaccinations which are supposedly effective… so where is the “sacrifice” of their health and safety?
A Ruling From A Lefty Judge That Makes Absolutely No Sense (Shocker)
According to Fox News Carolina,
“Judge Lewis says that the Proviso violates Title II, Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In the ruling, Title II requires that “no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity.”
The Judge went on to make a massively controversial stand in her ruling,
“No one can reasonably argue that it is an undue burden to wear a mask to accommodate a child with disabilities.”
“It is noncontroversial that children need to go to school. And, they are entitled to any reasonable accommodation that allows them to do so. No one can reasonably argue that it is an undue burden to wear a mask to accommodate a child with disabilities,” Lewis wrote.
“Some have also contended that the politicalization, by both opponents and proponents, of the decision to forbid local school districts from requiring students to wear a mask at school is gravely wrong. Literally. But, that question is not before the Court,” the judge wrote
Judge Lewis’ ruling takes the impetus out of parents’ hands and places it firmly into the school board’s. Needless to say, the Governor and prominent Republicans in the legislature were not amused by the leftist appointee legislating from the bench.
“The governor strongly disagrees with the court’s decision and will defend a parent’s right to decide what’s best for their children up to the United States Supreme Court, if necessary,” Gov. McMaster’s spokesman Brian Symmes said in a statement.
I completely disagree with a federal judge temporarily blocking parents from choosing if their child should wear a mask in school. We have already filed a notice of appeal and will take this fight to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. pic.twitter.com/g1rxHK3a5f
— Gov. Henry McMaster (@henrymcmaster) September 29, 2021
