Judge ruling upholds Connecticut school mask mandate

A judge has ruled to keep Connecticut’s school mask requirement in place after it was challenged by a lawsuit filed last August, The Associated Press reports.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher of Hartford decided to uphold Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont’s COVID-19 emergency order that gave the state Department of Education permission to require protective facial coverings in school settings.

Moukawsher’s ruling stands in solidarity with the mask requirement previously instated, but does not affect rules regarding the upcoming school year. The state’s Department of Education will determine its mask policy as the 2021-2022 year gets closer, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

The CT Freedom Alliance, which filed the lawsuit along with multiple parents, plans to appeal Moukawsher’s ruling.

“We are obviously disappointed with the court’s decision to dismiss our school mask lawsuit. Disappointed, but not deterred,” Brian Festa, co-founder of the CT Freedom Alliance, told The Hill.

“We will be filing an appeal very shortly, in which we will once again argue that the school mask mandate was not only a gross overreach of executive authority by Governor Lamont and now-U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, but also a serious threat to the physical and psychological health of our children,” Festa added. “This litigation is far from over.”

The judge’s ruling comes after several states, including Iowa and Texas, have banned mask requirements in schools.

–Updated on May 26 at 3:30 p.m.