Judge Dismisses School Face Mask Lawsuit In Hillsborough County

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — A Hillsborough County judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by parents who oppose the face mask mandate for Hillsborough County public schools.

Tampa civil rights attorney Patrick Leduc argued against the ordinance on behalf of Hillsborough County parents, saying it should be up to the parents, not the schools, to decided what is best for their children.

However, Hillsborough County School District attorneys countered that the mask mandate is based on science that is backed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and said removing the mandate would place students and staff at risk.

Hillsborough County Judge Martha Cook agreed, saying, "requiring individuals to wear face coverings in a public location is not a constitutional violation."

Leduc took exception to Cook's comments.

"Other than the court being both wrong on the facts and the law, the order was fine," Leduc said. "The court gave the school board, whose position is that children have as much right to an education as you have to shop at Walmart, a blank check to do anything they want, as long as they can 'invent' a rational. This decidedly unserious face mask policy that suggests that SARS-CoV-2 takes a lunch break and requires children to wear a medical device as defined by the FDA and which the AMA is on record stating that face masks provide absolutely no protection to the wearer for respiratory illness, and subjugates children who cannot comply to a substandard and unconstitutional remote learning regimen, is utterly political and not rational. The flu is far more deadly to minors, who are not source carriers of SAR-CoV-2. Accordingly, public school children should be prepared to wear masks forever."