A group of Texas parents have now gone to court to challenge a recent order from Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott seeking to block the imposition of mask mandates by local officials. Abbott put this order in place despite the ongoing spread of what’s known as the delta variant of COVID-19, which has led to an increase in cases and hospitalizations in affected areas. As of this Tuesday, The New York Times reported that the average daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas was at nearly 8,900 — the second highest in the country. Thwarting the ability of local officials to enact basic safety measures could jeopardize residents’ lives.
The parents who’ve challenged Abbott’s anti-masking order in court apparently joined what’s called a counterclaim against the governor, which was filed by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins (in Texas, chief executives in county governments are known as “judges”). Jenkins challenged Abbott’s order against mask requirements after a lawsuit from Dallas County Commissioner J.J. Koch, who took Jenkins to court after he was removed from a commission meeting for refusing to wear a mask in accordance with a requirement that Jenkins established. Jenkins opted to file this counterclaim after Koch’s lawsuit, and the county judge is now seeking a temporary restraining order against Abbott to block enforcement of his executive order.
According to The Dallas Morning News, every one of the children sparking these Texas parents’ efforts — who have now themselves been listed as counter-plaintiffs in the proceedings — “are medically fragile or have another condition that make in-person school critical.” The claim insists that “Texas schools are preparing to open while stripped of the authority to ensure that broadly recommended public health guidelines are adhered to solely because of the Governor’s unlawful order.” Attorney Jenna Royal, who is representing these parents, added separately that the “hands of school districts across the state have been tied” and insisted that her side “believe[s] the governor has exceeded his rights and his duties.”
Republicans like Abbott have presented their efforts to block the imposition of basic safety measures targeting COVID-19 as some kind of attempt to bolster individual liberty — although it’s worth noting, as Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health has observed regarding mask-wearing, that certain individual decisions made during this pandemic do not only affect individuals on their own. What if someone who could easily withstand infection with COVID-19 transmits the virus to someone who may have a more difficult time? As the counterclaim puts it, “[advancing] individual liberty interests — the justification presented for the prohibition — is not necessary action to cope with the declared public health disaster.”
