Tennessee's new COVID-19 law is back in court. Here's how the arguments could play out - The Tennessean
Legal arguments over Tennessee's newest law on COVID-19 restrictions are set to continue Friday.
They'll likely follow a familiar path.
U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw set the hearing on whether he should put in place a preliminary injunction blocking the law's provision prohibiting schools from implementing mask mandates except in extremely rare circumstances.
It comes on the heels of three other cases across the state — one in Crenshaw's court, too — over the state's approach to masking in schools.
Expected witness and evidence lists filed ahead of the Friday hearing show the arguments are likely to run along the same lines as those other cases. Indeed, they share a handful of plaintiffs and attorneys.
Gov. Bill Lee last week signed a comprehensive legislative package aimed to curtailing the power local agencies have over COVID-19 restrictions.
The move was on the heels of Lee's executive order allowing parents statewide to opt their children out of any such mandate at their schools.
Lee rescinded the order in light of the new state law, but it had already been blocked in three counties by three separate federal judges, including Crenshaw.
Eight Tennessee children, via their parents, sued Lee and Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn under the new law on Friday, just after the governor signed it. They argue the restrictions violate their children's rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Unexpectedly, the lawsuit was assigned quickly, landing on Crenshaw's desk almost immediately.
Crenshaw also acted with remarkable speed, blocking the implementation of the law until he could weigh the legal arguments.
Masks in schools:Tennessee's new law on school mask mandates remains temporarily on hold, federal judge says
The judge set deadlines for attorneys through Nov. 29 to file court documents, making it possible but unlikely a ruling in the case will come before December.
On Friday morning, the state is expected to call witnesses from the Tennessee Departments of Health and Education.
The state also is basing its arguments Friday on COVID-19 data, with expected exhibits to include reports from the Tennessee Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Education and the Food and Drug Administration.
The state's attorneys also plan to reference statements from two of the other lawsuits against Lee's previous mask order, from both the Middle and Eastern Districts.
On the other side, the parents' attorneys plan to add to their robust witness list from the previous lawsuits with two pediatricians, an infectious disease and internal medicine specialist, and the mother of a plaintiff, who is herself a board-certified immunologist.
They've submitted declarations from their previous witnesses, as well, leaning on evidence that has already been successful in convincing Crenshaw that children are at risk if schools cannot put in place mask requirements.
Facing lawsuit:New Tennessee COVID-19 law banning school mask mandates is unconstitutional, lawsuit says
This time, the families are arguing against a law passed by the full legislature, not an emergency order from the governor alone.
With the new bill, "the state legislature passed what is, charitably, a vindictive law to elevate the 'rights' of persons to avoid Covid measures (quarantines and cloth universal masking) while removing the actual federal rights of children with disabilities who require such measures as reasonable accommodations to safely access the public school," they argue in a pretrial brief.
The state dances away from the claim they're barring ADA-compliance. That's a decision of the individual principal, they say in filings.
They also argue that keeping children with disabilities home as a way to avoid possible infection isn't "segregation," as the attorneys for the children argue.
"The Act does not require — or even suggest — segregation of a student requesting
an accommodation. Rather, the Act allows schools to implement a mask mandate so that the accommodated student be provided in-person education, which does not differ from the accommodation Plaintiffs have sought...Nothing in the Act speaks to who
will be within 6 feet of the accommodated person, other than that such persons shall be required to mask," they wrote.
The state's attorneys also argue the new possibility of vaccinations for young children mitigates the risk of spreading the virus, even though the new law also bans vaccine mandates in almost every case.
source: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2021/11/19/tennessee-covid-19-school-mask-policy-federal-court/8666461002/
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