Texas judge grants temporary restraining order against Abbott’s school mask warrant ban

A Texas judge on Tuesday approved a temporary restraining order preventing the enforcement of Gov. Greg Abbott (R )’s ban on mask warrants in schools, just hours after leaders of San Antonio and Bexar County have filed a challenge.

Bexar County Civil District Court Judge Toni Arteaga approved the order after an hour-long hearing on Tuesday, allowing county and city school officials to demand masks in public schools until an additional decision is made on Abbott’s executive order on Monday, according to local ABC affiliate KSAT.

“I don’t do this lightly,” Arteaga said in court, noting thatcomments from the San Antonio medical director “weighed heavily” in his decision, as well as the fact that the school year has already started for students in many parts of the state.

“And those under 12, of course, as you know, don’t have access to the vaccine, and they’re already in school,” the judge added, according to the Washington Post.

“So I find it emerging, I find it necessary,” she added.

The city of San Antonio and Bexar County filed a lawsuit earlier Tuesday asking the court to temporarily suspend Abbott’s executive order so that he can require masks in public schools, as well as to mandate unvaccinated students in quarantine if they are determined to have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

The move is a blow to Abbott, which issued the executive order in late July, saying at the time that entities that fail to comply could be fined up to $ 1,000.

In response to the ruling, Abbott’s spokesperson Renae Eze said in a statement to The Hill that the Governor “the determination to protect the rights and freedoms of all Texans has not wavered.

“There have been dozens of court challenges to the governor’s decrees – all of which were upheld in the end,” she added. “We expect a similar result when the San Antonio Magistrates’ Court’s decision goes to appellate courts.”

The legal fight comes as the governor of Florida. Ron DeSantisRon DeSantis Two Florida School Districts Refuse To Let Students Withdraw From Mask Mandates Abbott Announces COVID-19 Mitigation, Asks Hospitals To Postpone Elective Procedures DeSantis Threatens With Withholding Salaries In Mask Mandate Dispute school PLUS (R) is engaged in a similar battle with local school districts that aim to challenge the governor’s ban on imposing masks in public schools.

The Broward County School Board on Tuesday voted 8 to 1 to maintain its mask mandate and is seeking legal counsel to challenge DeSantis’ executive order.

Principals in Leon and Alachua counties in Florida also said they would enforce the mask warrants in defiance of the governor’s order, which was hit by its first legal challenges on Friday with two lawsuits involving cause the constitutionality of the ban.

Updated at 23:03