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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
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Arkansas judge temporarily blocks law banning mask mandates

One of the school districts suing the state has more than 800 staff and students in quarantine due to a Covid-19 outbreak.

(CN) — An Arkansas judge on Friday temporarily blocked the state from enforcing its new law banning mask mandates by state entities as the state grapples with a rise in Covid-19 cases.

The law, signed by Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson in April, does not apply to private businesses or state-owned or controlled healthcare facilities.

Two lawsuits — including one by two school districts, one of which has more than 800 staff and students are in quarantine due to a Covid-19 outbreak — were filed this week challenging the law.

As of Friday, Arkansas was number three in the nation for the highest number of new coronavirus cases per capita, according to data from the New York Times.

In the first suit, Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde, the county’s chief executive officer, and county Sheriff Eric Higgins filed a motion to intervene based on their interest to enact mask mandates in county buildings and the jail. 

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox ruled that the law violated multiple sections of the state’s constitution, adding that it “cannot be enforced in any shape, fashion or form,” pending further action by the courts.

A day before the hearing, Little Rock’s mayor Frank Scott defied the law, issuing an order requiring masks in the city’s public spaces.

On Tuesday, Hutchinson said during a news conference that he regretted signing the law.

“I signed it at the time because our cases were at a very low point. I knew that it would be overridden by the Legislature if I didn't sign it, and I was not supportive of — I'd already eliminated our statewide mask mandate,” he told reporters. “I signed it for those reasons… Everything has changed now. And yes, in hindsight, I wish that had not become law. But it is the law, and the only chance we have is either to amend it, or for the courts to say that it has an unconstitutional foundation.”

But his regret was only because the law has left children 12 and younger without an option for protection since they are unable to be vaccinated.

“There's a remedy for them [schools with older students]; they need to get vaccinated,” Hutchinson told reporters. “Parents can make the choice. The students can make the choice to get vaccinated. The 12 and under is the only category that has no choice.”

Hutchinson called a legislative special session to introduce a bill asking lawmakers to provide an exception to the law that would grant school boards the authority to decide whether to require students younger than 12 to wear a mask.

During the session Marion School District Superintendent Glen Fenter — from the district with hundreds of students and staff in quarantine — pleaded with lawmakers to adopt the amendment.

“My concern obviously is this: I can’t teach our kids if they are quarantined,” he said. “I think it's important to understand that if our students had been under the same mask mandate that we administered last year, instead of having 730 people quarantined [at the time] we would've had 42.”

Nevertheless, the bill died Friday morning.

“The days of big government mandates over the will of the people are done,” Republican Sen. Trent Garner, who sponsored the law prohibiting mask mandates, said in a tweet Thursday after a motion to amend failed. “We are fighting back, and we will stand for the people of Arkansas. Welcome to a new, better day in our state.”

Hutchinson, meanwhile, said he was disappointed.

“I am disappointed by the actions of the House Public Health Committee today,” Hutchinson said in a statement Thursday after a motion to amend failed. “The cases and quarantines at the Marion School District during the last week illustrate the urgency of action. If we are going to have a successful school year then the local school districts need to have flexibility to protect those that are at risk.”

Two days before the legislative session adjourned, the family of an 11-year-old girl announced her death due to Covid-19, the Arkansas Times reported. She was the third child to die of the virus in Arkansas.

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Categories / Government, Health, Law, Regional

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