Florida Court Lifts Pause on Mask Mandate Ban, Ruling in Favor of DeSantis

The First District Court of Appeals in Florida ended the pause on the state’s school mask mandate ban in a decision on Friday. The measure is temporarily back in effect, and it is once again unlawful for Florida public schools to require students to wear masks in their facilities.

In the ruling, the court granted the State of Florida’s request to reinstate the stay lifted by Judge John Cooper’s Wednesday decision, which briefly permitted public schools to reimpose mask mandates, rejecting Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s previous appeal.

The prohibition on mask mandates in Florida is likely to remain in place for the remainder of the fall school semester until the appellate court can issue a final ruling on the case.

“Given the presumption against vacating the automatic stay, the stay should have been left in place pending appellate review. Accordingly, we grant the appellants’ motion, quash the trial court’s order vacating the automatic stay, and reinstate the stay required by Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.310(b)(2),” the order read.

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