TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Aug 27, 2021

Shelby County filed suit yesterday against Gov. Bill Lee for his executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of mask mandates at K-12 schools, the Daily Memphian reports. The federal suit, filed in U.S. Division for Western District of Tennessee, says Executive Order 84 should be revoked under U.S. Constitution protections under the 14th Amendment. It argues that children who are not eligible for the vaccine have no protection against exposure to students infected with COVID-19, “potentially causing them to suffer fear, uncertainty and possibly even death.” The suit also says the executive order “violates the decencies of civilized conduct” in an action that “shocks the conscience.” Shelby County is represented by attorneys from Burch, Porter and Johnson in Memphis.

On Monday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge’s refusal to block a mask mandate in a challenge brought by a Catholic elementary school in Lansing, Michigan.