TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Sep 1, 2021

A federal judge this week heard arguments in a lawsuit seeking to block Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order that allows parents to opt their children out of school mask mandates, the Commercial Appeal reports. The plaintiffs, two Shelby County families with immunocompromised children, told U.S. District Judge Sheryl Halle Lipman that Lee’s order creates an “unreasonably dangerous environment” for medically vulnerable children and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Jim Newsom with the attorney general’s office argued the parents had not yet exhausted the appeal process available for families of children with disabilities. He added the proper route would be to file a complaint with school and district officials and then with the State Department of Education. The state did not call any witnesses. The plaintiffs, represented by Donati Law, brought in two medical experts who spoke of the “higher burden” an unmasked child puts on other kids in the classroom.