Texas: judges issue temporary restraining orders against governor’s mask mandate order

Two Texas judges issue temporary restraining orders against governor's mask mandate order Two Texas judges have issued restraining orders which will temporarily block the enforcement of Gov. Greg Abbott's latest emergency order involving masks. Keith Allen and Christina Maxouris, CNN CNN

Two Texas judges have issued restraining orders which will temporarily block the enforcement of Gov. Greg Abbott’s latest emergency order involving masks.

The governor’s order, issued last month, included language that no governmental entity, including school districts, could require mask-wearing.

On Monday, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins asked a court for a temporary restraining order against the order, saying the governor “attempted to prohibit local elected officials from making a different decision, in response to local conditions, to protect their own communities.”

County judges have a range of administrative and judicial responsibilities in Texas.

Judge Tonya Parker on Tuesday determined that the citizens of Dallas County “have and will continue to be damaged and injured” by Abbott’s order amid the Covid-19 surge and ruled that Jenkins should be allowed to implement mitigation strategies such as mask mandates on the local level, to protect residents and help curb the spread of the virus. ...

In a separate ruling Tuesday, Judge Antonia Arteaga granted a restraining order to leaders of the city of San Antonio and Bexar County, who had filed a lawsuit to regain local control over Covid-19 mitigation measures, saying in a news release the area was seeing an “alarming rise” in infections....

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