Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A judge ruled Gov. DeSantis' ban on mask mandate was not constitutional.
Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper stated that schools may impose mask mandates on their districts.
After 10 Florida districts refused to obey the governor, they imposed mask mandates anyway.
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A judge ruled in favor of Florida Governor. The Associated Press reported that Ron DeSantis exceeded his authority when he issued an executive decree to prohibit mask mandates within the state.
Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper stated that schools may impose mask mandates. He also agreed with the parents who brought the suit claiming the ban on masks was unconstitutional.
Cooper stated that DeSantis' order "lacked legal authority", per the AP.
Although the governor claimed that his order granted parents the right of making decisions for their children, the judge stated that it also gave the government the power to take actions necessary to protect the public's health.
Taryn Fenske (DeSantis' communications director) stated in a statement, that the governor would appeal the court's decision at the First District Court of Appeals.
Fenske stated that the ruling was based on incoherent justifications and not science or facts. He also said that the decision was not focused on the merits.
Continue reading: Ron DeSantis is the public enemy number one, not Trump. Right now, Democrats have number 1
In July, DeSantis had originally issued the ban on mask mandates. Defiance of the governor's order, several Florida school districts have implemented their own mask mandates since then.
On August 20, Florida's education department sent a warning to schools that it would fine any school who disobeyed the order. The new court order means that the warning no longer applies, as there is no legal ban on mask mandates.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that more than half the students in Florida were enrolled at public schools that had implemented mask mandates. At that point, 10 counties had issued individual mask mandates to their respective districts.
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The number of COVID-19 cases in Florida is still rising. According to The New York Times COVID-19 tracker, Florida has an average of 22,000 new cases each day. A total of 242 deaths due to coronavirus are also occurring in Florida each day.
The state's health system is struggling to cope with the soaring number of deaths, hospitalizations and cases. Central Florida's health system had to rent refrigerated coolers in order to store the excess bodies.
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