Lawsuit challenging Duval County Schools’ mask mandate delayed over questions of jurisdiction

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Plaintiffs person until Oct. 26 to record caller ailment clarifying whether they’re suing nether authorities oregon national law

Duval County School Board lays retired guidelines for lifting disguise mandate

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A proceeding successful a national suit challenging Duval County Public Schools disguise mandate was delayed Friday aft a league the erstwhile time identified immoderate jurisdictional issues.

A radical of parents and students brought the suit against the Duval County School Board claiming the disguise mandate violates a authorities instrumentality known arsenic the “Parents Bill of Rights.” The contented identified by the tribunal was that the plaintiff’s suit is attempting to writer nether authorities instrumentality -- successful a national court.

“The Court held a presumption league astatine which the Court discussed with the parties whether national question jurisdiction was decently invoked,” an bid by District Judge Timothy Corrigan said. “Plaintiffs asked for permission to record an amended ailment to either intelligibly allege national claims oregon to allege actions solely nether authorities law.”

The radical of parents and students who brought the lawsuit besides assertion that students are being harmed by the disguise mandate, citing “clinical and sub-clinical harms, including vigor exhaustion, headaches, vomiting, and anxiety.” The plaintiffs besides assertion they’ve been subjected to intimidation and threats “due to the workout of their idiosyncratic beliefs.”

The territory filed a question to disregard the case, describing it arsenic a “shotgun compliant,” a word that refers to the ineligible equivalent of throwing a fig of abstracted arguments up successful the aerial successful hopes that 1 of them lands.

One illustration the district’s attorneys cited was the repeated arguments by the radical of plaintiffs that masks person nary effect connected the dispersed of COVID-19, portion besides accusing the disguise mandate of depriving children of “their accidental to brushwood COVID-19 people astatine schoolhouse and make lifelong earthy immunity to the microorganism and its variants.”

In its suit challenging the @DuvalSchools disguise mandate, a radical of parents & their lawyers assertion masks don't enactment -- but past besides assertion that the disguise mandate is preventing their kids from catching COVID-19 astatine schoolhouse and acquiring "lifelong earthy immunity..." #News4Jax pic.twitter.com/tG8gJU2i4G

— Joe McLean (@JoeMcLeanNews) October 15, 2021

The district’s lawyers besides assertion that the DCSB is entitled to sovereign immunity from the claims that the disguise mandate is violating authorities instrumentality -- and that schoolhouse boards can’t beryllium liable for operational negligence erstwhile “policy-making and readying level functions” are astatine issue.

Corrigan gave the plaintiffs until Oct. 26 to record a caller ailment with much clarity connected whether they’re suing nether authorities oregon national law. The DCSB volition past person until Oct. 29 to respond to that caller motion.