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Judge Blocks Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Mask Mandate Ban

The judge wrote that COVID-19 “threatens to overwhelm public schools” in Texas.

A Texas judge issued a temporary injunction against Gov. Greg Abbott’s prohibition on mask mandates in school districts Friday. The judge wrote that Abbott stepped beyond his constitutional authority and that COVID-19 “threatens to overwhelm public schools and could result in more extreme measures such as the school closures that have already begun in several Texas school districts.” Hospitals across Texas are nearing full capacity as the state endures an explosive surge in new cases. According to the Austin-American Statesman, the state’s attorney general Ken Paxton has already appealed the Travis County judge’s ruling. The day before, the Texas Supreme Court barred the city government of San Antonio from requiring employees to wear masks. ​​Abbott is one of several Republican governors who have fought with their own local governments over coronavirus restrictions even as cases rise in their states, two notable others being South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.