Federal Judge Smacks Down South Carolina Republicans' Attempt To Ban Mask Mandates

A federal judge has placed a temporary hold on South Carolina's attempt to ban mask mandates in the state, particularly for school districts. This decision is a welcome one, as Republicans continue to allow careless parents to expose the rest of our children to a disease that they aren't able to protect themselves from yet. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains the decision and why it could have nationwide ramifications.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

There was a big victory this week in the state of South Carolina for people who want to stay protected from the ongoing pandemic. A federal judge, Mary Geiger Lewis for the US district court for South Carolina, issued a ruling this week that at least temporarily has put a halt on the state of South Carolina's ban on mask mandates, specifically the ban on mask mandates for kids in school. And what had happened was the ACLU came forward. They sued the state of South Carolina, arguing that this ban on mask mandates is actually a violation of the Americans with disabilities act because as we all know people with disabilities, whether it's a physical disability, well, especially if it's a physical disability, which can include diseases that make you immunocompromised. Banning mask mandates actually puts these students at a higher risk. And we have seen disabled school children die from COVID.

So there is certainly evidence to support this argument. And of course, judge Lewis said, you're right. I agree with you. Not only do I agree with you, but I also disagree with the rationale used by the state of South Carolina to enact these mask mandates because she said, it is not an infringement of rights for schools to ask students to mask up. But that is what the state had argued. The state said, listen, we're infringing on their rights by making them wear a mask. As if school districts don't already regulate what students can or cannot wear to school, which is actually what some school districts have done. They just said, cool masks are now a part of the dress code. Deal with it. Nothing you can do about that because we're in charge of the dress code. But here in South Carolina, they didn't even have to go that route because the ACLU stepped in, files this lawsuit, gets this major victory.

Even if it is only a temporary stay, which means, yes, it's going to be appealed. It's going to be looked at even further. This is good news. Children cannot get vaccinated yet under the age of 12. So we have to do everything possible to protect them. And if that means, oh no, they've got to wear a mask in school. Fine. So be it. I have kids. They have never once complained about wearing a mask to school. They like it. They like having different colors of masks, different styles, different, you know, characters on them. It's cool to them. They get to make a statement with their mask. It's the parents that are the ones that have the problem with it. But we have to protect these kids. And I think we should still protect them even after they're eligible to get vaccines because obviously not a lot of them, or I don't want to say not a lot. I have no idea how many of them are going to get vaccinated. But if it's anything like the country as a whole, there's going to be quite a bit of resistance to get these kids vaccinated.

But we have to allow them to even get to the point where they could be protected by their own bodies. And until we hit that point, they should be wearing the masks. It does not harm them. If you'll wash it, if you keep it clean, if you change it out, things like that, that some parents are refusing to do, you know, and they've run stories on conservative media saying, look at all these viruses and diseases and bacteria we found in masks. Well, yeah, if you're wearing the same dirty mask every single day for eight hours a day, it's going to pick up some nasty crap.