State of Florida quickly files emergency motion in legal fight over school masks – By Jim Saunders (News Service of Florida) / Sept 10 2021
Filing says lower court judge violated constitutional separation of powers.
Hours after a Leon County circuit judge allowed school districts to continue student mask requirements, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration Wednesday night filed an emergency motion asking an appeals court to reinstate a stay.
The 41-page motion seeks to put on hold a Sept. 2 ruling by Circuit Judge John Cooper that said DeSantis overstepped his constitutional authority in an executive order aimed at preventing districts from requiring students to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cooper on Wednesday went further by lifting an automatic stay that had been triggered when the DeSantis administration appealed the Sept. 2 ruling to the 1st District Court of Appeal. The motion filed Wednesday night requested that the Tallahassee-based appeals court reimpose the stay while the underlying battle about the Sept. 2 ruling moves forward.