Attorney General Files Suit On Mask Mandate Enforcement

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced a class action lawsuit has been filed against school districts that are enforcing a mask mandate on school children and teachers. The reverse class action suit names the Columbia Public Schools, the Columbia School District Board of Education, and the Columbia School District Superintendent.

The lawsuit argues that the imposition of a mask mandate for school children is arbitrary and capricious and unlawful when pertaining to school children.

The lawsuit says children are at an extremely low risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19, are at a low risk for spreading COVID-19, that masks fail to provide adequate protection against COVID-19 in children, and that masks are detrimental to the development of young children.

The lawsuit notes that zero children under the age of 10 have died from COVID-19 according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and notes that children make up less than 1 out of every 100,000 people who are hospitalized in Missouri. Citing a study from the United Kingdom, the lawsuit states, “Data from the United Kingdom regarding fatality rates from the delta variant show the case fatality rate from delta is lower than other variants, and it is near 0.0% for those under fifty years old.”

The lawsuit cited studies pointing to children having a low risk of transmitting the virus to other children. A Netherlands study cited by the lawsuit confirms that, “(1) children play a minor role in the spread of the novel coronavirus, (2) the virus is mainly spread between adults and from adult family members to children, and (3) the spread of COVID-19 among children or from children to adults is less common.” The lawsuit, citing another study from the United Kingdom, states, “the author confirmed that there is very little evidence that the virus is transmitted in schools.”