Ban On Mask Mandates Struck Down By Maricopa County Judge

PHOENIX, AZ — Arizona's ban on mask mandates was struck down by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge Monday, according to court documents. The ban was set to take effect Wednesday.

The decision was in response to a challenge of the ban by a group of educators, parents and children’s advocacy groups who said it was unconstitutional to put the ban in unrelated budget legislation.

Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper ruled that portions of three budget reconciliation bills passed by the state Legislature in June were unconstitutional and struck down those portions of the bills. She also struck down the entirety of a fourth bill, according to court documents.

"None of these measures remotely pertain to the budget or budget reconciliation," Cooper wrote in her judgement.

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Portions of the bills were unconstitutional, Cooper ruled, because they violated the state's single subject rule and title requirements for legislation. The single subject rule says that items within a bill must pertain to the same subject, and the title requirement says that the name of a bill must indicate what legislation it contains. The title requirement is meant to maintain transparency, so that someone only viewing the title of a bill could determine if the legislation might impact them or their business.

Many K-12 schools in the Valley and across the state implemented universal masking policies at the start of this school year due to an uptick in cases of COVID-19 fueled by the delta variant. And many announced they would continue with mask requirements after the ban was struck down.

While Phoenix Union High School was not on of the plaintiffs, it did file an amicus brief in the case telling the court it would like the option to continue its mask mandate to help protect its 28,000 students from COVID-19. In the brief the district claimed that a ban on mask mandates in public schools would create inequity in education since private schools would not have to abide by it.

"Phoenix Union is pleased with the outcome of today’s ruling from the Maricopa County Superior Court," the district said in a statement. "From day one, we have been committed to safely reopening our schools and doing everything in our power to provide uninterrupted in-person learning."

Masking in schools, and elsewhere, remains a contentious issue. When Scottsdale Unified School District voted last month to implement a mask mandate, a group of parents protested and some said they planned to move their children out of the district.

"I believe Judge Cooper's decision is well-reasoned in light of existing legal precedent, and this highlights the problems with how our current legislators fail to work with one another to reach meaningful compromises," said Jann-Michael Greenburg, president of the Scottsdale Unified School District Board.

Greenburg said he's unsure of how the district's administration intends to move forward with mask requirements, but personally Greenburg believes universal masking should continue.

Since implementing a mask mandate in mid-August Scottsdale Unified has seen its confirmed case counts drop from around 160 per week to around 40, Greenburg said.

"I believe SUSD's mission should be to keep our students in school for in-person learning, while keeping everyone safe," Greenburg said. "Indoor masking requirements, along with our other mitigation strategies, is working to accomplish just that."

Cooper's judgement also got rid of legislation barring Arizona's public universities and community colleges from requiring students to wear masks, be vaccinated or be tested for COVID-19, except in the case of a serious outbreak, in order to attend classes.

In her reaction to Judge Cooper's ruling Pima County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bronson said that, "It made no sense for the Arizona Legislature and Gov. Doug Ducey to handcuff schools and local governments with foolish prohibitions on sensible mitigation measures."

Bronson believes that local government should be allowed "every tool available" to help curb the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19.

"It’s a huge relief that with this ruling by the Superior Court our public schools, county public health agencies and other governments can now assess their potential COVID-19 outbreak and transmission risk and take the necessary steps – including mandates if needed – to protect their students, staff and the public from the continued spread of this disease without fear of penalty or punishment by the state,” Bronson said in a statement.

In addition to nixing the ban on mask mandates, Judge Cooper also struck down a portion of one bill that would have effectively banned the teaching of critical race theory in schools. The teaching of critical race theory became a hot issue over the past year or so, gaining publicity through coverage by conservative news media.

Critical race theory is a concept developed in academic law that interrogates "the role of race and racism in society," according to the American Bar Association. Critics of CRT say it teaches students to be ashamed because of their race and blames white people today for the racism of the past.

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