Fifth Circuit Court reinstates ban on mask mandates in Texas in ongoing mask war

On Wednesday morning, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order temporarily blocking school districts from implementing mask mandates in Texas.

The order comes as part of an ongoing case against the State of Texas, brought forth by the advocacy group Disability Rights Texas representing a group of students with disabilities or fragile immune systems, according to The Texan.

Disability Rights Texas claims that Texas Governor Greg Abbott's mask mandate ban prevents the children they are representing from safety going to school.

The group originally got Abbott's mask mandate ban overturned on November 10, when a district judge ruled against his executive order.

The judge, in his ruling, cited the American Rescue Plan act as a reason to halt the executive order, stating that the COVID-19 relief bill gives school boards the authority to set their own rules regarding health and the pandemic.

The case moved to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where on Wednesday his order was stayed, restoring the mask mandate ban to the state.

"The permanent injunction entered by the district court is STAYED pending further order of the court," the order read.

Abbott signed an executive order banning mask and vaccine mandates in Texas at the end of July.

The executive order did not begin receiving a lot of backlash from schools until the beginning of the school year this fall.