The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday said the statewide school mask mandate will remain in place as the state’s highest court gets ready to weigh arguments on the issue next week.
On Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration asked the appellate court to keep the masking order in place after the state Commonwealth Court said that it would expire on Dec. 4.
In an order issued Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that the Commonwealth Court order was lifted pending further consideration following oral argument in the Supreme Court on Dec. 8.
“Nothing in this order shall be construed as a position regarding the merits of this appeal,” the court said.
On Nov. 10, the Commonwealth Court ruled that Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam did not have the authority to issue the mask mandate in August without following the proper state rulemaking procedures. Two groups of parents filed suit against the state alleging that the masking order was not properly issued and that it violated religious freedoms.
Although the administration originally said it would let individual school districts make their own decisions on masking, Beam said in late August the mandate was necessary given the increase in cases at the beginning of the school year.
In issuing its opinion, the Commonwealth Court said that, since there was no emergency declaration in place at the time, Beam was not allowed to issue the order the way that she did.
The Wolf administration, which had already said it would lift the masking order on Jan. 17, immediately appealed, which automatically stayed the Commonwealth Court order.
However, the plaintiffs who initially claimed that the masking order was illegal asked the Commonwealth Court to lift the stay, arguing that it was likely they would win on appeal.
The court agreed and said that the mask mandate would expire on Dec. 4.
That order prompted the administration to ask the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to restore the stay.
Paula Reed Ward is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paula by email at pward@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Mask mandate to remain in place pending Pa. Supreme Court hearing next week - TribLIVE
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