Pennsylvania Court Overturns State’s School Mask Mandate

A Pennsylvania court struck down a school mask mandate on Wednesday, arguing the state health secretary does not have the authority to impose a mandate of the sort.

Indeed, state Health Secretary Alison Beam issued the mandate at the end of August, but justices on Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court ruled in a 4 to 1 decision to overturn the order.

Judge Christine Cannon wrote that the state “does not have carte blanche authority to impose whatever disease control measures the Department of Health sees fit to implement without regard for the procedures for promulgating rules and regulations, expedited or otherwise.”

“In the absence of a declared emergency...the Governor and the executive agencies of the Commonwealth must follow the prescribed procedures for rulemaking,” she added.

As reported by Just the News, Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, who challenged the mandate, celebrated the decision.

“Today’s ruling validates what we have said all along - mask decisions should be made by parents and school boards, NOT unelected bureaucrats,” he said in a joint statement with state Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward. “A blanket mandate does not address the unique needs and circumstances of individual communities, and it takes power away from the people who are in the best position to protect our kids.”

Gov. Tom Wolf appealed the decision.