In 2021, as the COVID-19 scare was winding down, my old home state of Iowa passed a law banning mask mandates. There was an immediate legal challenge, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa put a hold on the ban. On Tuesday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling, allowing the mask mandate ban to go into effect.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa issued a temporary restraining order for House File 847 due to a lawsuit filed in 2021 by ARC of Iowa and the American Civil Liberties Union. ARC, which serves children with disabilities, said the lack of masking put children at risk for COVID-19. The lawsuit named Gov. Kim Reynolds, the Iowa Department of Education director and ten school districts they said failed to enforce mask mandates as defendants.
The appeals court said ARC and the ACLU lacked standing on their claims…
