Missouri AG files class action lawsuit against schools enforcing mask mandates on children

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Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Tuesday filed a class action lawsuit against school districts that have instituted "arbitrary and capricious" COVID-19 mask mandates. 

"Forcing schoolchildren to mask all day in school flies in the face of science, especially given children’s low risk of severe illness and death and their low risk of transmission," Schmitt said in a statement. "Additionally, forcing schoolchildren to mask all day could hinder critical development by eliminating facial cues and expressions."

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"We filed this suit today because we fundamentally don’t believe in forced masking, rather that parents and families should have the power to make decisions on masks, based on science and facts," he continued. "I am committed to fighting back against this kind of government overreach. Americans are free people, not subjects."

Schmitt’s lawsuit lists Columbia Public Schools, the district's superintendent and its board of education and members as defendants. It comes two days after dozens of Columbia Public School parents protested outside the school district’s administration building demanding an end to its mask requirement for the new school year, which started Tuesday.

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The lawsuit argues that school mask mandates are not grounded in science and that they can actually be detrimental to the development of young children. It argues that children are at an "extremely low risk" of severe illness and death from COVID-19 and that children are at a low risk for spreading the virus, making mask mandates an "arbitrary and capricious" measure for children.

Schmitt recently filed suit against St. Louis County and City, Kansas City and Jackson County for imposing mask mandates. 

A St. Louis County judge issued a preliminary injunction last week halting the imposition of the mask mandate in St. Louis County, the attorney general's office said in a press release.