PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has ruled in favor of a group of parents who challenged the state’s masking order.
The suit was one of a handful filed after the Pennsylvania Department of Health issued an order requiring everyone — children and adults — to wear masks in all K-12 schools. Among the parents bringing this suit was Jake Corman, the Republican state Senate president pro tempore.
In its decision, the state Commonwealth Court made it clear that it is not weighing in on the effectiveness of masks. Instead, this is about the Health Department’s legal authority to issue an order or requirement.
The order came after a constitutional amendment that limited the governor’s ability to issue such declarations. Opponents argued it was trying to sidestep the law.
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The court ruling voids the school masking requirement and points out several examples of why it believes the Department of Health overstepped its bounds.
The state’s disease control law does not give health secretaries “the blanket authority to create new rules and regulations out of whole cloth, provided they are related in some way to the control of disease or can otherwise be characterized as disease control measures,” wrote Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon, a Republican, for the majority.
The court says the department “does not have carte blanche to impose whatever disease measures … without regard for procedures … rules and regulations.”
The ruling also says the masking order is out of line, as it requires everyone in schools to wear masks “regardless of whether individuals are known to be infected with COVID-19 or whether they are in contact of an individual known to be infected with a communicable disease.”
That, the court says, goes beyond what’s written in the law about surveillance, segregation or quarantine of people with disease or infection.
The ruling voids the order that issues the requirement, but it does not prevent a school from issuing such a requirement. It is saying the state can’t make the blanket requirement.
The decision can be appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
In a statement, the Health Department said then-acting Health Secretary Alison Beam’s “authority is clearly outlined in existing law.” The department filed an appeal, which then halts the court’s decision and does not impact the implementation of the current mandate.
Gov. Tom Wolf said earlier this week he expected to lift the requirement in mid-January.
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KYW Newsradio has reached out to the governor’s office for further comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.