A Florida appeals court ruled in favor of Gov. DeSantis' order banning mask rules in schools

• A Florida First Circuit judge ruled Gov. DeSantis could issue a mask mandate ban, Reuters reported.
• This follows a Second Circuit judge who ruled the opposite earlier this week.
• The ruling effectively reverses any mask mandates Florida schools had previously put in place.

A Florida circuit judge on Friday issued a stay in Gov. Ron DeSantis' mask mandate ban, effectively reinstating DeSantis' order barring public schools in the state from requiring face masks, Reuters reported.

DeSantis had first introduced the ban in July. Despite this, more than a dozen school districts defied his executive order and issued mask mandates anyway. Then, a group of parents filed a lawsuit against the governor.

The governor argued it should be up to the parents to make the decision as to whether or not their children need to wear masks, but Second Circuit Judge John Cooper decided Florida must stop enforcing the governor's mask mandate ban, which meant school districts in the state could continue to require masks while the case was appealed in a higher court. Today's decision, however, allows the ban on mask mandates in schools.

Charles Gallagher, the lead attorney for a group of parents suing the state, wrote on Twitter: "We are disappointed by the ruling of the 1st DCA that reinstates the stay and will be seeking pass through jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Florida since this matter involves statewide issues. With a stay in place, students, parents, and teachers are back in harm's way."

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