FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 27, 2021

TALLAHSSSEE, FL – Leon County’s 2nd Judicial Circuit Court Judge John Cooper ruled against Governor DeSantis’ ban on mask mandates today. The judge said, “I have heard significant evidence concerning the medical and scientific basis for face mask policies and I conclude this evidence demonstrates that face mask policies that follow CDC guidance at this point in time are reasonable.”

Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus President Stephen Gaskill issued the following statement on the ruling:

“Judge Cooper’s ruling is a win for common sense, science, public health and safety. Local school boards must be able to keep educators and students safe as Florida faces the worst of the pandemic. It didn’t have to be this way. Governor DeSantis’ gross incompetence and willful negligence has laid bare his Trumpian political ideology: unconstitutional and authoritarian rule that hurts people for his own political gain. Our community will make sure voters remember at the ballot box in 2022.”

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