Dallas County can keep its mask mandate for now, a state district judge ruled Wednesday.
It’s a victory for County Judge Clay Jenkins in a bout of legal wrangling with Gov. Greg Abbott, who has issued an executive order preventing local governments and schools from requiring face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The new temporary injunction issued by Judge Tonya Parker essentially says that Abbott’s order does not supersede Jenkins’ ability to enact local public health measures during the emergency of the pandemic.
Here now is your occasional reminder that “Judge” Jenkins is the county’s top elected executive, and not strictly a gavels-and-Your-Honor judicial kind of judge. “Judge” Parker is that kind of judge, which is why her temporary injunction carries weight as Jenkins and Abbott grapple over local control.
Other judges will weigh in soon. Abbott’s attorneys will certainly appeal. The Texas Supreme Court already stayed Parker’s previous restraining order in this case.
Jenkins has also removed the sharpest teeth from his mask mandate. After the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling, he edited the order to pull a $1,000 fine that would have been imposed on businesses that weren’t enforcing mask policies.
It is now a law without any penalties for breaking it.
In a call with reporters, Jenkins said that he and his lawyers would consider whether to amend the mandate to re-introduce penalties for businesses.
Either way, Jenkins’ attorneys argued and public health experts testified in a virtual court hearing on Tuesday, rules are more effective than recommendations at getting people to comply.
No one on either side of the virtual courtroom disputed that masks are effective at mitigating COVID-19.
“I have not heard any argument there is harm associated with wearing a mask that is greater than not being conscious of the public health side,” Judge Parker said during Tuesday’s hearing.
