A Texas Judge Just Destroyed Greg Abbott’s Ban on Mask Mandates

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has so far refused to reverse a ban on local mask mandates, even as his state’s healthcare system is overwhelmed by the Delta variant to the point where Abbott asked hospitals to postpone elective procedures. 

A pair of Tuesday decisions, however, allowed local officials in San Antonio and Dallas to at least temporarily make moves to try and stymie the spread of the virus. 

In San Antonio, local officials issued a mandate requiring masks in public schools and city facilities shortly after Bexar County District Court Judge Toni Arteaga granted a temporary injunction to Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates. Abbott’s executive order was issued in May, after the third and so far deadliest wave of the coronavirus subsided.

Since then, however, the virus has ripped its way through the South. More than 9,000 people are currently hospitalized in Texas, where under half of all residents are fully vaccinated, and case numbers haven’t been this high since February. Bexar County has been hit particularly hard, with a daily caseload that’s nearly double the national average. 

Arteaga said during a Tuesday hearing that an affidavit from Bexar County medical director Dr. Junda Woo “weighed heavily in my decision, as well as the fact that the school year for many of our children, including those under 12, has begun.” 

“I don’t do this lightly,” Arteaga said. 

San Antonio officials quickly issued their new mandate. “The pandemic has shown us the importance of in-person learning, but with the highly contagious delta variant now widespread in San Antonio, schools need every tool at their disposal to stay open safely,” Woo said in a statement. “Those tools include universal masking.”

More than 200 children in Texas are currently hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to federal government data. Dallas County officials said over the weekend that children’s hospitals are nearly at capacity, and last week a baby in Houston had to be airlifted to a hospital more than 170 miles away because there were no ICU beds available in the country’s fifth-largest metropolitan area. 

Following the Bexar decision, a Dallas County judge granted a temporary restraining order sought by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, the county’s chief executive. 

“The citizens of Dallas County have and will continue to be damaged and injured by Governor Abbott’s conduct,” civil District Judge Tonya Parker wrote in her ruling. “[Dallas County] Judge [Clay] Jenkins cannot be precluded from implementing the mitigation strategies he believes are sound, reliable, and backed by scientific evidence.”

Jenkins said in a tweet following the decision that he would “get feedback from health, education and business leaders tonight and in the morning with the anticipation of issuing an emergency order tomorrow.”

Abbott’s office said he would fight the San Antonio decision.

“Governor Abbott’s resolve to protect the rights and freedoms of all Texans has not wavered,” a spokesperson for Abbott’s office told the Texas Tribune. “There have been dozens of legal challenges to the Governor’s executive orders—all of which have been upheld in the end. We expect a similar outcome when the San Antonio trial court’s decision is reviewed by the appellate courts.”