At press time, Broward County Public Schools voted 8-1 to keep mask mandate in place.
By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.
Congressional candidate Elvin Dowling a first-time candidate for public office, who is far from being just another career politician, filed a lawsuit on Friday against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis regarding DeSantis’ recent executive order allowing funding to be withheld from schools that choose to impose mask mandates.
A resident of Broward County, Reverend Elvin Dowling has quietly worked to better the lives of the “least of these”. His volunteering in Broward County Public Schools, lets him see firsthand the challenges facing our children and the system.
According to a copy of the lawsuit that Dowling shared on his campaign website, the Democrat supposed the executive order violated his rights under the state constitution’s due process clause by averting Florida’s school boards “from taking necessary and reasonable precautions such as a mask mandate” in the continuing coronavirus pandemic.
Dowling’s lawsuit, which lists Dowling and his three school-aged children as plaintiffs, also stated the executive order “violates their right to learn in a public school that provides a safe, secure and high-quality education to them and other students” as defined in the state constitution.
The case was assigned to one court and at press time it has been reassigned to another court. There was hope for an initial ruling today 8-10-21 to either a) rule in our favor outright, b) toss out the suit or c) delay ruling for a later date. It is understood that an emergency petition for injunctive relief has been filed and it is marked as urgent in the court.
DeSantis signed the executive order to which Dowling’s lawsuit referred on July 30. It demanded that the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Education work together to implement virus safety protocols that “do not violate Floridians’ constitutional freedoms.” The executive order in particular blocked any safety set of rules.
It seems like forever since a Rabbi and a Reverend have joined forces in a civil liberties case in Florida in quite some time. Attorney, Rabbi Barry Silver is a civil rights lawyer that also has a personal stake in this. He is suffering from cancer and his wife is a teacher, putting his life in danger by teaching.
Dowling stated, “We would like to issue a call to action throughout the state. Supporters will be urged to express their discontent with this Executive order by speaking out at their school board meetings and calling their state legislators as well as write letters to the editors of newspapers.”
