On September 11, 2020, we filed a lawsuit against Williamson County Schools and Superintendent Jason Golden. Our plea to the court was to restrict the schools from making rules requiring masks as they had no statutory authority to do so. As many of you well know, courts do not move fast. And finally, on April 30, 2021, the judge filed his order with the court.
Litigation is still pending in this case as new plaintiffs have now filed an intervening complaint. Why? Because the judge dismissed the case on standing. However, the judge did give an alternate ruling on the merits of the case. And here are a few quotes from his ruling.
“As stated in more detail below, this Court is not convinced as a matter of law WCBOE acted within its statutory authority at the time it promulgated its face-covering requirements, and the Court is particularly unconvinced WCBOE has continuing authority to enforce its face-covering requirements…”
“…WCBOE’s continued enforcement of face-covering requirements is not viable.”
“With respect to WCBOE’s authority to issue a face-covering requirement, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss or for Summary Judgment is alternatively DENIED. The Court cannot find, as a matter of law, Defendants have acted within the authority given to them by the legislature when enacting face-covering requirements.”
Regarding the merits of our argument and disregarding the issue of standing, the court was clearly unimpressed with the state’s defense of its ability to continue the requirements for face-coverings in schools. And this has precisely been our argument all along.
The question we are asking is incredibly important to sustaining our constitutional form of government and ensuring that the powers of government remain limited in scope and strictly adhered to as set forth by the Tennessee Constitution and state statutes enacted by our General Assembly. In particular, school boards and school administrators do not get to make rules simply because they feel it is a good idea, or because someone issued some arbitrary guideline, or because they are elected by the people. The authority of school board members is limited by state law. And that law must be adhered to at all times. Otherwise, we no longer have a government of the people.
As we are now approaching the 2021-2022 school year, local school districts are once again considering face-covering requirements in schools, especially for students who have not received a vaccination for COVID-19. Rutherford County Schools has already committed to enforcing this policy for the upcoming school year. And for so many reasons, some of which have already been mentioned, this is just unacceptable. We cannot simply sit back and accept this tyranny and direct threat to freedom, individual liberties, and parental rights. (UPDATE: It has come to our attention that a decision has been made to make mask-wearing optional and a choice to be made by parents.)
Right now in Tennessee, citizens are left to themselves to protect their freedoms by using the courts and putting pressure on school board members to act appropriately. The General Assembly has refused to act on this issue even though per Article XI, Section 12 of the Tennessee Constitution, the General Assembly has direct control over the public school system.
Moreover, Governor Bill Lee refuses to come to the aid of families and students by forcing school administrations to follow the law. Governors in South Carolina, Iowa, Utah, Georgia, and Texas (and possibly others) have already issued executive orders in their respective states restricting the ability of public schools to issue these requirements. Utah and Iowa have now since passed legislation that has been signed into law. In Tennessee? Crickets.
But make no mistake. These requirements are unlawful. And as parents, you have a direct and personal God-given responsibility to manage the health, safety, and welfare of your own children. We cannot allow the state to continue to usurp those God-ordained, natural parental rights. Additionally, we can no longer allow elected officials to make rules by which they have no legal authority to make. By definition, this is tyranny. And it will not stop until you stop consenting.
So, we sent the following letters along with a copy of the court order from Williamson County as an effort to notify school board members across the state of Tennessee that continuing requirements for face-coverings is unlawful and could subject them to future legal action. Moreover, as elected officials would now knowingly be exceeding their statutory authority, it has been suggested by constitutional law attorneys that they could lose their governmental immunity and be held personally liable for damages in making these requirements.
Now by mail, email, and other forms of media, school board members have been notified of the potential for liability and at the very least, called into question on their authority to continue issuing rules that require face-coverings by a Tennessee chancery court judge.
“Tennessee Stands has issued this letter to the chair of all 140 school districts in the State of Tennessee for the purpose of placing these local educational agencies on notice that absent any grant of specific legislative authority, any action to implement forced face-covering requirements on students attending public schools in this state will be challenged, and to further apprize school boards and local school officials of the potential for individual liability under 42 U.S.C.§ 1983 for imposing any disciplinary action against students who fail or refuse to comply with such requirements in the future.”
Notification of Potential Legal Action to Tennessee School Board Members
Public schools in the state of Tennessee have no authority whatsoever to require students to wear masks. We have been saying this from the beginning, even as school districts were formulating their reopening plans for Fall 2020.
I recorded this video back in September 2020. If you haven’t seen it, please take a moment to watch. You’ll see very quickly that even school districts have absolutely no idea where their authority comes from. They are just making this stuff up as they go. And for those making the argument that these arbitrary rules are simply part of the dress code, here is a document from the FDA clearly defining face-coverings as medical devices.
On September 11, 2020, we filed a lawsuit against Williamson County Schools and Superintendent Jason Golden. Our plea to the court was to restrict the schools from making rules requiring masks as they had no statutory authority to do so. As many of you well know, courts do not move fast. And finally, on April 30, 2021, the judge filed his order with the court.
Litigation is still pending in this case as new plaintiffs have now filed an intervening complaint. Why? Because the judge dismissed the case on standing. However, the judge did give an alternate ruling on the merits of the case. And here are a few quotes from his ruling.
Regarding the merits of our argument and disregarding the issue of standing, the court was clearly unimpressed with the state’s defense of its ability to continue the requirements for face-coverings in schools. And this has precisely been our argument all along.
The question we are asking is incredibly important to sustaining our constitutional form of government and ensuring that the powers of government remain limited in scope and strictly adhered to as set forth by the Tennessee Constitution and state statutes enacted by our General Assembly. In particular, school boards and school administrators do not get to make rules simply because they feel it is a good idea, or because someone issued some arbitrary guideline, or because they are elected by the people. The authority of school board members is limited by state law. And that law must be adhered to at all times. Otherwise, we no longer have a government of the people.
As we are now approaching the 2021-2022 school year, local school districts are once again considering face-covering requirements in schools, especially for students who have not received a vaccination for COVID-19. Rutherford County Schools has already committed to enforcing this policy for the upcoming school year. And for so many reasons, some of which have already been mentioned, this is just unacceptable. We cannot simply sit back and accept this tyranny and direct threat to freedom, individual liberties, and parental rights. (UPDATE: It has come to our attention that a decision has been made to make mask-wearing optional and a choice to be made by parents.)
Right now in Tennessee, citizens are left to themselves to protect their freedoms by using the courts and putting pressure on school board members to act appropriately. The General Assembly has refused to act on this issue even though per Article XI, Section 12 of the Tennessee Constitution, the General Assembly has direct control over the public school system.
Moreover, Governor Bill Lee refuses to come to the aid of families and students by forcing school administrations to follow the law. Governors in South Carolina, Iowa, Utah, Georgia, and Texas (and possibly others) have already issued executive orders in their respective states restricting the ability of public schools to issue these requirements. Utah and Iowa have now since passed legislation that has been signed into law. In Tennessee? Crickets.
But make no mistake. These requirements are unlawful. And as parents, you have a direct and personal God-given responsibility to manage the health, safety, and welfare of your own children. We cannot allow the state to continue to usurp those God-ordained, natural parental rights. Additionally, we can no longer allow elected officials to make rules by which they have no legal authority to make. By definition, this is tyranny. And it will not stop until you stop consenting.
So, we sent the following letters along with a copy of the court order from Williamson County as an effort to notify school board members across the state of Tennessee that continuing requirements for face-coverings is unlawful and could subject them to future legal action. Moreover, as elected officials would now knowingly be exceeding their statutory authority, it has been suggested by constitutional law attorneys that they could lose their governmental immunity and be held personally liable for damages in making these requirements.
Now by mail, email, and other forms of media, school board members have been notified of the potential for liability and at the very least, called into question on their authority to continue issuing rules that require face-coverings by a Tennessee chancery court judge.
“Tennessee Stands has issued this letter to the chair of all 140 school districts in the State of Tennessee for the purpose of placing these local educational agencies on notice that absent any grant of specific legislative authority, any action to implement forced face-covering requirements on students attending public schools in this state will be challenged, and to further apprize school boards and local school officials of the potential for individual liability under 42 U.S.C.§ 1983 for imposing any disciplinary action against students who fail or refuse to comply with such requirements in the future.”
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Gary Humble
Gary Humble