South Carolina Supreme Court Strikes Down City’s School Mask Mandate

South Carolina Supreme Court Strikes Down City’s School Mask Mandate
Columbia, SC Mayor Steve Benjamin speaks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington, on Jan. 24, 2019. Yuri Gripas/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

South Carolina’s Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a school mask mandate in the state’s capital city in the midst of its largest surge in COVID-19 cases since last winter.

In the latest of several such legal cases across a nation where cultural and political clashes have erupted over the COVID-19 response, the court ruled 5-0 to issue a declaratory judgment for South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who brought the case against the city of Columbia.