HARRISBURG – The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania will hear oral arguments on the statewide school mask mandate on Dec. 8, pitting opponents of the mandate including a Republican gubernatorial candidate and Senate President pro tempore, versus the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf.
Five justices from the state Supreme Court issued a per curiam order on Nov. 30 that the mask mandate, which the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania previously ruled three weeks ago was unenforceable and had to be eliminated by Dec. 4, would instead be reinstated until the state’s high court hears the case next Wednesday.
“The emergency application to reinstate automatic supersedeas is granted in part. The order of the Commonwealth Court at No. 294 M.D. 2021 dated Nov. 16, 2021, granting the application to terminate automatic stay, and lifting automatic supersedeas effective Dec. 4, 2021, is hereby vacated in light of this Court’s order of the same date noting probable jurisdiction, expediting briefing and scheduling oral argument for Dec. 8, 2021,” the Supreme Court order stated.
“Supersedeas is reinstated pending further consideration of the Court following oral argument. Nothing in this order shall be construed as a position regarding the merits of this appeal.”
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Justice Sallie Updyke Mundy dissented from the order, while fellow Justice Thomas G. Saylor did not participate in the decision.
The Commonwealth Court had ruled on Nov. 10 that an order issued by Secretary of Health Alison Beam, which took effect in September and mandated that students, teachers and support staff in all Pennsylvania public schools, private schools and child care facilities wear face coverings when inside, regardless of vaccination status, was unenforceable.
The Commonwealth Court ruling did not prevent school districts from imposing their own mask mandates, but the state Department of Health immediately appealed and received an automatic stay of the mandate being lifted.
The plaintiffs opposed that automatic stay, and the state Supreme Court granted the Department of Health’s petition to maintain the stay, until it renders its own decision subsequent to hearing oral arguments.
State Sen. Jake Corman, Rep. Jesse Topper, Calvary Baptist Church, Hillcrest Christian Academy and 10 parents of schoolchildren in three different school districts statewide (Wyomissing Area, Butler Area and Slippery Rock Area) first filed suit in the Commonwealth Court in September against the Wolf Administration, including Beam.
The plaintiffs argued that her order was invalid since it did not proceed through the state’s regulatory review process and due to recently-approved amendments to the Pennsylvania Constitution curtailing Wolf’s emergency powers, and the Commonwealth Court agreed with that rationale.
Corman is currently running as a Republican candidate for governor.
A spokesperson for Wolf issued a statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“As our top priority remains protecting the health and safety of schoolchildren and staff, we're pleased that the Supreme Court has granted the administration's request to extend the stay of the Commonwealth Court's decision while the Supreme Court hears the appeal. That said, nothing changes and the masking mandate remains in place,” Wolf Administration Press Secretary Elizabeth Rementer said.
Wolf had initially expressed the need for a universal, statewide order after many of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts did not impose their own mask mandates and due to several thousand students having tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the new school year.
Wolf announced last month that he would return authority over mask mandates to local school districts in January.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania case 83 MAP 2021
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania case 294 M.D. 2021
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com