There’s an update to the ongoing court battle over Governor Ron DeSantis’ prohibition on local school mask mandates. You’ll recall that Circuit Judge John Cooper of the Second Circuit in Tallahassee initially tossed the prohibition and then later removed the automatic stay on his ruling.
The First District Court of Appeals has now tossed Judge Cooper’s lifting of the automatic stay, reinstating the governor’s prohibition pending disposition on the merits. Judges Harvey L. Jay, Stephanie W. Ray, and A. S. Tanenbaum expressed “serious doubts about standing, jurisdiction, and other threshold matters.” The panel believes that these doubts “significantly militate against the likelihood of the appellees’ ultimate success in this appeal.”
The order reinstating the prohibition can be found here. The First DCA’s docket on the case is here.
Under Rule 9.310 of the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, a stay is automatically imposed when “the state, any public officer in an official capacity, board, commission, or other public body seeks review” of an adverse ruling. There are exceptions to the rule including criminal cases and administrative actions under the APA. The lower court must be petitioned to vacate the automatic stay. You can read the rule here.