{"id":986024,"date":"2021-11-08T17:29:27","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T22:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=986024"},"modified":"2021-11-08T17:29:29","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T22:29:29","slug":"exclusive-georgia-parents-sue-to-eliminate-school-mask-mandate-to-what-extent-are-you-willing-to-harm-children-how-far-are-you-willing-to-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-georgia-parents-sue-to-eliminate-school-mask-mandate-to-what-extent-are-you-willing-to-harm-children-how-far-are-you-willing-to-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive \u2014 Georgia Parents Sue to Eliminate School Mask Mandate: &#039;To What Extent Are You Willing to Harm Children? How Far Are You Willing to Go?&#039;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">52<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-georgia-parents-sue-to-eliminate-school-mask-mandate-to-what-extent-are-you-willing-to-harm-children-how-far-are-you-willing-to-go%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=986024&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-1231771412-e1636391399669-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Parents in Fulton County, Georgia, are appealing their <a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/11\/Verified-Plaintiffs-Emergency-Complaint-9-17-21-00607705xA4094.pdf\">lawsuit<\/a>&nbsp;against the county\u2019s school board as they seek to ban mask mandates from becoming public policy entirely.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking exclusively with Breitbart News, both the primary plaintiff, Christy McCranie, and an adviser on the case, Philip Holloway, say they intend to charge forward with an appeal after their request for an injunction was <a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/11\/20211004__2021CV354758_Christy-McCranie-et-al.-v.-Fulton-County-School-Board-et-al.__Order-1.pdf\">denied<\/a> by Hon. Eric K. Dunaway of the county\u2019s superior court. McCranie said the plaintiff\u2019s team is currently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/legal-fund-fulton-county-mask-mandate?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&amp;utm_medium=copy_link&amp;utm_source=customer\">raising money<\/a> in order to gear up for the appeal.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThis case is about the Fulton County school system&nbsp;denying an education to these plaintiff children in direct violation of the state constitution,\u201d Holloway explained to Breitbart News, continuing, \u201cthey failed to take into consideration any of the known harms to children associated with mask-wearing all day in class.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Georgia, you have a state constitutional right to a free public education,\u201d Holloway, who is an attorney but not counsel on this case, said. \u201cAnd if you\u2019re having&nbsp;the school system deny that&nbsp;right&nbsp;because they\u2019re forcing you to sit in the classroom, wearing a mask, which causes you all these harms \u2014 just pick whichever harm you want from any of the affidavits \u2014&nbsp;if you\u2019re that student who\u2019s experiencing these harms, and you\u2019re not able to get the education as a result, then the district is denying you your state constitutional rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the request for an injunction was denied, Holloway told Breitbart News that \u201cWe were prepared to lose. We sort of went into this with the mindset that this was always going to wind up in the court of appeals or&nbsp;probably, honestly, at the state supreme court, because whichever side had lost, the other one was going to appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Holloway also told Breitbart News that the goal of the lawsuit is not to prove the efficacy of masks, per se, but rather \u201cthe point of the lawsuit is that masks cause harm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe thing about masks is, you know, whatever your feelings might be \u2026 about whether they are effective or not with respect to any kind of virus transmission, the point is: they are not a benign intervention,\u201d Holloway said. \u201cThere are downsides to masks.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"6.1016949152542\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Epic takedown of the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MaskMandate?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MaskMandate<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FultonCoSchools?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FultonCoSchools<\/a> \u2013 this student lets the entire school board know how <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/masks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#masks<\/a> are ruining school <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/88hb4DNxI6\">pic.twitter.com\/88hb4DNxI6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Philip Holloway \u2696\ufe0f \u2708\ufe0f \ud83d\ude01 (@PhilHollowayEsq) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PhilHollowayEsq\/status\/1448062513753600004?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 12, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Indeed, providing an <a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/11\/EX-B-AFFIDAVIT-FULLY-EXECUTED-Ashley-Loyd-Psy.D.-Original-00607717xA4094.pdf\">affidavit<\/a> for the plaintiffs, clinical psychologist Ashley Loyd said that \u201cIn my practice and the larger community, the number of cases of children with the following conditions has increased: depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-injurious behaviors, suicide attempts, drug use, alcohol abuse, physical\/sexual\/emotional abuse and neglect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt no point in time, apparently, has the school district even considered the harms to children,\u201d Holloway explained. \u201cSo, it\u2019s almost like if they had acknowledged that, they\u2019d have to say,&nbsp;\u2018Well, okay, we\u2019re willing to harm children up to this point, but not beyond this point.\u2019&nbsp;So, where do you draw the line? \u2026 It\u2019s a really slippery slope. And, quite frankly, I can understand why the superintendent doesn\u2019t want to have that discussion, because if you\u2019re willing to harm children, then&nbsp;the next question is,&nbsp;to what extent are you willing to harm children? How far are you willing to go?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Harm to children is exactly what is at the root of this case and why McCranie decided to take action.<\/p>\n<p>Telling Breitbart News how she came to sue the school board, McCranie said, \u201cI ended up getting involved because I was simply willing to stand up at a rally of a bunch of parents and say, \u2018Well, if we want to get something going, legally \u2026 I am happy to spearhead that.\u2019 So, I just offered myself. \u2026 I\u2019m the mom of five, so you just figure out how to get things done. And so, I stood up and said, \u2018I am willing to do that.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAnd our rights are being stripped away slowly on so many different levels,\u201d she continued. \u201cThis is a local issue that I have standing to try and do something about. So, I wanted to protect my kids\u2019 health, and I wanted to protect my kids\u2019 rights and my rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McCranie told Breitbart News that this was her children\u2019s first year in the Fulton County public school system, as she had sent all of her five children to a private Christian school, until they \u201chired a diversity officer\u201d who brought in Critical Race Theory (CRT).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo they were connecting the Bible with CRT, and that was the line for me,\u201d she said. \u201cI graduated three kids from that Christian school, but I pulled the last two and put them in public school \u2026&nbsp;I&nbsp;knew there would be CRT&nbsp;there, but at least they wouldn\u2019t be connecting it with God.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>McCranie, who currently has two children in the Fulton County school system, explained that part of the reason she is suing the school board is the physical, psychological, and social harm put on her and other plaintiffs\u2019 children that, as doctors in the case have attested, can have a long-lasting impact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMasks are definitely making it harder to make friends,\u201d McCranie said, explaining that she would have homeschooled her children as she had during the height of the pandemic, but decided not to as she believed sending them to public school might provide better social benefits. She told Breitbart News that her children are asking questions like \u201c\u2018What is this kid&nbsp;I\u2019m just getting&nbsp;to know? What\u2019s he saying? What\u2019s the look on his face?&nbsp;Is that sarcasm? I don\u2019t know.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Loyd said in her affidavit that&nbsp;\u201cthe mask mandates have negatively reinforced the notion that the world is not safe.\u201d Furthermore, she said, \u201c[c]overing a child\u2019s face mutes \u2026 nonverbal forms of communication and can result in robotic and emotionless interactions, anxiety, depression, as well as a plethora of other mental health issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA part of our society has forgotten to account for the unintended consequences of the shutdowns and mask for school-age children,\u201d Loyd stated. \u201cRather society is focused solely on physical health aspects rather than the full health of the child including mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But McCranie said her children are suffering academically as well. According to McCranie, teachers at her children\u2019s schools are barring the students from asking them to repeat something if they could not understand it due to the mask muffling their voices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe problem is, on top of that, they don\u2019t want you to say \u2018What? What? What?\u2019 all the time [or] \u2018Wait, can you repeat that?&#8217;\u201d she explained. \u201cSo, one of our biggest issues that I\u2019ve seen in the grades going down is that my kids don\u2019t know what they\u2019re getting wrong. They think they\u2019re hearing what the teacher is saying, but they\u2019re getting it wrong because it\u2019s muffled through her mask. \u2026 When you think you understood what she said, and you go home, and you memorize the information, and what you wrote down is wrong because you didn\u2019t hear it right and you weren\u2019t allowed to ask, you\u2019re not going to do well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McCranie also told Breitbart News that her children can see that adults are being \u201cinconsistent and illogical,\u201d which in turn is \u201cshaking their foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, my kids think adults are ridiculous, because they cannot make up their minds,\u201d she explained. \u201c\u2018Are the masks working or are they not working? If they\u2019re working, why don\u2019t I have to wear one when I play basketball? If they\u2019re not working, why do I have to wear one at all? Why are college stadiums, why was the [Atlanta] Braves stadium packed, including Governor Kemp, mask free, but I\u2019ve got to wear one to school?\u2019 They see that what the adults are doing is inconsistent and illogical, and it\u2019s shaking their foundation. \u2026 I think it\u2019s why the depression and the suicide rates in teenagers are going through the roof. There\u2019s just no sense of security, there\u2019s no sense that anybody knows what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018Does anybody even know how to keep me safe?&#8217;\u201d she said the children contemplate. \u201cSo it\u2019s not just, \u2018Are they working in my best interest?\u2019 But,&nbsp;\u2018Does anybody even know the right thing to do?&nbsp;And&nbsp;if not, how am I supposed to know?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McCranie said of Dunaway\u2019s injunction denial that \u201cI felt like he ignored the fact that there are proven medical issues with the masks. I mean, we have doctors saying a kid shouldn\u2019t wear a mask and principals denying their exemptions [from wearing masks].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[The judge] dismiss[ed] the fact that doctors are saying these kids are having trouble,\u201d she continued. \u201cIt should be enough that I\u2019m saying it as a parent, but they approach us like, \u2018Well, you\u2019re probably lying, we need a doctor to say that.\u2019 So then doctors say it, and they\u2019re still completely ignoring it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the decision to deny the plaintiffs\u2019 request, Dunaway said:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"9\">\n<p>Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that they will suffer an irreparable injury if the requested injunction is not granted. Despite Plaintiffs\u2019 contention that \u201cthe Mask Mandate has caused both physical and mental health issues across all ages\u201d and the testimony with respect to their children\u2019s difficulties allegedly caused by mask wearing, there is no evidence to show that any alleged harm is irreparable.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Continuing further, Dunaway cites the \u201cstatus quo\u201d of \u201cpolicy that has already been in place for over a year,\u201d concluding that:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"10\">\n<p>The current status quo is that the Mask Mandate has been in place since the fall of 2020. Accordingly, the Court finds that granting an injunction removing such mandate would disrupt the status quo. \u2026&nbsp;In sum, \u201c[t]he purpose for granting interlocutory injunctions is to preserve the status quo\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In a statement to Breitbart News, the Fulton County Superintendent\u2019s office said,&nbsp;\u201cWe agree with the judge\u2019s ruling, which confirmed our legal position, and will advocate this through the legal process. In the meantime, we will maintain efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic so that we may remain focused on educating our students.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, according to both McCranie and Holloway, the mask mandate had not been in place consistently since the fall of 2020, and had only been reinstated several days prior to school returning. Holloway explained that masks were optional during summer school.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Holloway is not convinced of the judge\u2019s legal argument about \u201cstatus quos\u201d being used as a basis to deny an injunction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis whole thing about the status quo makes no sense whatsoever, because when you have a rule that is suddenly thrust upon you, that we believe is an illegal rule \u2014 so we believe that it violates various parts of the state constitution,\u201d he told Breitbart News. \u201cSo if you can\u2019t&nbsp;file for a restraining order to stop them from continuing to violate your rights, then&nbsp;when can you ever possibly have a successful lawsuit of any kind?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To further the \u201cstatus quo\u201d argument, Dunaway also explained in his injunction denial that \u201ccourts across the country, including a federal district court in Georgia, have routinely declined to enjoin local government mask mandates and have consistently held that there is no constitutional right not to wear a mask.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But when Holloway looks&nbsp;at the jurisprudential landscape across the country, he told Breitbart News that&nbsp;\u201cthese judges who\u2019ve been hearing these cases&nbsp;around the country, really, many of them \u2014&nbsp;if not most \u2014&nbsp;are elected officials, and&nbsp;there\u2019s always some element of politics that creeps into&nbsp;judicial thought processes.\u201d Holloway said, though, that he is not saying politics played a role in this case and he does not \u201cwant to be seen as disparaging this particular judge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since the denial of the injunction, Fulton County schools\u2019 superintendent, Dr. Mike Looney, has made masks optional again given the school district\u2019s low coronavirus caseload, according to Holloway and McCranie. Looney has also mentioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration\u2019s approval of some coronavirus vaccines for persons ages five to 11 as a promising development.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"5.8630136986301\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Masks to be optional in all Fulton County schools starting Monday <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OaZkfbW8Oi\">https:\/\/t.co\/OaZkfbW8Oi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Atlanta Journal-Constitution (@ajc) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ajc\/status\/1454202399703322625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 29, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>When asked if they thought the mask mandate might turn into a vaccine mandate, Holloway told Breitbart News that \u201c[Looney]&nbsp;has&nbsp;said that he\u2019s not going to make&nbsp;[vaccines]&nbsp;mandatory. He is under a lot of pressure from others, though, to do a mandate, but he says he\u2019s not doing that. And I hope he sticks to that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If a vaccine mandate were put in place, however, McCranie said she would fight that just like she is fighting the mask mandate, explaining, \u201cIf you think we\u2019re gonna let you put a vaccine mandate on us next without going to war over it, you\u2019re wrong.&nbsp;I think having kids that young vaccinated for sickness that scientists proved is not harmful to them is absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Looney\u2019s office told Breitbart News that \u201cRegarding vaccines, the district has encouraged our community to get vaccinated for COVID-19 but has not mandated it for employees nor students. We have maintained the decision for students remains with the parent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite Looney making the school district mask-optional again, Holloway explained to Breitbart News that they are moving forward with an appeal anyway, as \u201cIt\u2019s something that\u2019s&nbsp;a legal wrong that was committed by the school that is capable of repetition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As such, the goal of their appeal is to ban mask mandates from returning in the future, and Holloway said he feels optimistic about their prospects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe got&nbsp;good witnesses, we had good evidence,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe law is on our side, I believe, and we believe that very strongly. They didn\u2019t call any witnesses, they put forth no evidence, whatsoever. The only affidavit they submitted was the head school nurse, and it was all hearsay, it was just&nbsp;cut-and-paste&nbsp;CDC guidelines \u2026 They presented zero evidence to rebut our claims that masks cause harm to children. So,&nbsp;the undisputed evidence in the case is that masks are harmful, and they\u2019re doing it anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The case is <em>McCranie, et al. v. Fulton County School Board, et al.<\/em> in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parents in Fulton County, Georgia, are appealing their lawsuit\u00a0against the county\u2019s school board as they seek to ban mask mandates from becoming public policy entirely. Speaking exclusively with Breitbart News, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-986024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=986024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=986024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=986024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=986024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}