The South Carolina Supreme Court declared today that Columbia’s school mask mandate violates Proviso 1.108, which banned schools from using state money to enforce mask requirements.
Supreme Court Judges stated that the mandate puts the responsibility on school personnel to enforce it, which would place them at odds to chose between state law or city mandate.
The judges ruled Proviso 1.108 preempted Columbia’s ordinance. The court also ruled that the state legislature’s policy is to allow parents to choose whether or not their kids wear masks is constitutional.
Following the ruling from the State Supreme Court, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson released this statement : “We appreciate the Supreme Court’s quick ruling and its confirmation of our legal arguments. The Court emphasized what we’ve been saying all along, that we are not arguing mask policy, we are arguing the rule of law. The Court has confirmed that a city ordinance cannot conflict with state law.”