A Florida judge has overturned a ruling that denied an injunction to stop a mask mandate in one of the state's counties.
First District Court of Appeal Judge A.S. Tanenbaum on Friday reversed an earlier ruling that denied an emergency injunction to end the mandate in Alachua County.
Tanenbaum added the case should be dismissed because the mandate no longer is in effect.
"It's great vindication,” attorney Jeff Childers, who filed the appeal on behalf of plant nursery owner Justin Green, told the Gainseville Sun.
"I've been following this issue closely and I'm pretty sure this is the first appellate ruling in the entire country against the masks. I think we have something historic here."
Green centered his case on mask requirements being a violation of privacy.
Tanenbaum ruled that Eighth Circuit Judge Donna M. Keim did not apply the "strict scrutiny" required by the Florida Supreme Court in considering injunctions that are sought based on privacy.
"The right of privacy is a 'fundamental' one, expressly protected by the Florida Constitution, and any law that implicates it 'is presumptively unconstitutional,'" Tanenbaum wrote. "If a challenged law implicates a privacy right, the burden shifts to the government 'to prove that the law further[s] a compelling state interest in the least restrictive way.'"
An Alachua County spokesman told the Sun that county officials believed they could have met those standards.
"[Keim] used a rational basis and determined that privacy was not impacted by the county’s masking mandate," spokesman Mark Sexton said. "This reversal suggests the constitution is impacted and that on the mandate, we would be held to a high standard. Had the mandate still been in place we would have to prove to the court that there was a compelling government interest. We feel like we could have done that."
Alachua County commissioners in the spring of 2020 passed an order that demanded businesses require employees and customers to wear masks.
In May 2020, Green filed for an emergency injunction to stop the mandate, citing privacy and civil rights. Keim denied the injunction, which led to Childers' appealed.
The Sun said Tanenbaum was appointed to the bench by Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who generally opposed mask mandates.
"One consequence for being caught without a mask was a fine," Tanenbaum wrote. "Another consequence was being subjected to whispering informants, impelled by county-designed publicity like the following signage encouraging citizens to inform on their disobedient neighbors.
"The threat of government-sponsored shaming was not an idle one."
Childers said DeSantis has tended to appoint judges considered "strict constitutionalists" – something that might have helped the appeal in this case.
"I was appealing to the literal language of the Florida Constitution’s right to privacy. It's very simple — just one line," Childers said. "For all those people who wished for Justin’s death and his business to fail, I hope he feels a little vindicated by this."
DeSantis used his executive powers May 3 to suspend all local COVID-19 orders in the state, effective immediately.
He also signed a bill limiting local governments' ability to shut down businesses and schools during an emergency. The governor said the bill was "evidence-based."
"I think folks that are saying they need to be policing people at this point — if you're saying that, you really are saying you don't believe in the vaccines," DeSantis said.
"You don't believe in the data, you don't believe in the science. We've embraced the vaccines. We've embraced the science on it."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.