A federal class action lawsuit on behalf of all New York state students and those with disabilities has been filed to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul’s statewide school mask mandate.
Patrick Donohue, whose daughter Sarah Jane suffered a severe brain injury due to shaken baby syndrome, and a legal team from The Brain Injury Rights Group filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, it was announced Friday.
The suit seeks a preliminary injunction to stop the continuation of the statewide school mask mandate.
The lawsuit maintains that Hochul's mandate violates the Constitution in the following ways:
- First Amendment violation of the Religious Establishment Clause. The suit claims Dr. Anthony Fauci has tried to establish a "religious Humanist practice" against the "science."
- Fourth Amendment (freedom of liberty).
- Eighth Amendment (freedom from cruel and unusual punishment).
- Ninth Amendment (freedom of parents to direct care of their children).
- Fourteenth Amendment (due process).
The lawsuit also says federal laws — i.e. the Disabilities Education Act, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act — were violated, as were New York state laws ranging from the right to an education, prevention of restraints on children, and illegally adopting a statewide regulation without the state legislature's approval.
"I am not going to sacrifice my daughter, Sarah Jane, to the false Humanist prophets of Governor Hochul and Dr. Fauci!" Patrick Donohue said in a release. "There is no science to support putting a mask restraint on school children throughout the school day and ample evidence it actually harms children.
"Sarah Jane was one of the first two students in the United States to return to school on May 4, 2020, in the middle of the pandemic in New York City and she has not worn a mask in school throughout the COVID-19 crisis! The response by Governor Hochul, Dr. Fauci and other Humanists will go down as the greatest child sacrifice in history due to adult fears!"
Hochul, D-N.Y., called for a mask mandate for both public and private schools in her inaugural address on Aug. 24, when she replaced former Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo who resigned in disgrace amid sexual harassment allegations.
Three days later, the New York State Department of Health filed an emergency regulation mandating masks inside all school buildings, CBS New York reported.
Sarah Jane Donohue, at 5 days old, was violently shaken by her nurse, causing a severe brain injury.
Details of the lawsuit are found on DeMaskClass.com, which also allows families around New York and the nation to join the effort.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.