Public Media from Michigan State University

Court will take new look at masks in religious schools

Photo courtesy of CANVA

A federal appeals court has agreed to reconsider a challenge to COVID-19 mask orders affecting students in a Michigan religious school.

The case involves Resurrection School in Lansing.

But any result would cover other faith-based schools in Michigan and set a precedent in three more states in the 6th Circuit.

Resurrection and some parents sued in 2020, saying a state mask order violated the free exercise of religion.

But a federal judge turned down a request for an injunction, and a three-judge panel at the appeals court affirmed his opinion.

The full appeals court now has agreed to start over. School mask orders now are handled by county health departments, not the state.

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