Protesters claim mask mandate unconstitutional, but ruling says otherwise

Students parents and other members of the public held a protest in front of the Columbia Falls High School Friday afternoon, claiming that wearing masks to guard against coronavirus in schools should be optional.

The protest was organized by senior Emma Upton.

Even though Upton has just a few weeks of school left in her high school career, she said she was protesting “for future generations.”

Upton claimed the mask mandate was unconstitutional.

“Your health should be up to you,” she said as she held a sign that said “students for optional masks.”

Others held signs with a religious theme.

“The Lord protects me, not a mask!” one read.

But previous case law suggests that masks are indeed, constitutional.

The case most cited by law scholars dates back to 1905. In Jacobson v. Massachusetts, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the state’s smallpox vaccination laws. Cambridge Pastor Henning Jacobson argued the law was unconstitutional.

The court disagreed, 7-2.

“While this court should guard with firmness every right appertaining to life, liberty or property as secured to the individual by the Supreme Law of the Land, it is of the last importance that it should not invade the domain of local authority except when it is plainly necessary to do so in order to enforce that law. The safety and the health of the people of Massachusetts are, in the first instance, for that Commonwealth to guard and protect. They are matters that do not ordinarily concern the national government. So far as they can be reached by any government, they depend, primarily, upon such action as the state in its wisdom may take, and we do not perceive that this legislation has invaded any right secured by the federal Constitution,” the court found.

The mask mandate in School District 6 has become a point in the upcoming school election. Upton’s grandfather,

Wayne Jacobsmeyer is running for a seat on the board and he, too, objects to the mask mandate.

Jacobsmeyer attended the protest.

The debate aside, some schools have started to lift mask mandates. Libby recently lifted its mask mandate as did Troy and Bigfork. Wearing masks will become optional on school grounds in Libby starting May 3; face coverings will still be mandatory in classrooms with students and staff who are especially susceptible to the virus.

If Libby schools see more than 10 cases of unknown origin, they could reinstate the mandate, the Western News reported. Columbia Falls school officials note that with the mask requirements in place, there has been little, if any, student- to-student transmission of the disease and overall, the number of cases at schools, particularly among students, has been low.

Some students thought wearing a mask was the best option.

Caleb Reinsberg watched the protest from the parking lot. “Obviously no one wants to wear a mask, but just do it. We don’t want (the pandemic) to go on any longer,” he said. He also noted that some get around the mask mandate anyway by wearing masks that are mesh material.

Reinsberg and several friends said they also planned on getting vaccinated.

The link to the 1905 Supreme Court case is here: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/ us/197/11/