TOPEKA — The Legislature’s attempt to promote “legal anarchy” in response to COVID-19 precautions in public schools is unconstitutional, a Johnson County District Court judge ruled Thursday.
District Judge David Hauber also determined the entirety of Senate Bill 40 is unenforceable, effectively wiping out a Republican-led charge to restrict the governor’s oversight of emergencies. The decision is a response to novel legal challenges filed by parents upset with mask mandates and other policies in the Shawnee Mission school district.
In a 27-page ruling, Hauber relentlessly criticizes the Legislature’s disregard for due process and separation of branches of government, as well as the attorney general’s “fantastical” legal arguments.
