No Mandates Voices
Jacobs, Zachary pledge $5,000 each, of ‘private $,’ to fight KCS fed ruling
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and state Rep. Jason Zachary (R-District 14, which includes Farragut) “each pledged $5,000 private dollars to support an association of Knox County parents’ legal battle to end the preliminary injunction requiring masks in Knox County Schools,” a press release from Jacobs’ office stated.
“Knox County Schools’ students are the only ones in the country being federally forced to cover their faces,” Jacobs said. “This fund will help pay one of the best legal teams in the country to fight back against Judge (Ronnie) Greer’s egregious overreach. Taking action like this helps us support parents who want to make choices for their own kids; parents who deserve to be heard.”
The pair made the announcement via social media and a press release from Jacobs’ office Monday, Feb. 28, in support of a 28-page lawsuit filed earlier in the day by Unmask Knox County Kids Association, which is listed as the defendant, along with five Knox County students and their parents — all listed only by their initials.
Those listed are described as being among “the initial class of plaintiffs” in the suit and are being represented by The Dhillon Law Group, “a team who has litigated and won multiple COVID-restriction cases before the United States Supreme Court, including Daily Wire vs. OSHA and South Bay vs. Newsom,” according to the press release.
The suit, which is asking for “declaratory and injunctive relie,f” was filed in U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. According to the lawsuit, local representation is being provided by Jesse D. Nelson of the Nelson Law Group, PLLC.
“We believe that many parents and defenders of liberty will want to add their voice to this fight,” Zachary said. “If the community pulls together, we can end this harmful mandate and put a stop to the negative impacts on our students.”
“Due to procedural considerations, Knox County Board of Education must be named as the Defendant in this lawsuit, just as it was in the September 2021 filing of the plaintiff’s original complaint: that Knox County Schools was in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act by not continuing to require masking during the pandemic,” the Mayor’s office press release stated.
“Of course, suing the school board is not our first choice, but it’s the only way to get the case heard at this point,” Jacobs said in the release.
In addition to naming the Knox County BOE as defendant, four of the five original plaintiffs in the initial lawsuit that led to the mandate, along with Gov. Bill Lee, are listed as “other real parties in interest.”
Any parent or student interested in joining the class of plaintiffs or donating to the defense fund may visit www.UnmaskKnoxCountyKids.org.
It had raised more than $15,000 as of Tuesday morning, March 1.
