Court: Mask rule OK at Iowa schools with disabled students

National News

A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the state of Iowa to enforce a law that prevents local schools from imposing mask mandates, except for schools attended by students whose disabilities make them more vulnerable to severe illness if they get COVID-19.

The court found that a mask requirement is a reasonable accommodation for students with such disabilities and allowed a group of parents of disabled children to pursue a lawsuit that seeks to strike down the law.

Two members of a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Omaha found a previous federal judge’s decision to issue an injunction that blocked the state ban on mask mandates was too broad because it applied to all schools. The court sent the case back to the judge to narrow the injunction to apply to the 10 school districts the students attend.

“The issues presented by plaintiffs involve a discrete group of students: those whose disabilities require accommodations in the form of mask requirements in order to safely be present in their schools,” the court wrote. “To remedy plaintiffs’ injury, an injunction is necessary only as applied to their schools and districts.”

The judges sided with the parents and a disability rights group in concluding that their lawsuit can proceed in federal court denying motions by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo to dismiss the case.

The panel found the parents likely will succeed because mask requirements constitute a reasonable modification and schools’ failure to provide this accommodation likely violates the federal Rehabilitation Act.

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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

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