San Antonio Wins Lawsuit Against Gov. Abbott and Issue Mask Mandates

As the fight against COVID-19 scales up in Texas, yesterday, Mayor Ron Nirenberg, announced that the City of San Antonio and Bexar County had filed a lawsuit against Gov. Abbott’s insane control of the coronavirus measures in Texas. 

With this, Mayor Nirenberg attempted to take back some control of the coronavirus situation to be able to impose necessary measures to avoid the spread of the virus. Dallas counties also filed similar lawsuits against Gov. Abbott, with the same objectives.

On Tuesday, two state district judges gave interim authority to local governments in Dallas and Bexar counties to issue mask mandates, a huge setback to Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to restrict local mask orders across Texas. 

In San Antonio, it was Judge Antonia Arteaga who granted the local government a temporary restraining order blocking Gov. Abbott’s insane actions. Hours later, Judge Tonya Parker gave the same power to the local officials of Dallas. Both of these judgments are just transitory. Arteaga’s case will be heard on Monday. Parker’s decision will be in effect until August 24, pending the outcome of the hearing.

“For now, we’re going to take a victory lap. We’re very happy with the result that we got today,” said Joe Gonzales, Bexar County District Attorney.

Abbott’s office stated in a statement following the San Antonio ruling that they expect the city and county’s appeal to Abbott’s order would fail. However, this is a major win for the city of San Antonio, which will be able to be protected by its local government, until the case is solved.