Unbelievably, after significant studies and data indicating their inability to prevent viral transmission, masks are making a comeback. Case in point, New Orleans’ Dillard University implemented a two week mask mandate on their first day of classes, August 25, 2023.

Yes, 2023.

Do the students at Dillard have any options? Yes.

If students decide to continue their education at an institution that literally ignores published studies proving the inability of masks to prevent the transmission of a virus, they can fight for their right to refuse under federal law, 21 US CODE 360bbb-3(e)(1)(A)(ii)(iii).

Because masks used for the intended purpose of preventing “the spread of the virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)” are Emergency Use Authorized (EUA), federal law ensures that an individual has a “right to refuse.” As we noted in a letter to Governor John Bel Edwards on May 5, 2021, under federal law, anyone asked to wear a mask for the purpose of preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 must be informed:

(ii) Appropriate conditions designed to ensure that individuals to whom the product is administered are informed–

• (I) that the Secretary has authorized the emergency use of the product;
• (II) of the significant known and potential benefits and risks of such use, and of the extent to which such benefits and risks are unknown; and
• (III) of the option to accept or refuse administration of the product, of the consequences, if any, of refusing administration of the product, and of the alternatives to the product that are available and of their benefits and risks.

Additionally, the law states:

(iii) Appropriate conditions for the monitoring and reporting of adverse events associated with the emergency use of the product.

By the way, the EUA issued by the FDA in April 2020 and the most recent umbrella EUA dated March 6, 2023 require that manufactures’ labeling use language like:

• surgical masks are not intended to provide protection against pathogenic biological airborne particulates and are not recommended for use in aerosol generating procedures and any clinical conditions where there is significant risk of infection through inhalation exposure; and
• Not include statements that would misrepresent the product or create an undue risk in light of the public health emergency. For example, the labeling must not include any express or implied claims for: (1) reuse, (2) antimicrobial or antiviral protection or related uses, (3) infection prevention, infection reduction, or related uses, or (4) viral filtration efficiency.

To date, we are not aware of ANY student, employee, or business owner in the state of Louisiana who has been provided informed consent about this experimental medical intervention from the appropriate authorities. NONE.

Further, the Louisiana Legislature has failed to pass legislation to protect students or employees from forced medical interventions like masks. Again, NONE. Under the leadership of Speaker Clay Schexnayder and Senate President Page Cortez, no legislation was successfully passed to protect Louisiana citizens from medical tyranny.

As the threat of mask mandates are being discussed once more, where does that leave the average Louisianan?

You MUST know your rights!!!

Students, including colleges and universities:

1. Do not comply! Under federal law, you have the right to refuse to wear a mask or take a covid test (also under EUA).
   1. It is important to note that lawsuits are being won by students and families who experienced harm in relation to covid mitigation efforts, including masking, in schools. Do not hesitate to share this information with schools!!
2. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) has not adopted any covid mitigation guidelines for this school year. The Buddy Mincey Law passed in 2020 which required schools to follow adopted guidelines including masking, testing, and contact tracing, was only in effect for “the COVID-19 public health emergency.” Because the original bill language referenced a JBE executive order, the law should not be enacted if another emergency were declared. Even so, mitigation policies would once again have to be adopted – that’s when contacting elected officials and your presence at public meetings would come into play.
3. We are not currently under any public health emergency. The Louisiana Department of Education’s current position is “that parents and local communities should be empowered with the authority and control to make health-related decisions for their children and students.”
4. To our knowledge, the Louisiana Department of Health has not adopted any change to the Louisiana Sanitary Code that would allow them to require masks of students or staff.
5. Unless a parent has requested a 504 accommodation in regards to covid, a healthy child should not be removed from the classroom, in essence violating a constitutionally protected right to an educational environment that is “humane, just, and designed to promote excellence in order that every individual may be afforded an equal opportunity to develop to his full potential.”
6. The Louisiana Medical Consent Law states an adult may refuse medical treatment and a parent may act on behalf of their minor child to consent to medical treatment, which would include the right to refuse treatment for their minor child.
7. State law acknowledges that parents (and students of majority age) have the final say in what medical interventions a child must undergo to attend school by providing an exemption to the only other medical procedure required to attend school: vaccination. RS 17:170(E), which provides a “written dissent” for vaccination requirements, recognizes that parents do not have to perform unwanted or unnecessary medical interventions on their child. In the absence of any statute or rule speaking specifically to the use of masking or testing in schools, RS 17:170(E) should be used as a guide. If you are requested to mask or test to attend school, submit a “written dissent,” simply stating that, “I do not consent to this unwanted medical intervention.”

Employees:

The federal law applies to you too!! Employers should be made aware that they are taking on a risk of injury associated with masking that has not been FDA-approved, especially while there is no declared public health emergency. Many employers are not aware! Have a friendly conversation with your employer now, while the pressure to mandate is not as high.

I contacted our friends at Health Freedom Defense recently for advice and they offered invaluable resources on their website including a notice to employers regarding the federal law. You can find it here:

Notice to Employers

Can an employer fire you for not wearing a mask? Again, Health Freedom Defense answers that question and many others here:

Mask FAQ

Business owners:

The Louisiana Legislature passed several laws removing civil liability for businesses in regards to the covid public health emergency, BUT in order to remain free of liability the business is essentially required to follow public health guidelines. It is questionable if these laws will go into effect should another covid public health emergency be declared since the original bill language specified a specific executive order. We have been in touch with legislators who are researching the issue. Regardless, these laws, RS 9:2800.25 and RS 29:773, created a tort situation that did not exist prior to the passage of the bill. If you are a business owner, contact your legislators and tell them you are concerned about these laws. Business owners should not have to follow arbitrary health guidelines for a respiratory infection to remain free from civil liability.

Additionally, to our knowledge, the Louisiana Department of Health has not adopted any change to the Louisiana Sanitary Code that would allow them to require masks of businesses or their employees.

Patrons:

Is a business requiring you to wear a mask to enter? Do not comply! If possible, spend your dollars elsewhere.

If that is not possible, kindly inform the business owner of the law, perhaps in email to avoid an ugly confrontation. What laws do you have on your side?

1. Again, you have the federal law regarding EUA medical products on your side. Unfortunately, while you can refuse to wear a mask, businesses CAN still deny you entry. But wait! There’s another law you have on your side. . .
2. RS 14:313 prohibits the “wearing of masks, hoods, or other facial disguises in public places…” This law does provide for the wearing of masks for medical purposes but that is an issue for the wearer to determine, not the business owner. We are not under any declared public health emergency that would in any way conflict with this statute. It is against the law to wear a mask, so a business owner cannot ask you to break the law and wear a mask. In other words, a business owner cannot establish a policy that runs counter to state law.
3. If that’s not enough, we can delve into religious protections. What would be a religious objection to wearing a mask? How ‘bout: thou shall not bear false witness. Masks, like covid vaccines, do not prevent transmission of a virus. I, for one, am not going to bear false witness and pretend they do. Which laws protect my right to religious expression in public accommodation?
   1. Article I Section 12 of the Louisiana Constitution states:

      In access to public areas, accommodations, and facilities, every person shall be free from discrimination based on race, religion, or national ancestry and from arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable discrimination based on age, sex, or physical condition.

   2. RS 49 §146.  Facilities to which public invited; discrimination

      A.(1)  In access to public areas, public accommodations, and public facilities, every person shall be free from discrimination based on race, religion, or national ancestry and from arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable discrimination based on age, sex, or physical or mental disability.

      (2)  For purposes of this Section, a public facility is defined as any publicly or privately owned property to which the general public has access as invitees and shall include such facilities open to the public as hotels, motels, restaurants, cafes, barrooms, and places of entertainment or recreation but shall not include any private club

   3. The Louisiana Commission on Human Rights states:

      RS 51 §2247. Public accommodations, resorts, amusements; discriminatory practices prohibited 

      Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, it is a discriminatory practice for a person to deny an individual the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of a place of public accommodation, resort, or amusement, as defined in this Chapter, on the grounds of race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, disability, as defined in R.S. 51:2232, or national origin.

   4. Find a more thorough review of religious protections in a letter to the Louisiana Legislature dated January 21, 2022.

While other states like Florida, Texas, and Utah enjoy protections put in place by their legislature, why are Louisianans STILL concerned about forced masking?!?

Needless to say, none of this would be necessary if the Louisiana Legislature, under the leadership of Speaker Clay Schexnayder and Senate President Page Cortez, had drummed up support for any number of bills introduced over the last several years with the intent to protect Louisianans from just this possibility: the return of mandates. Clay Schexnayder, who has termed out of the House and is running for secretary of state, was undoubtedly one of the most significant stumbling blocks to reopening Louisiana and ending covid tyranny. The idea of Schexnayder continuing in public office as secretary of state is sickening.

Almost the entire pack of gubernatorial candidates chose to remain silent on medical mandates. No legislator running for governor, attorney general, or treasurer – Sharon Hewitt, Scott McKnight, Richard Nelson, John Stefanski – introduced legislation to protect individual freedoms, protect parental rights, or protect employees from mandates. Gubernatorial candidate and current State Treasurer John Schroder never, to our knowledge, made a statement regarding the harms of continued lockdowns despite knowing full well the damage it caused to small businesses.

Additionally, as we noted in a recent article, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) opposed almost all bills over the last several years related to health freedom. Not surprisingly, we are opposed to LABI’s former president, Stephen Waguespack, becoming governor.

Medical tyranny is the number one campaign issue! Did your favorite candidate comply with, or enforce, mask mandates before?!? Make sure you ask that question!!

There is something else you can do . . .

Although the Louisiana Legislature is out of session, there is no time like the present to contact your current state legislators and share your concerns regarding possible mask mandates. Our partners at Stand for Health Freedom have created a call to action that allows you to share your concerns with legislators and gives them a heads up that we will not comply!

Collier County, Florida, has given us a great example of what can be done when we take our concerns about global and federal interference in our lives and take action locally. We often forget that we have the greatest influence on our nearest surroundings.

Collier County is an example of what can be done to protect our families, schools, and jobs from federal or even state mandates that infringe on the freedom our Founders intended. Again, our amazing partners at Stand for Health Freedom have provided Collier County’s blueprint for preserving “Local Sovereignty and Health Freedom,” which includes an ordinance outlining a Health Freedom Bill of Rights, as well as, a Health Freedom Resolution.

NOW is the time to approach your local parish councils and school boards to pass something like this . . .

Jill Hines is CEO of Louisiana Health Freedom. See her Substack page here.