Bedford County’s District Attorney is joining other district attorneys across the state when it comes to masks in schools
DA Lesley Childers-Potts says her office will not prosecute violations of Gov. Tom Wolf’s school mask mandate,
Childers-Potts says the mandate is unenforceable as it is currently written.
“I will not authorize a citation or any criminal consequences where a child is not wearing a mask in school,” Childers-Potts said. “The mandate as it is currently written, is unenforceable, and there are many DA’s across the state that agree on this issue. The language leaves too many exceptions and is open to too many interpretations, and is therefore much too subjective to be enforced.”
She stresses that her refusal to prosecute only applies to criminal liability regarding the mask mandate.
Bedford County Sheriff Wayne Emerick shared his support for Childers-Potts decision.
“I agree that the mandate is vague and unenforceable. I will not be sending my deputies to any Bedford County schools to issue any citations for violations of the mandate,” Emerick said.
Locally, Childers-Potts joins the district attorneys in Blair, Somerset and Clearfield counties.
“The decision about what is best for our children should lie in the hands of our schools and especially the parents and guardians. Our school districts should not be forced to make decisions based on fear that they may lose funding just because they didn’t force a small child to wear a mask,”
