Texas attorney general threatens legal action against schools that try to mitigate the spread of COVID and monkeypox

As courses resume of for the 2022-2023 faculty yr, the Texas state authorities despatched menacing letters to public faculty districts all through the state final week threatening to prosecute any faculty officers who try and mitigate the unfold of infectious ailments like COVID and monkeypox.  

With the Democratic Get together and the academics’ unions absolutely backing the murderous “let it rip” COVID coverage of the Biden administration, essentially the most far-right and fascistic forces within the nation, amongst them Texas governor Greg Abbott and his accomplices, really feel they now have a free hand to hold out essentially the most deranged and murderous provocations with impunity.

Texas legal professional common Ken Paxton’s letter cites an govt order signed by Abbott in July of final yr. Amongst different provisions, the order said: “No governmental entity, together with a county, metropolis, faculty district, and public well being authority, and no authorities official might require any particular person to put on a face protecting or to mandate that one other particular person put on a face protecting.” 

The order additionally mandated that no enterprise might place restrictions on anybody associated to COVID.  The order additional prevented any public or non-public entity receiving funds from the state to require a COVID vaccination, or to require documentation of vaccination standing.  Anybody not complying with the order is topic to a $1,000 fantastic.

The order was initially in response to efforts by native officers in city areas in Texas, the second most populous US state, to impose restricted mitigation measures in defiance of the state authorities within the early phases of the pandemic. Lina Hidalgo, County Decide for Harris County, the place Houston is situated, had insisted on restricted mitigation efforts, for which she was focused by right-wing extremists. (In Texas, a county choose is the elected chief govt of a county.)

Paxton’s letter is undisguised in its adversarial hostility in direction of public faculties basically. Citing Abbott’s govt orders, Paxton warns towards any efforts to problem state coverage in courtroom, gloating that “all courtroom orders purporting to cease the Governor’s orders have been blocked.”  He states that Abbott’s govt orders have “the total power and impact of regulation, and supersede native laws.” He ends the letter with the assertion that “mother and father can ship their kids to public faculties with out worrying about new masks mandates.”

Within the face of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, now compounded with the unchecked unfold of monkeypox, Paxton and Abbott are doing their greatest to make sure that extra individuals, together with kids, will develop into contaminated.

On the similar time that they work to make sure that infectious ailments unfold unchecked in faculties, the Texas state authorities is actively dismantling any infrastructure for monitoring COVID infections, in keeping with nationwide efforts by the Biden administration and Democratic and Republican state governments across the nation. At this level it’s inconceivable to find out what number of kids have been contaminated with COVID in Texas this yr, as public faculties are now not required to report that info.  There might be no new information for the 2022-2023 faculty yr.

Paxton has already filed lawsuits towards faculty districts that require college students to put on masks.  This consists of districts serving college students in Richardson, Spherical Rock, Galveston, Elgin, Spring, Sherman, Waco, and Paris.

As of August 25, 118 instances of monkeypox have been confirmed in Travis County, which accommodates the capital of Austin. As of August 26, 427 instances have been confirmed in Houston, whereas Dallas County has 476 instances.

Abbott and Paxton are fascistic figures, aligned with Trump’s January 6 coup try, who vie with different right-wing extremists equivalent to Florida’s Ron Desantis for the nationwide highlight as they implement essentially the most reactionary measures. These measures are geared toward dragging official discourse as far to the precise as potential, whereas demonstrating to the monetary oligarchy their readiness to hold out essentially the most excessive measures, as much as and together with mass homicide, in protection of company pursuits.

Amongst Abbott’s different govt orders was his vicious July 7 govt order purporting to authorize state authorities to maneuver undocumented migrants to the US-Mexico border, which overtly defied federal regulation and the authority of the Biden administration.

The Texas Republicans have additionally seized on the Supreme Court docket’s ruling abolishing the federal proper to abortion in June to implement essentially the most aggressive, brutal restrictions. In July, a gaggle of Texas legislators went as far as to ship a threatening letter to a regulation agency that deliberate to reimburse journey prices for workers who obtained abortions out of state, claiming that it will be unlawful to take action.

Abbot was a featured speaker on the overtly fascistic CPAC convention in August, which gave a standing ovation to an anti-Semitic, violent, authoritarian speech by Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban, who denounced “race-mixing” and declared that the “globalist” left couldn’t be fought by “liberal means.”

Paxton himself, who has been state Lawyer Basic since 2015, has been underneath indictment for many of his time in workplace on state securities fraud fees. Paxton has additionally been accused of bribery and abuse of workplace by high-ranking members of the Lawyer Basic’s workplace.

However within the closing evaluation, Paxton’s gloating, threatening, menacing letter wouldn’t have been potential with out the total embrace by the Democratic Get together and the academics’ unions of Trump’s “let it rip” COVID coverage, from Biden on down.

On the nationwide degree, the Biden administration has reneged on all of Biden’s election guarantees to “observe the science” with regard to the pandemic, as an alternative doubling down on Trump’s coverage of permitting the virus to rampage unhindered by the inhabitants. The Texas Democrats have adopted go well with, dropping their token help for restricted mitigation measures and supporting the murderous “again to highschool” drive. In the meantime, the academics’ unions in Texas and all through the nation, removed from combating towards the unfold of COVID, have led the cost for “faculty reopening.”

Thus far, no outstanding Democrat or union official in Texas has made any public statements opposing Paxton’s deranged letter.