The Texas Supreme Court issued an order Friday instructing Dallas County at Law Judge D’Metria Benson to immediately rescind her standing court order requiring lawyers, witnesses, jurors and others in her courtroom to wear masks.
“The Court disapproves of any such policy in any Texas courtroom,” a three-page order signed by all nine justices released Friday states. “The Court hereby directs Judge Benson to immediately withdraw her face mask requirement.”
A Dallas trial lawyer filed an official complaint earlier this month stating that the standing order needed to be struck down because it “lacks any supporting legal authority” and infringes “on the constitutional right to a fair trial by jury by inhibiting the jury’s role in assessing witness credibility.”
Judge Benson responded in a letter to the state’s highest court that her standing order requiring face masks for all participants in her courtroom is necessary to protect a personal health condition that makes her “highly susceptible to infection.”
Friday’s order stated that the high court “carefully considered Judge Benson’s responses and expresses its sympathy for her health challenges.”
“Nevertheless, the facial visibility of courtroom participants is an essential feature of a properly functioning justice system,” the justices wrote. “In addition, public access to courtrooms, to the extent reasonably possible, is essential to our justice system. Moreover, requiring all those present in a publicly accessible workplace to wear face masks to accommodate one person’s health vulnerability is not the kind of reasonable measure contemplated by state or federal employment laws.”
“In the absence of a major public health emergency, requiring face masks in a courtroom—or using the court’s power to pressure courtroom attendees to wear face masks — unduly interferes with essential functions of the Texas judiciary and is otherwise an unfair and unduly burdensome imposition on those present in a courtroom,” the order states.
Brian Hail, a partner at Kane Russell Logan Coleman who represents products liability and medical malpractice trial lawyer Scott Frenkel, told The Texas Lawbook the Texas justices did the right thing.
“Today, the Supreme Court of Texas unanimously reaffirmed that the law applies equally to everyone, including the judiciary,” Hail said. “We are pleased that the Court took this issue seriously and acted promptly to protect the civil liberties of all courtroom participants and visitors in County Court at Law No. 1.”
The justices stated that the supreme court order “does not prohibit Judge Benson from taking reasonable precautions to protect her health, including wearing a mask herself or taking other steps to mitigate any risk to her health, so long as those precautions do not impose undue burdens on others or on the proper functioning of the court.”