A court did what the Arkansas Legislature wouldn't last week, temporarily lifting a state ban on government-mandated masks.
The cities of Little Rock and Fayetteville have already reimposed local mask orders intended to combat the spread of covid-19. Other jurisdictions are expected to do so soon.
They can because Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox on Friday barred enforcement of the statewide ban that just recently became effective.
Act 1002 of 2021 easily passed both chambers of the Legislature and was signed into law in April by Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The governor has since expressed regret over its passage and last week called the Legislature into special session to try to amend it.
His change of heart came as covid-19 cases mounted and hospitalizations increased statewide.
What he asked the Legislature to do was to allow local school boards to decide whether to require masks in their districts, specifically to protect children under 12 years old who are currently ineligible for vaccination against covid-19.
The Legislature refused any change in the law and had adjourned the special session on Friday when Fox ruled Act 1002 unconstitutional on several different grounds.
The judge found that the Arkansas law discriminates against public-school children, usurps judicial authority, limits gubernatorial emergency powers and infringes on the power of county officials. His ruling reopened the opportunity for other governmental entities, not just school districts, to require masks.
The ruling is temporary, pending completion of a trial in the matter or action by the state Supreme Court on appeal.
The court challenge was originally brought by two parents of children too young to be vaccinated. The Little Rock and Marion school districts had filed a separate lawsuit and two Pulaski County officials sought to intervene in the case. Judge Fox heard all of the plaintiffs on Friday.
Both lawsuits were filed last week, one before the governor called the Legislature into special session and the other as lawmakers met. A trial has not yet been scheduled, but Fox said he will expedite the process, anticipating an inevitable appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
State Attorney General Leslie Rutledge had not, as of early Tuesday, announced her intent to appeal the temporary injunction. But Gov. Hutchinson, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, has indicated he might respond separately from Rutledge's anticipated response on behalf of the legislative leaders also named as defendants in the litigation.
So, what happens next?
Last week's whirlwind of activity from the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government will be followed by the local government response to the court's action.
It will differ from city to city, county to county and school district to school district, depending on how strong local passions are and which side of the mask argument prevails with the different city councils, county quorum courts and local school boards.
Simply put, some Arkansans will be more protected than others against the spread of the coronavirus.
The pro-mask/anti-mask debate that played out before legislative committees last week will resume, if it hasn't already, in city halls and school board chambers throughout the state.
The Fayetteville School Board, for example, on Monday voted to require masks in that district and votes are expected this week by other school boards around the state.
The strong sentiments that drove the Legislature's refusal to change Act 1002 are definitely still out there, fueled by some of the same passions that have caused such a divide over vaccinations in this state.
For the record, after Fox's ruling, Gov. Hutchinson apparently could have used his emergency powers to order a statewide mandate for masks in the schools or elsewhere, but he did not.
If there are to be new mandates, even temporarily, they will come from local government.
That, of course, includes the school districts where time is most critical. School begins Monday in most of the state's districts.
Thousands of Arkansas students will return to the classroom, some masked and some not, despite the continuing threat from covid-19 and its highly contagious Delta variant.