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Virginia school systems sue to stop Youngkin’s mask-optional order

By Will Vitka

Seven Virginia school districts have filed suit against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order leaving masking decisions to parents.

The school boards of Alexandria, Arlington County, the City of Richmond, Fairfax County, Falls Church, Hampton and Prince William County filed the suit on Monday.

The lawsuit argues the state constitution gives local school boards the authority to run their districts. It also cites a state law that requires school systems to follow federal health guidelines, which include recommendations for universal masking.

And in a released statement, the Falls Church board said the suit “defends the right of school boards to enact policy at the local level, including policies that protect the health and well-being of all students and staff.”

The lawsuit states: “At issue is whether locally-elected school boards will maintain the exclusive authority and responsibility conferred upon them by Article VIII, Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia to supervise the public schools in their respective school divisions or whether the Governor can unilaterally infringe upon that authority through an executive order.”

In a statement, Prince William County School Board Chairman Babur Lateef said it was the system’s “highest priority to have students learning in-person” as well as protecting students and staff amid the ongoing COVID pandemic.

“It is also important that school boards retain their local decisional authority to take actions deemed necessary for the safety of their school community,” Lateef said.

“With this legal filing, we do not seek to make a political statement. We simply seek clarification on the conflict between the Governor’s recent Executive Order and existing state and federal law. Due to the confusion this has caused our families and our schools, we are seeking answers from the court as rapidly as possible. As Gov. Youngkin also stated, we ask our community to please support our principals until the courts have resolved the question. We all want to move beyond COVID-19, including masking requirements, and we will do so when possible, in a thoughtful and safe manner for all.”

In response to the suit, Youngkin said, “We will continue to protect parents’ fundamental right to make decisions with regard to their child’s upbringing, education and care.”

Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter said the administration was disappointed.

“The governor and attorney general are in coordination and are committed to aggressively defending parents’ fundamental right to make decisions with regard to their child’s upbringing, education and care, as the legal process plays out,” she said in a statement.

Multiple systems said last week they’ll ignore Youngkin’s order.

Supporters of the executive order say the state law is not in conflict with Youngkin’s executive order because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only recommends mask-wearing and does not mandate it.

Monday’s lawsuit comes after a group of parents in Chesapeake field a petition last week at the Virginia Supreme Court challenging the executive order.

The Supreme Court justices took no action on the lawsuit last week and it was not immediately clear if they would do so Monday.

Democrats commended the school boards who challenged Youngkin on Monday and accused him of using children as political pawns.

“Youngkin is quickly on his way to becoming the most divisive and authoritarian governor in our commonwealth’s long history,” state Sen. Mamie Locke said at a news conference.

You can read the full text of the lawsuit here.

More Coronavirus news

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Activist who protested outside Stephen Miller’s home won’t face state charges

By CBS News
An activist who protested outside the home of White House adviser Stephen Miller and distributed fliers containing his Virginia address will not face state charges, after a local prosecutor determined she did not commit a crime.In a 166-page court filing, the Arlington and Falls Church Commonwealth Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti said that she had reviewed evidence against Barbara Wien and found there was "nothing in the proceeds of the search warrant supports criminal prosecution" for violations of a state law that criminalizes using someone's identity or address as a means to coerce, intimidate or harass. Violations of that law constitute a misdemeanor."It would neither accomplish the ends of justice nor discharge the Commonwealth's ethical obligations of fair prosecution to initiate any charges," she wrote, adding that charging her for protesting against the Trump administration's policies also would likely violate her constitutionally protected free speech rights.Wien, a former college professor and longtime political activist in Arlington, Virginia who specializes in peace-building,  has been under a state investigation since last year, after she distributed fliers last August and September depicting Miller on a "Wanted" poster for "crimes against humanity."The flyers contained his Arlington address, and they also provided a QR code that urged people to demand a congressional investigation. A second flyer distributed in his neighborhood, meanwhile, referred to Miller as the "alt-right extremist behind Trump's most abhorrent policies, Project 2025 and your new neighbor in Arlington, Va."In making her determination not to bring charges, Dehghani-Tafti noted that the wanted flyer "called neither for any action at or near his residence, nor for any action by the viewer against Mr. Miller.""The sole call to action was to a traditionally and clearly protected political activity, encouraging residents to petition Congress to investigate Mr. Miller's actions based on the wanted flyer's allegations," she wrote.A White House spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment on the decision.Bradley Haywood, an attorney for Wien, said he admired Dehghani-Taft's careful effort to analyze the facts and the law in her filing. He said that such a move is important at a time when the federal government has been increasingly targeting political activists whose views do not align with the Trump administration."We have a… federal government that is trying to bring conspiracy and even RICO cases against activist groups," he told CBS.  "If you are looking to investigate someone for alleged threats of violence, maybe don't pick a literal professor of peace studies," he added. "Barbara's whole career has been in peace studies."Wien has separately been under a federal investigation in connection with the same incident, according to congressional documentation cited in the court filing, sources familiar with the matter and a witness who was approached by the FBI for an interview. To date, no federal charges have been filed.Shortly after those incidents, the Miller family moved out of their home and into military housing, CBS previously reported.Stephen Miller's wife, Katie Miller, reported the flyers to Arlington County Police Department on August 4, and said she believed the flyer listing their home address violated state law. About a month later, protesters appeared at the public intersection closest to the Millers' home and used sidewalk chalk to depict non-threatening political messages about issues such as immigration and transgender rights.Katie Miller also told police she saw Wien walk by once while she was on her porch, and that Wien made a gesture which seemed to convey "I'm watching you."As part of the state investigation, Virginia State Police reviewed evidence, including a message sent in April 2025 from a phone associated with Wien to a group that stated that Stephen Miller had moved to the neighborhood and accused him of being "the evil fascist behind family separation and deportation policies.""My Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) chapter in N. Virginia intends to make his life hell. We have set up a carefully vetted Signal group. Let me know if you are interested in being a part of our campaign," the message said.In other Signal chat messages, Wien also communicated about sidewalk chalk events, sending one image that read: "Got a message for Stephen Miller? Come (peacefully) CHALK IT OUT on the sidewalks of his neighborhood.""The conduct initially investigated cannot support a charge," Tuesday's court filing said. "In short, Ms. Wien is not likely to be found guilty and her speech is likely to be found to be constitutionally protected."The decision not to charge Wien is likely to spark fresh tensions with House Republicans, who since last year have demanded investigative documents from Dehghani-Tafti and accused her of "stymying the investigation" into the alleged threats against the Miller family.Miller has repeatedly pressed the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia to bring federal charges in the case, a source familiar with the matter told CBS News. But those efforts faltered after a federal magistrate judge twice rejected the FBI's attempt to obtain a search warrant for Wien's phone, according to a letter sent to Dehghani-Tafti from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and a source familiar with the matter.Dehghani-Tafti said the efforts by federal investigators to accompany state police on the execution of the search warrant "raised specific concerns regarding how federal authorities may have been involved (and appearing, potentially, to be attempting to use the Commonwealth, this Court, and the VSP to further a federal investigation—that had to date failed to demonstrate wrongdoing by even the lowest of legal standards of proof.)"After the FBI and Secret Service sought to accompany the state police when officers tried to seize Wien's cell phone, a state judge also separately prohibited local investigators from sharing any data collected from the phone with anyone, apart from the Commonwealth Attorney's Office.Since then, FBI agents have tried to interview several witnesses in the case, telling at least two of them they were visiting, "based on Barbara Wien's phone logs or, on review of their personal phone logs," the court filing says.Dehghani-Tafti wrote in her filing that she was not sure how the FBI could have obtained phone logs, since the court had restricted data sharing with the bureau and the state's narrow search warrant did not include data pertaining to those phone logs or contacts.She added that since she learned about the FBI's interviews, she has tried to obtain more information about how they may have accessed phone logs, but said neither the FBI nor the Virginia State Police have been willing to share their communications with one another.Dehghani-Tafti asked the court to issue an order telling the state police to destroy the records it obtained from its search of Wien's phone. She also asked for a court order requiring the custodians of the records to attest that they were not shared with any other outside agency.
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