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Coronavirus

Supreme Court rejects case challenging masks on airplanes

The TSA's mask mandate is set to expire in March 2022

January 18, 2022 7:20pm

Updated: January 19, 2022 10:55am

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected hearing an emergency request to block the federal air travel mask mandate. 

The petitioners filed their request to Justice Neil Gorsuch, who referred the matter to the Court. The case was denied without comment.

The case, Wall, et al. v. TSA, was filed by Florida father Michael Seklecki and his 4-year-old autistic son. The petition states that the child "can’t wear a mask and must fly regularly for specialized medical care out of state," and Seklecki "also medically can’t tolerate wearing a face covering and must accompany" his son on flights.

Lucas Wall joined the case, arguing that he has been stranded in Florida in his mother's house since June "because TSA won’t let him fly maskless even though he can’t medically cover his face."

The Transportation Security Administration's mask mandate is set to expire in March 2022.