Iowa school mask ban lawsuit amended as feds investigate law

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman has amended her lawsuit over the state’s ban on mandatory face masks in schools to include allegations the law violates state and federal constitutional protections. Frances Parr’s amended lawsuit alleges the law passed in May violates equal protection and due process rights guaranteed in the federal and state constitutions. The Council Bluff’s woman wants a judge to block enforcement of the law. On Monday the U.S. Education Department announced it’s investigating whether Iowa’s law and similar ones in four other Republican-led states could violate federal anti-discrimination laws. Iowa is experiencing a COVID-19 surge. Iowa has during the past month gone from a seven-day moving average of cases of less than 300 a day to more than 1,000 daily, as hospitalizations climb.