A civil liberties group has filed a lawsuit against South Carolina officials, asserting the state’s ban on school mask mandates violates federal laws aimed at protecting the rights of disabled Americans. South Carolina’s legislature included a prohibition on school mask mandates in its budget, which it passed in June, and Molly Spearman, South Carolina’s education superintendent, later told each school board that because of that the school districts were barred from requiring students or employees to wear the face coverings. That order violated the rights of students with disabilities, including those with certain underlying medical conditions that increase their risk of contracting the virus that causes COVID-19, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued in a complaint lodged this week. More specifically, the barring of school mask mandates goes against the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, the group said. “Both federal disability rights laws prohibit outright exclusion, …