ziggy
Verified User
A federal judge in Florida voided the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s mask mandate for airports, planes and other forms of travel Monday, saying the agency overstepped its authority.
US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that the CDC did not properly explain its decision last week to extend the mandate for another 15 days after it was originally set to expire Monday.
“Because ‘our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in the pursuit of desirable ends,’ the court declares unlawful and vacates the mask mandate,” Mizelle wrote in her decision.
The judge sent the order back to the CDC “for further proceedings.”
The CDC announced last week that it was going to extend the mask mandate on public transportation until May 3, citing an uptick in coronavirus cases and claiming it needed more time to examine the BA.2 Omicron subvariant.
“Since early April, there have been increases in the 7-day moving average of cases in the U.S.,” the CDC said in a statement shared on social media. “In order to assess the potential impact of the rise of hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity, the CDC Order will remain in place at this time.”
The CDC’s decision on the mask mandates came just after the federal agency announced the planned ending of Title 42, which allows Border Patrol officials to expel migrants without hearing asylum claims because of the pandemic, on May 23.
The chief executive officers of all the major airlines called on the Biden administration last month to ditch the mask mandate because the requirement did not reflect the current environment.
“It makes no sense that people are still required to wear masks on airplanes, yet are allowed to congregate in crowded restaurants, schools and at sporting events without masks, despite none of these venues having the protective air filtration system that aircraft do,” the letter from the CEOs said.
They noted both that vaccination rates were up and that states across the country were relaxing restrictions before calling on the Biden administration to reconsider its policies.
“We are encouraged by the current data and the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions from coast to coast, which indicate it is past time to eliminate COVID-era transportation policies,” the executives said.
https://nypost.com/2022/04/18/florida-federal-judge-strikes-down-cdc-airport-mask-mandate/
US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that the CDC did not properly explain its decision last week to extend the mandate for another 15 days after it was originally set to expire Monday.
“Because ‘our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in the pursuit of desirable ends,’ the court declares unlawful and vacates the mask mandate,” Mizelle wrote in her decision.
The judge sent the order back to the CDC “for further proceedings.”
The CDC announced last week that it was going to extend the mask mandate on public transportation until May 3, citing an uptick in coronavirus cases and claiming it needed more time to examine the BA.2 Omicron subvariant.
“Since early April, there have been increases in the 7-day moving average of cases in the U.S.,” the CDC said in a statement shared on social media. “In order to assess the potential impact of the rise of hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity, the CDC Order will remain in place at this time.”
The CDC’s decision on the mask mandates came just after the federal agency announced the planned ending of Title 42, which allows Border Patrol officials to expel migrants without hearing asylum claims because of the pandemic, on May 23.
The chief executive officers of all the major airlines called on the Biden administration last month to ditch the mask mandate because the requirement did not reflect the current environment.
“It makes no sense that people are still required to wear masks on airplanes, yet are allowed to congregate in crowded restaurants, schools and at sporting events without masks, despite none of these venues having the protective air filtration system that aircraft do,” the letter from the CEOs said.
They noted both that vaccination rates were up and that states across the country were relaxing restrictions before calling on the Biden administration to reconsider its policies.
“We are encouraged by the current data and the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions from coast to coast, which indicate it is past time to eliminate COVID-era transportation policies,” the executives said.
https://nypost.com/2022/04/18/florida-federal-judge-strikes-down-cdc-airport-mask-mandate/
