ST. PETERSBURG, FL. – A federal judge in Florida has revoked the national mandate for a mask covering aircraft and other public transportation because it exceeds the powers of US health officials during the coronavirus pandemic.
Monday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Catherine Kimball Misel in Tampa, appointed to former President Donald Trump, also says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has failed to justify its decision and has not followed proper rulemaking.
In his 59-page ruling, Misel said the only remedy was to repeal the rule altogether across the country, because it would be impossible to end it for a limited group of people who objected to the case.
The judge said that “a limited remedy would not be a remedy at all” and that the courts have full power to make a decision like this – even if the CDC’s goals in fighting the virus are commendable.
“Because our system does not allow agencies to act illegally, even in pursuit of desired goals, the court declared it illegal and released the mandate of the mask,” she wrote.
The justice ministry declined to comment Monday on whether the government plans to appeal the decision.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was not directly involved in the case but is fighting against many government requirements for the coronavirus, praised the decision in a statement on Twitter.
“It’s great to see a federal judge in Florida obey the law and reject Biden’s mandate for a transport mask. “Both airline employees and passengers deserve this end of misery,” DeSantis wrote on Twitter.
The CDC recently extended the mask’s mandate, which was due to expire on Monday, to May 3 to allow more time to study the BA.2 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus, which is now responsible for most cases in the United States.
The demand for a passenger mask was the target of months of lobbying by airlines trying to kill him. Carriers claim that the effective air filters of modern aircraft make the transmission of the virus in flight very unlikely. Republicans in Congress also fought to kill the mandate.
Critics took advantage of the fact that the states repealed rules requiring masks in restaurants, shops and other indoor venues, and yet COVID-19 cases fell sharply after the Omicron variant peaked in mid-January.
There have been a series of violent incidents on airplanes, mainly due to disputes over the requirements for wearing masks.
The lawsuit was filed in July 2021 by two plaintiffs and the Fund for the Protection of Freedom of Health, described in the judge’s order as a non-profit group that “opposes laws and regulations that force people to provide medical products, procedures and devices against their will ”
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Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo contributed to this Washington story.
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