Steve Marshall joins 22 attorneys general, file brief in federal travel mask mandate case
Attorneys general from 23 states have filed an amicus brief in a federal appeals court urging judges to uphold a ruling from earlier this year that struck down the mask mandate for interstate travel. Four months ago, Florida U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle sided with the Health Freedom Defense Fund and two Florida residents. They claimed the restriction the Biden Administration announced January 29, 2021, as part of its COVID-19 guidelines exceeded federal authority. Led by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, the states’ attorneys general said in their 37-page filing that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pursued “expansive” measures in its handling of the pandemic. Officials from the states also remind the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that federal judges set several other CDC guidelines aside. The states “share an interest in protecting their sovereign authority to enact quarantine measures of their choosing to combat the spread of disease in the manner best adapted to their distinctive local conditions – authority historically reserved to the states, as CDC’s own regulations reflect even today,” the brief states. The CDC now recommends passengers in such places as airports and airplanes wear masks, but the mandate is no longer in effect. Still, the Biden Administration has asked the circuit court to intervene. “It’s astonishing that Biden continues to fight to force mask passengers,” Moody said. “We are once again pushing back, in court, against his unlawful federal overreach.” The states also claim the mask mandate is unlawful because it goes beyond the CDC’s ability to enforce sanitation measures. They also claim the federal government failed to review what steps states were taking or determine if those measures were sufficient. Besides Florida, other attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia signed on to the brief. “The district court’s ruling here correctly ended the Biden Administration’s mandate requiring all travelers to wear masks at airports, train stations, and other transportation hubs,” said Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. “We joined this brief to support the court’s important ruling and ensure this mandate is not reinstated.” Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Feds will appeal mask ruling only if mandate still needed
The Justice Department said Tuesday it will not appeal a federal district judge’s ruling that ended the nation’s federal mask mandate on public transit unless the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes the requirement is still necessary. In a statement released a day after a Florida judge ended the sweeping mandate, which required face coverings on planes and trains and in transit hubs, Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said officials believe that the federal mask order was “a valid exercise of the authority Congress has given CDC to protect the public health.” He said it was “an important authority the Department will continue to work to preserve.” Coley said the CDC had said it would continue to assess public health conditions, and if the agency determined a mandate was necessary for public health, the Justice Department would file an appeal. The Justice Department said Tuesday it will not appeal a federal district judge’s ruling that ended the nation’s federal mask mandate on public transit unless the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes the requirement is still necessary. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. A pilot declared over the loudspeaker on a cross-country Delta Air Lines flight that passengers were no longer required to wear masks, eliciting cheers from the cabin and prompting some on board to immediately toss their face coverings onto their seats. “Feel free to burn them at will,” a train conductor told New Jersey commuters Tuesday. Other passengers were confused, startled, and angered by the abrupt change, however, especially those who booked trips in the belief that their unvaccinated children would be traveling in a masked environment. A federal judge’s decision Monday to throw out a mask requirement on public transportation did away with the last major vestige of federal pandemic rules and led to a mishmash of new locally created rules that reflected the nation’s ongoing division over how to battle the virus. Major airlines and airports in places like Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake City quickly switched to a mask-optional policy. New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Connecticut continued to require them on mass transit. But a host of other cities ditched their mandates, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continued to recommend masking on transportation. Brooke Tansley, a television producer and former Broadway performer, boarded a flight with her 4-year-old and 8-month-old baby— neither old enough to be vaccinated — only to learn the mask mandate had ended mid-flight. “Very very angry about this,” she said in a tweet, noting that her baby was too young to wear a mask. For many, though, the news was welcome. A video showed some passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight cheering and applauding as they took off their masks upon hearing the announcement they were now optional. One man could be seen happily twirling his mask on his finger. On a Southwest Airlines flight Monday from Detroit to Nashville, the change to optional status was incorporated into the safety announcements, prompting murmurs and fist pumps from some passengers and no audible complaints. At the Seattle airport, Deb McLane continued to wear a mask because of the crowds but said she was “thankful that it’s not being forced on us anymore.” In Portland, Oregon, transit employees were immediately working on taking down “mask required” announcements and signs, but said it would likely take several days to remove everything. The city joined Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Missouri, and two of Alaska’s largest cities, Anchorage and Juneau, in making masking optional on mass transit. “We know our riders have mixed feelings about the mandate ending,” Portland’s public transit agency, TriMet, posted on social media. “We ask everyone to be respectful of others as we all adjust to this change.” Some passengers at Chicago’s Union Station said the rules were confusing. Both Amtrak and Metra, the regional commuter rail service, said masks still are required, but some passengers walking through the station didn’t wear them. “It’s like this patchwork of different rules and enforcement of it,” said Erik Abderhalden, who wore a mask as he waited for a Metra train to his home in suburban Naperville. “I mean, it’s like Swiss cheese … there’s no uniformity and it seems pretty laissez-faire.” The Chicago Transit Authority also said it still will require masks on city trains and buses, for now. Subway rider Cooper Klinges was pleased that New York City’s public transit system wasn’t following the trend and planned to keep its mask requirement in place. As he waited at a train station in Brooklyn, New York, he said he canceled a flight earlier this year over concerns about the virus. “I don’t think we are out of the woods yet,” said Klinges, a teacher, citing concerns about the BA.2 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus. “It is still around. We have to still stick it out.” The ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber announced on their websites Tuesday that masks will now be optional while riding or driving. The national mask rule for travelers was one of the last of the pandemic restrictions still in place. It sparked online flame throwing between those who felt they were crucial to protecting people and those who saw it as an unnecessary inconvenience or even government overkill. Some flight attendants found themselves cursed and even attacked by passengers who refused to comply. In a 59-page lawsuit ruling, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overstepped its authority in issuing the original health order on which the TSA directive was based. She also said the order was fatally flawed because the CDC didn’t follow proper rulemaking procedures. The Justice Department declined to comment when asked if it would seek an emergency stay to block the judge’s order. While airline and mass transit passengers around the country were ditching masks, the White House made clear that those traveling with President Joe Biden
Florida judge voids U.S. mask mandate for planes, other travel
A federal judge in Florida struck down the national mask mandate covering airlines and other public transportation Monday, and the Biden administration said the rule would not be enforced while federal agencies decide how to respond to the judge’s order. The ruling appeared to free operators to make their own decisions about mask requirements, with several airlines announcing they would drop mandates but New York City’s public transit system planning to keep one in place. The Association of Flight Attendants, the nation’s largest union of cabin crews, has recently taken a neutral position on the mask rule because its members are divided about the issue. On Monday, the union’s president appealed for calm on planes and in airports. “The last thing we need for workers on the frontlines or passengers traveling today is confusion and chaos,” union leader Sara Nelson said. Nelson said it takes airlines 24 to 48 hours to put new procedures in place and tell employees about them. She said passengers should check with airlines for updates about travel requirements. The decision by U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, also said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention failed to justify its decision and did not follow proper rulemaking procedures that left it fatally flawed. In her 59-page ruling, Mizelle said the only remedy was to vacate the rule entirely across the country because it would be impossible to end it for the limited group of people who objected in the lawsuit. The judge said “a limited remedy would be no remedy at all” and courts have full authority to make a decision such as this — even if the CDC’s goals in fighting the virus are laudable. The Justice Department declined to comment when asked if it would seek an emergency stay to block the judge’s order. The CDC also declined to comment. The White House said the court ruling means that for now the mask order “is not in effect at this time.” “This is obviously a disappointing decision,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. “The CDC is recommending wearing a mask on public transit.” The CDC had recently extended the mask mandate, which was set to expire Monday, until May 3 to allow more time to study the BA.2 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus now responsible for the vast majority of cases in the U.S. In New York, Metropolitan Transportation Authority communications director Tim Minton said the system was “continuing to follow CDC guidelines and will review the Florida court order.” The MTA operates New York City buses and subway trains as well as two commuter rail lines. Face coverings have been mandatory on all trains and buses since early in the pandemic. United Airlines said in a statement that, effective immediately, masks would no longer be required on domestic flights or certain international flights. “While this means that our employees are no longer required to wear a mask – and no longer have to enforce a mask requirement for most of the flying public – they will be able to wear masks if they choose to do so, as the CDC continues to strongly recommend wearing a mask on public transit,” United said. The federal mask requirement for travelers was the target of months of lobbying from the airlines, which sought to kill it. The carriers argued that effective air filters on modern planes make transmission of the virus during a flight highly unlikely. Republicans in Congress also fought to kill the mandate. Critics have seized on the fact that states have rolled back rules requiring masks in restaurants, stores, and other indoor settings, and yet COVID-19 cases have fallen sharply since the omicron variant peaked in mid-January. There have been a series of violent incidents on aircraft that have mainly been attributed to disputes over the mask-wearing requirements. The lawsuit was filed in July 2021 by two plaintiffs and the Health Freedom Defense Fund, described in the judge’s order as a nonprofit group that “opposes laws and regulations that force individuals to submit to the administration of medical products, procedures, and devices against their will.” Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was not directly involved in the case but has battled against many government coronavirus requirements, praised the ruling in a statement on Twitter. “Great to see a federal judge in Florida follow the law and reject the Biden transportation mask mandate. Both airline employees and passengers deserve to have this misery end,” DeSantis tweeted. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
