A federal judge in Florida on Monday struck down the Biden administration’s mask mandate for airplanes and public travel, citing rule-making violations under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle – an appointee of 45th President Donald Trump – in Tampa, Florida ruled that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) failed to follow the proper rule-making procedures when they enacted masking regulations last February.
She noted that the CDC’s approach “exceeds the CDC’s statutory authority,” and that the mandate was “arbitrary and capricious.”
“The Court concludes that the Mask Mandate exceeds the CDC’s statutory authority and violates the procedures required for agency rulemaking under the APA,” Mizelle wrote. “Accordingly, the Court vacates the Mandate and remands it to the CDC.”
“Wearing a mask cleans nothing,” Mizelle wrote. “At most, it traps virus droplets. But it neither ‘sanitizes’ the person wearing the mask nor ‘sanitizes’ the conveyance.”
“It is indisputable that the public has a strong interest in combating the spread of COVID-19,” the federal judge added. “In pursuit of that end, the CDC issued the mask mandate. But the mandate exceeded the CDC statutory authority.”
The ruling has been celebrated by Republicans such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who said “Great to see a federal judge in Florida follow the law and reject the Biden transportation mask mandate,” adding that “both airline employees and passengers deserve to have this misery end.”
However, the ruling striking down the mask mandate was based on the government’s violation of procedure, not necessarily based on merit.
Similar actions by federal judges were taken against the Trump administration on numerous occasions, much to the protest of Republicans who would accuse federal judges of impartiality or activism when the former president’s executive orders were struck down due to violations of the APA.
Today, run-ins with administrative law issues appear to be the Biden administration’s problem. Republicans, and presumably airliners that do not wish to be forcing masks on unwilling travelers, can now breathe a sigh of relief.
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Ted Weiland
April 20, 2022 at 12:09 pm
Police-state mask mandates and lock downs would have never occurred had the constitutional framers (like their early 1600 predecessors) established government and society upon the Bible’s immutable/unchanging moral law, including its quarantine statutes for *only* the infectious diseased and ill.
For more on how the Bible’s triune and integral moral law (the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments apply and should be implemented as the law of the land, see free online book “Law & Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant” at Bible versus Constitution dot org. Go to our Online Books page and scroll down to title.
Then, at the same location, “A Biblical Constitution: A Scrip.”” at Bible ver
Find out how much you really know about the Constitution as compared to the Bible. Take our 10-question Constitution Survey in the sidebar and receive a free copy of a book that *examines* the Constitution by the Bible.