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A panel of judges of the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals last night ruled in favor of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s position in its ongoing legal battle with the state of Florida over the agency’s right to impose COVID-19 regulations on the cruise ship industry. Yesterday’s decision stays Federal District Judge Steven Merryday’s previously June 19 injunction order against the CDC, which would have prevented the public health agency from enforcing its Conditional Sail Order (CSO) in Florida. This would have rendered the comprehensive framework of regulations set out in the CSO, intended to steer...

A federal judge denied the CDC's request to keep COVID-19 restrictions on cruises in place in Florida past July 18, writing that the agency "can show no factor that outweighs the need to conclude an unwarranted and unprecedented exercise of governmental power." U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday originally ruled against the CDC last month, granting a preliminary injunction that will turn the Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) into nonbinding guidelines on July 18. The CDC appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and requested a stay on Tuesday, but Merryday dismissed that motion on Wednesday....

A federal judge in Florida on Friday ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) coronavirus-era sailing orders were an overreach of power, issuing a preliminary injunction temporarily barring the CDC from enforcing the guidelines. Judge Steven Merryday for the Middle District of Florida in his ruling sided with the Sunshine State in its argument that the “CDC’s conditional sailing order and the implementing orders exceed the authority delegated to CDC.” As a result, Merryday approved Florida’s motion for a preliminary injunction suspending the mandatory guidelines for cruise ships, writing that the CDC is “preliminary enjoined from enforcing...

Florida wins its lawsuit against the CDC to overrule the Conditional Sailing Order to allow cruises to resume. The federal Judge has finally decided in the lawsuit filed by the State of Florida against the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to lift the Conditional Sailing Order (CSO). This news comes after Florida and the CDC failed to work out their differences under mediation, and cruises out of Florida have remained on hold for 15 months. However, the CDC has been working to resume cruises safely with the cruise lines more recently. Florida Overrules CDC, Cruises Can Resume...

New York state’s highest court ruled on Tuesday that Facebook users may be required to turn over photos and other information that are relevant to litigation, even if they are shielded by “privacy” settings. By a 7-0 vote, the Court of Appeals reinstated a trial judge’s ruling requiring a Manhattan woman who was disabled in a horse riding accident to turn over to the defendant horse owner an array of photos taken before and after her injuries. Noting “significant controversy” over what information on Facebook deserves privacy protection, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said it is appropriate to require disclosure of...

(CNSNews.com) – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the large soda ban set to go into effect this month at city restaurants, street vendors and movie theaters is how government tells the public what’s in their best interest. “We're not banning anything. It's called portion control,” Bloomberg said Sunday on CBS’s "Face the Nation." “It's a typical way that companies use to and governments use to explain to people what's in their interest and what isn't.”

A manager who has affairs with subordinates can create a work climate that constitutes sexual harassment even for uninvolved employees, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday.

When should treatment be stopped? Doctors can refuse to treat patients if they feel it serves no purpose The Charlotte Wyatt case has triggered a debate about how long doctors should keep treating patients when they are seriously ill. A High Court judge has ruled in favour of doctors who argued the premature 11-month-old girl's quality of life would be so poor that she should not be resuscitated if she stops breathing. Her parents had appealed to Mr Justice Hedley during the two-day hearing last week that everything should be done for her as she was a "fighter". But doctors...