Posted on 06/19/2021 5:23:08 PM PDT by RandFan
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 against a cruise ship arriving in, within, or departing from a port in Florida the conditional sailing order and the later measures.”
The injunction will stay in place until July 18, at which point the “conditional sailing order and the measures promulgated under the conditional sailing order will persist as only a non-binding ‘consideration,’ ‘recommendation’ or ‘guideline,’” as is the case for other industries such as restaurants, railroads and hotels, according to the ruling.
The cruise industry had previously been under a conditional sailing order issued by the CDC since the end of October, under which cruise lines were required to commit to a phased approach of implementing testing and other safety measures before they could start sailing.
The conditional sailing order followed the end of the CDC’s no-sail order amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the CDC last month released the final guidance for cruise lines to apply to run test ships with voluntary passengers.
Merryday wrote in his ruling Friday, “Never has CDC conditioned pratique as extensively and burdensomely as the conditional sailing order; and never has CDC imposed restrictions that have summarily dismissed the effectiveness of state regulation and halted for an extended time an entire multi-billion dollar industry nationwide.”
“In a word, never has CDC implemented measures as extensive, disabling, and exclusive as those under review in this action,” he added.
Friday’s ruling resulted from an April lawsuit filed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on behalf of the state against the CDC and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra arguing that the sailing orders and health requirements issued by the CDC for cruise lines were “arbitrary and capricious” and amounted to an unconstitutional overstepping of the agency’s authority.
DeSantis, who has long railed against coronavirus safety restrictions, praised the judge’s Friday ruling, writing in a statement issued by his office, “The CDC has been wrong all along, and they knew it.”
“The CDC and the Biden Administration concocted a plan to sink the cruise industry, hiding behind bureaucratic delay and lawsuits,” he continued. “Today, we are securing this victory for Florida families, for the cruise industry, and for every state that wants to preserve its rights in the face of unprecedented federal overreach.”
The Hill has reached out to the CDC for comment on Friday’s ruling.
How does the CDC have the authority to regulate anything?
The MD was a phony, and stopping the train was part of the robbery plan. Sorry I can't remember the name of the picture.
We’re no longer a republic.
The law is now whatever Deep State says it is.
If this ruling is allowed to stand, it’s because Deep State is okay with it.
God help FL if it isn’t.
Yes. The 10th Amendment means something.
CDC can not regulate lots of things yet it has been doing so for over a year.
Good-let the buyer beware-not the CDC’s call-they’ve caused enough scamdemic damage along with Fauxi and the rest.
That said, if I were into cruises-I’d be WAY more concerned about getting that cruise-norovirus than the Wuhan virus-the stuff is apparently always lurking in the corridors and dining rooms of cruise ships-almost everyone I know who boarded a cruise ship in the last 4-5 years got it-like getting sick from it is some masochistic rite of passage, the Montezuma’s revenge of the sea...
This is not even a question to anyone with two brain cells to rub together.
Just like their “guidance” they try to pretend is now law on being required to wear a mask unless you get the jab.
They are a non-profit not a government agency. They are funded by the US government but not in whole.
A non-profit isn’t doing it right.
Can we please move along and distance ourselves from this Covid mess? Some folks have been living covid for 1 1/2 years now, and no no other life. Let us just move on and live. Sheesh.
Don’t worry, CDC. There are numerous Karen-oriented agencies to fill the gap.
Similar M.O. in a Dr. Quinn Thanksgiving episode involving stopping a stagecoach.
In a sane world the cruise industry would have just defied this.
I know some freepers who are really disappointed at this news.
CDC shouldn’t be able to regulate jack shitte.
Where do they get the right to suspend rent payments either?
The CDC can call for eviction moratoriums but they have no say over the floating petri dishes?
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