ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge on June 18 ruled for Florida in the state’s lawsuit challenging a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pandemic order imposing standards before cruise ships can resume sailing.
U.S. District Court Judge Steven Merryday wrote in a 124-page decision that Florida would be harmed if the CDC order — which the state said effectively blocked most cruises — were to continue.
The CDC order said ship operators can choose between running a test cruise to show they can effectively stop the spread of COVID-19 on board the vessels, or require that 95% of their passengers are vaccinated.
In a move to challenge federal jurisdiction, Florida recently adopted a new state law that prohibits companies from requiring that their customers, including cruise ship passengers, must be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Tampa-based judge granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the CDC from enforcing the order, pending further legal action on a broader Florida lawsuit.
“This order finds that Florida is highly likely to prevail on the merits of the claim that CDC’s conditional sailing order and the implementing orders exceed the authority delegated to the CDC,”Merryday wrote.
Most cruise lines that plan to resume operations in Alaska in July have said they will require passengers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The state of Alaska has no law similar to Florida that prohibits a business from requiring vaccinations.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody praised the court decision in a statement.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for the hardworking Floridians whose livelihoods depend on the cruise industry,”said Moody, a Republican. “The federal government does not, nor should it ever, have the authority to single out and lock down an entire industry indefinitely.”
While the CDC could appeal, Merryday ordered both sides to return to mediation to attempt to work out a full solution — a previous attempt failed — and said the CDC could fashion a modification in which it would retain some public health authority.
The CDC flatly halted cruise ships from sailing in March 2020 in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, which had affected passengers and crew on numerous ships. Then the CDC on Oct. 30 of last year imposed a four-phase conditional framework it said would allow the industry to gradually resume operations if certain thresholds were met.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a statement that the CDC framework imposed onerous bureaucratic requirements on the industry.
Laziza Lambert, spokeswoman for the Cruise Lines International Association, said the trade group was reviewing the ruling and what it means for resuming cruises from U.S. ports.
Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean have been gearing up to return to sailing under the CDC’s four-part framework. Merryday’s decision means the CDC can’t enforce those rules for Florida-based ships and that they would merely be considered nonbinding recommendations or guidelines.
This would be similar to CDC guidelines for the reopening of other industries such as airlines, casinos, hotels, sports venues and subways, Merryday wrote. Otherwise, the cruise industry would face a daunting task to restart operations.
“Florida persuasively claims that the conditional sailing order will shut down most cruises through the summer and perhaps much longer,”the judge wrote, adding that Florida “faces an increasingly threatening and imminent prospect that the cruise industry will depart the state.”
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