CDC mask mandate for travelers struck down by federal judge

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Last edited Mon Apr 18, 2022, 02:19 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: CNN

A federal judge in Florida struck down on Monday the Biden administration's mask mandate for airplanes and other public transport methods.

US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle said the mandate was unlawful because it exceeded the statutory authority of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and because its implementation violated administrative law.

It is unclear clear how quickly the ruling will be implemented at airports or train stations across the country or if the Justice Department will attempt to block the ruling and file an appeal.

Just last week, the CDC extended this mask mandate through May 3. The masking requirement applied to airplanes, trains, and other forms of public transportation.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/18/politics/cdc-mask-mandate-ruling/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_content=2022-04-18T17%3A34%3A23&utm_source=twCNNp

[nilram]

1. New meme: Florida Judge

[peppertree]

9. FLAWrida

The American Latin America.

[TomCADem]

37. Having Experience or Being Qualified Is a Disqualification

For being appointed judge by a Republican. Better to get someone who is willing to rule based on Right Wing talking points.

https://www.cnet.com/news/politics/federal-judge-overturns-cdc-mask-mandate-for-public-transit/

The mandate "exceeds the CDC's statutory authority and violates the procedures required for agency rulemaking," US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle stated in a ruling on Monday in Tampa, Florida. It's worth noting that Mizelle, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, was rated as not qualified by the American Bar Association when she was nominated by Trump in late 2020 due to a lack of experience in the practice of law, including having never tried a civil or criminal case as lead counsel or co-counsel since her admission to the bar in 2012.

[nilram]

38. lol, that's a great paragraph.

Just painful.

[TomCADem]

39. Sadly Amy Barrett is not much more qualified

Would you go to a person who had a medical degree, but barely acted as a doctor or saw patients? Yet, that seems to be the MO for appointing Republican judges.

[spooky3]

2. A Trump appointee. Nt

[justhanginon]

18. A "Mar-a-lago Momma". Florida is full of them.

[groundloop]

3. What a crock of shit.... these right wingers would prefer to let the pandemic keep going.

And it's no surprise that this judge was appointed by 45*.

[dchill]

13. Viruses have rights.

People have freedumbs.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Another ABA-not-qualified Trump judge

Link to tweet

[cbabe]

5. Unintended consequences: less people flying due to covid danger,

better for climate change.

[DFW]

7. Only if flights are canceled as a result

Otherwise it changes nothing except for increasing the number of people getting sick.

[cbabe]

11. True. All those empty planes flying in Europe. Crew unions should object.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

27. Why would they object?

They are still getting paid. And if the airlines don't fly, they lose the slot which means less work for the crews. Regulations need to be changed to allow airlines to not fly empty routes but still keep their slot. They don't want to waste fuel flying empty planes either, but they have to maintain their ability to fly those routes at those times.

[cbabe]

29. Clarify: Work place hazard flying with the unmasked.

Not workers objecting to flying empty planes.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

30. Oh

I thought that was in regards to the empty planes flying around.

[GB_RN]

6. How Does Public Safety Exceed The CDC's Authority?

WTF is this judge thinking? (I know, it's a tRump appointee, so it's a rhetorical question: She's NOT thinking)

[Shrek]

8. It expires in two weeks anyway

This probably won’t matter much.

[pnwmom]

10. No one should assume that the worst of Covid is over yet. n/t

[JohnSJ]

17. That may be pnwmom, but this issue is much bigger than that. It is the old "state rights" issue

that allowed rampant segregation and discrimination for over a hundred years in the country

[Ms. Toad]

26. No. It's not.

Under the commerce clause of the constitution, regulation of the channels and instrumentality of interstate commerce is granted to the Federal Government. Planes, trains, railways, highways are quintessential channels and instrumentalities of interstate commerce.

[pnwmom]

32. That's true, but the origins of the OPPOSITION could be connected

to the states rights proponents.

[Ms. Toad]

34. Not neccessarily. But even if true - they need to take it up with the framers of the constitution -

and as (presumably) originalists, they should be ashamed of themselves.

[area51]

52. +1 n/t

[brooklynite]

31. Not exactly

Mask requirements are being extended incrementally; no evidence they wouldn't be extended again.

That said, being on a plane is one of the safest places, medically speaking. The entire air supply is recirculated from the outside every three minutes or so.

[Ms. Toad]

36. Only when the plane is in flight.

While sitting on the tarmack, it is generally recirculating the same stale air - moving that air from an infected person not wearing a mask throught the entire cabin.

In addition, if I happen to be the unlucky person seated next to an omicrom (or omicron variant) infected person, infection occurs in seconds - far less than the 3 minutes required to clear the air.

[ificandream]

12. It exceeded the statutory authority of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? Huh?

Pray tell, your honor, what is their job?

[sdfernando]

14. so according to this "judge" (and I use that term very loosely)

controlling disease is not what the CDC does? WTF?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

15. Judge Mizelle, a Tampa-based Trump appointee rated by the AB as "not qualified"

Link to tweet

[JohnSJ]

16. So can a Florida judge over-rule the CDC? I would think not. Even though this mandate would

have expired in a few weeks, this issue is much larger, and it has to do with state rights verses Federal jurisdiction

Anyone who thinks the country isn’t heading back towards segregation and discrimination, is living in a bubble

[Ace Rothstein]

21. This is a federal judge who is based out of FL.

[JohnSJ]

23. I am pretty sure it we go to the SC

[Ace Rothstein]

33. I'm pretty sure it will be appealed and a stay granted quite fast.

And I'm probably one of the few people here who don't care if the mandate goes away. I don't think this judge knows what they're doing.

[JohnSJ]

40. I think it is a bigger issue than the mandate

[Calista241]

24. She's a federal judge, just based in Florida.

Her official title is US District Judge of the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida. It's a Federal Court in the Eleventh Circuit.

[JohnSJ]

25. Sure, and she is ruling that the state can over rule the CDC. This will be appealed to the SC I

suspect

[Calista241]

28. No, she ruled that the CDC exceeded their constitutional authority.

The case was brought by a state entity, but she didn't say anything that's really crazily out of line in this ruling.

I think she's a crazy Trump supporter, but the ruling itself isn't really that egregious. I doubt it will be appealed, especially since the rule would have expired in two weeks anyway. Mask mandates have been eliminated nearly everywhere, but got extended for airline travel.

[oldsoftie]

46. Well they certainly did with the eviction order.

Thank goodness thats over.

[FBaggins]

65. It puts the administration in a tough position

This one (IMO) is much more likely to be overturned than the earlier cases were (eviction moratorium / vaccine mandate). But that would require the administration to appeal.

But an appeal puts them front and center on fighting for a mask mandate just as almost all of them are fading away and public opinion is turning sharply against it. The current extension was for a very brief period anyway... so it may be a tough call to make.

[OneBlueDotS-Carolina]

19. Trump Revenge Appointment

On August 12, 2020, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Mizelle to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.[8] At the age of 33, she was the youngest person chosen by Trump for a lifetime judicial appointment.[9][10][11] On September 8, 2020, her nomination was sent to the Senate to fill the seat vacated by Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington, who took senior status on July 12, 2020.[12] On September 9, 2020, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[13] On October 22, 2020, the Judiciary Committee reported her nomination by a unanimous 12–0 vote, with all Democratic senators boycotting the hearing.[14]

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Mizelle "Not Qualified" to serve as a federal trial court judge, noting that "Since her admission to the bar Ms. Mizelle has not tried a case, civil or criminal, as lead or co-counsel."[15] Before her appointment, the nominee had only taken part in two trials — both one-day trials in a state court conducted while she was still in law school.[6] Mizelle had eight years of legal experience at the time of her nomination;[15] the ABA typically requires twelve years in order to give a nominee a rating of "Qualified". The ABA said Mizelle "has a very keen intellect, a strong work ethic and an impressive resume ... her integrity and demeanor are not in question."[16] But, the committee wrote, "These attributes...simply do not compensate for the short time she has actually practiced law and her lack of meaningful trial experience."[15]

On November 18, 2020, Mizelle's nomination was confirmed by a party-line vote of 49–41.[17] She thereby joined the first group of judges appointed by a president who had lost reelection at the time of confirmation since 1896, with the exception of Jimmy Carter's appointment of Stephen Breyer to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in November 1980.[6][18] She received her judicial commission on November 20, 2020.


Mizelle is married to Chad Mizelle, who in 2016, at 29 years old, volunteered on the Trump campaign. He has served as acting General Counsel of the United States Department of Homeland Security in the administration of Donald Trump.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Kimball_Mizelle

[LetMyPeopleVote]

20. For this thread

Link to tweet

[appleannie1]

22. I already flew the only place I had planned to go.

I will just stay away from public transportation. I was thinking of flying to Virginia in June when my last grandson graduates from HS. I will just drive instead. It is only an 8 1/2 hour drive.

[MichMan]

35. The CDC order was set to expire by June anyway.

[oldsoftie]

45. Watch this video & go ahead and fly.

From Delta. The only thing not mentioned in this video is circulation is different when sitting at the gates.

[appleannie1]

60. A child sitting across the aisle in front of me was coughing

when I flew to Hawaii the last time. A couple days after I arrived I got sick. The coughing was so bad I had to get breathing treatments in order to be able to fly home. I then developed pneumonia and a cyst in my lung from the flu I got flying to my daughter's home. I am not about to take a chance on getting COVID. I will drive or stay home.

[BlueIdaho]

41. Not the last word on this mandate.

I expect to see it overturned by a higher court soon.

[Shrek]

51. I doubt there will be an appeal

United, Delta, Southwest, American, and Amtrak have all lifted their mandates.

The administration won’t want the backlash involved in trying to reinstate it.

[BlueIdaho]

54. I suspect you are right...

I’m just sick and tired of republicans complaining about activist judges while using them to feed raw meat to their lame brained followers.

[Skittles]

59. like, the SC, which is also dominated by hacks?

yes indeed

[oldsoftie]

42. Planes are probably the safest place besides outdoors.

They now have excellent top-down air circulation, HEPA filters; & most air comes from outside. Turn on your overhead air jets for more outside air. EXCEPT when taxing or sitting still. I'll still wear a mask at those times but I feel safe when in the air.

You can see the explanations online about how an airliner processes its air.

[gldstwmn]

43. I may never fly again.

[LittleGirl]

47. Sorry but you can still wear a mask

It’s your option. Nobody is going to give you a hard time for wearing one. If they do object, ask them how it is any of their business if you do?

I may never stop wearing masks on flights. The worst flu I’ve ever had was sitting on a flight from Phoenix to the Midwest with some stupid woman coughing every other minute. I almost offered her a mask and that was in 2017! I timed her coughing, I was so angry. I was visiting my elderly mother and couldn’t see her until I was well again! Those people still exist if covid didn’t kill ‘em from their stupidity, then you need to protect yourself!

[gldstwmn]

55. I have a host of reasons for not wanting to fly

anymore. Maybe we should just start letting people smoke on planes again. Also the extremists who were upset about having to wear a mask will now start attacking those who wear them. Watch. We've become so divided it's sickening.

Link to tweet

?t=vu9iQCrS-rxV52EBnPxXSg&s=19

[Initech]

44. Why am I not surprised at all this involved Florida?

Also: What could possibly wrong?

[VarryOn]

48. Something needs to be done about these random federal judges' rulings...

having authority over the entire USA.

That said, I like this ruling.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

49. This judge was rated as not qualified and put in after the 2020 election

Link to tweet

[greenjar_01]

50. This applies to ALL public transportation, including your local trains and busses

In Chicago, the CTA (the "L&quot has a mask mandate based solely on the federal mandate. The announcements over the PA system state that federal mandates require masks. That's over as of this ruling. Mask use on the CTA has already started to fall off. It will be significantly reduced tomorrow.

Just a note for those commenting on the safety of airplane air. This ruling affects bus air, train air, subway air. All of it.

Enjoy!

[FBaggins]

64. Yes and no

It applies if the public transportation in question requires masks solely because of the federal mandate.

The court ruling does not apply to any state or local mandates.

[dalton99a]

53. So masks are now required in all indoor spaces in Philadelphia but optional on public transportation

[LetMyPeopleVote]

56. Welcome Your Newest Federal Judge, It's This Batsh*t 33-Year-Old Who Will Live Forever

This lady was rated as "not qualified" by the ABA and was confirmed after the election. The Federalist Society had ran out of qualified candidates and so TFG and MoscowMitch confirmed this idiot before Joe was sworn in

Link to tweet

https://www.wonkette.com/33-year-old-federal-judge

Just because Trump has been voted out of office doesn't mean he's going to stop fucking everything up for decades to come.
Yesterday, a 33-year-old woman who has never tried a case was given a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. She has only been out of law school for eight years.

Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, wife of Trump stooge Chad Mizelle, graduated college in 2009 and law school in 2012. She has practiced law for a total of four (4) years.

Now, she is a United States District Court judge for the Middle District of Florida.

The lame duck Senate confirmed Mizelle on Wednesday, by a party-line vote of 49 - 41.

With this confirmation, Mitch McConnell upended a 123-year-old Senate tradition of declining to confirm appointments by a president who lost reelection.

[Zeitghost]

57. Like much of airline safety

Mask mandates on planes were largely theater. Everybody wore masks, and then they passed out ginger ale and Bischoff's cookies and the masks came off while everyone snacked.

I've seen dozens of people make a bag of Gardettos or Goldfish last 2 hours eating them one bye one on a flight.

I'm sure the CDC and Biden admin are happy they don't have to keep kicking the mandate can down the road and can just point to the court's ruling and shrug their shoulders.

[rockfordfile]

63. I disagree because that's a trump hack. A trump hack that doesn't give shit about Americans

[Skittles]

58. federal judge? no, TRUMP HACK

it's getting worse all the time

[rockfordfile]

62. I agree that pos is a hack

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

61. Further, I feel my "style" is cramped by stupid requirements ...

... like having to wear a seatbelt, having to stow my tray into the seat in front of me, and not being able to make phone calls in flight. We need more fine judges like this Trumpian moran.

[Samrob]

66. A Federal judge deemed to be 'unqualified' to be a judge and appointed by Trump. nt

[Samrob]

67. Attorneys everywhere should have a field day appealing all decisions by this judge.

Keep the pressure on and see how many of her decisions get overturned. She should not be allowed to rest in this unearned and undeserved position.

[FBaggins]

69. Probably not

The court above (11th circuit) is 13-7 red if you include senior status (7-4 if you don't) with one opening.

To make things worse - she clerked for the current chief judge of the 11th circuit and for Justice Thomas (who is assigned the 11th circuit on SCOTUS).

[bluestarone]

71. After reading your post, it seems like she would have open season to

Pass almost ANYTHING they wanted too! What's stopping them from using her on any and all future battles? So sad.

[FBaggins]

72. A few things help there

"Forum shopping" (trying to get your case into a favorable court) is a thing... but you don't really get to pick your judge and the case would have to be brought in her jurisdiction (and not all issues fit that).

[LetMyPeopleVote]

68. This opinion is a piece of shit

Link to tweet

[Blues Heron]

70. what about that shoe thing - when is it getting struck down?

That one is forever it seems.