(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Cruise ships will be able to set sail from Florida’s ports next month, affirming the thoughts of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
Late last week, Judge Steven Merryday said restrictions put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were likely overstepping the legal authority it has and unconstitutional as well.
Starting July 18, the No Sail Orders handed down by the CDC will become only “guidance,” allowing cruise ships to operate from Florida’s ports. Over the last year, the industry as a whole has been stunted by these ridiculous No Sail Orders.
As DeSantis said recently:
“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. 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 Middle District Court of Florida ruled recently that the CDC can’t keep families and children from sailing on a cruise. It also ruled no federal agency could require vaccine passports.
Finally, it ruled the CDC has to create an actual framework for businesses to resume their operations, instead of just forcing them to conduct tests that are burdensome without having some sort of standard to measure themselves by.
The ruling read:
“Never has CDC (or a predecessor) detained a vessel for more than 15 months; never has CDC implemented a widespread or industry-wide detention of a fleet of vessels in American waters; never has CDC condition practique 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 and 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.”
In his decision, Merryday also cited one previous ruling, which reads:
“When an agency claims to discover in a long-extant statute an unheralded power to regulate ‘a significant portion of the American economy,’ we typically greet its announcement with a measure of skepticism.”
DeSantis filed a suit against the CDC in April, which demanded that the No Sail Order be lifted in its entirety.
That came one month after the CDC allowed cruise lines to resume by July under strict rules. For ships to set sail, 95% of the passengers and 98% of the crew onboard have to be fully vaccinated.
The ruling granted an injunction over that ruling, deeming that the state would’ve likely succeeded in a lawsuit on the merits of irreparable harm. Still, the judge only sent Florida and the CDC to mediation.
In other words, the CDC can’t enforce its No Sail Order just yet. However, the enforcement of that was pushed back to July 18.
