Opinion: In mask mandate case, judge ruled on wordplay, not public health
When a Tampa-based federal judge voided the nationwide mandate on wearing masks in transportation venues this week, her reliance on wordplay rather than public health principles may well have prolonged the Covid-19 pandemic, which once again appears to be flaring up.
The travel mask mandate had been put in place in January 2021 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In response to a lawsuit opposing it, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle ruled that the mandate went beyond the legal authority granted to the CDC under the 1944 Public Health Services Act. Although the Biden administration has appealed the decision, it isn’t clear how such a challenge would fare in the higher courts. But there is little doubt that the judge’s formulaic ruling missed the real-world historical context in which the public health law was enacted.
Read Original Article: Opinion: In mask mandate case, judge ruled on wordplay, not public health »
