As the world continues to crawl out from under the COVID-19 canopy, there is plenty of reflection beginning to occur regarding just how quickly we allowed the federal government to impose their will on us in the name of safety.
You see, this is America, and if we want to take risks with our own bodies, (whether that be skydiving, smoking, or not getting vaccinated), there is nothing in the DNA of our nation that would prevent us.
That is why nearly half of the states in the union are now filing suit against the feds in an effort to rescind and restrict mask mandates for public transportation.
Twenty-one states on Tuesday sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies to end the country’s much-debated mask mandate on public transportation.
Unsurprisingly, the Sunshine State was front and center in the maneuver.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, argues that the federal mandate exceeds the CDC’s authority and interferes with state laws banning forced masking.
“Florida has led the nation in standing up to misguided federal government policies and fighting back against heavy-handed mandates that have no scientific backing,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a press release announcing the action. “If politicians and celebrities can attend the Super Bowl unmasked, every U.S. citizen should have the right to fly unmasked. It is well past time to get rid of this unnecessary mandate and get back to normal life.”
The suit goes straight for the jugular.
The complaint — which names as defendants the CDC, the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, as well as the heads of each agency — seeks to end the mandate on public transportation and establish a permanent injunction against its enforcement.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made ‘unprecedented assertion[s] of power,’” the lawsuit states.
In addition to Florida, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia are now on board.
