April 1, 2022

21-State Coalition Sues CDC over Public Transportation Mask Mandate

Bernard Nash

Cozen O'Connor

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Cozen O'Connor

In a complaint filed March 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Florida, AGs from 21 states are seeking a declaration that the Centers for Disease Control’s COVID-19 mask mandate for public transportation is unlawful. Defendants include the CDC, HHS, TSA, Homeland Security, and officials of those agencies in their official capacities.
According to the complaint, the CDC’s authority relating to the COVID-19 pandemic is statutorily limited by to actions “to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases . . . from one State or possession into any other State or possession,” which the CDC exceeded by imposing economy-wide masking requirements relating to public transportation, rather than discrete actions, such as detaining a ship or banning a particular item. The plaintiff states claimed that they were harmed by the CDC’s mandate through fines for noncompliance and harm to the states’ sovereign and quasi-sovereign interests.
The Complaint seeks a declaration that the mandate is unlawful, an injunction preventing the CDC’s enforcement of the mask mandate, and an award of costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.

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