The US Department of Justice has filed an appeal of a federal judge’s decision to overturn mask rules on public transportation in the United States in order to prevent a further spread of the coronavirus.
The Justice Department claims that the order made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in early 2021 “falls easily within the CDC’s statutory authority” in a 48-page brief filed in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
On April 18, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle from Florida, struck down an “arbitrary” and “capricious” regulation, claiming that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had exceeded its jurisdiction.
Within hours of the ruling, major U.S. airlines said masks would no longer be required on their flights, and other public transportation systems that carry millions of Americans daily followed suit.
The ruling covered passengers on planes, subways, buses, cabs, app-based rides, and at transportation hubs such as airports, ferry terminals, subway stations and, ports.
The Justice Department’s appeal came just hours before the deadline.
“None of the district court’s quarrels with the CDC order comes close to showing that the CDC has acted outside the ‘zone of reasonableness,’” the Justice Department wrote, adding that the CDC findings in early 2021 provided “ample support for the agency’s determination that there was good cause to make the order effective without delay.”
The Federal Aviation Administration stated this month that the rate of unruly air passenger incidents decreased to its lowest level since late 2020.
However, the repeal of the mask mandate has caused some confusion among American citizens-which has led to chaos and strife in some situations, particularly at transportation hubs across the country.
That’s because after the mandate was repealed – which basically meant that wearing a mask while using public transportation in the U.S. was no longer “required by law” – some transit hubs still required passengers to wear a mask.