A federal judge has ruled that a Florida law banning vaccine passports can’t be implemented and is likely a violation of the First Amendment.
Judge Rules Against Ron DeSantis’s Vaccine Passport Ban
The nearly 60-page preliminary rulingfrom U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in the Southern District of Florida said that the state law barring the use of vaccine passports is likely unconstitutional under the First Amendment and jeopardizes public health.
The judge ruled that Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, who Norwegian filed a lawsuit against over the vaccine passport ban, cannot enforce the law with the cruise line, giving Norwegian the greenlight to carry out their safety measures starting Aug. 15, when the company plans to resume passenger cruises from the Sunshine State.
Vaccine passport bans are unconstitutional on a number of grounds. The government can’t mandate that people be exposed to a deadly virus, and that is what the vaccine passport ban does.
Supposedly free-market Republicans are going total authoritarian big government by trying to tell businesses how to operate. Proof of vaccination is no different than requiring people to wear shoes in a store. It is a public health issue. Just as a store, or a cruise ship, in this case, has a right to set their own rules for entry, they also have the right to deny someone service if they represent a threat to the safety of the other customers.
The Republican vaccine passport bans are likely to be rejected by courts across the country, and Ron DeSantis’s dreams of positioning himself as Biden’s primary 2024 foe were just dealt a crippling constitutional blow.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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