Posted on 08/09/2021 11:13:02 AM PDT by SJackson
A judge ruled on Sunday that Norwegian Cruise Line is permitted to ask customers to show proof of vaccination before boarding a ship, dealing a blow to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) law that prevented "vaccine passports" from being utilized in the state.
The nearly 60-page preliminary ruling from 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, whom 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 its safety measures starting Aug. 15, when the company plans to resume passenger cruises from the Sunshine State.
DeSantis signed legislation in May that banned vaccine passports in the state.
Norwegian praised the ruling in a statement on Sunday, writing that allowing vaccinated guests on board is the “safest vacation experience” to resume sailing.
“The public health environment continues to evolve around the globe and our robust science-backed health and safety protocols, with vaccines at its cornerstone, allow us to provide what we believe is the safest vacation experience for people who long to get back to their everyday lives and explore the world once again,” Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, said in a statement.
Daniel Farkas, executive vice president and general counsel for Norwegian, said the lawsuit was filed “in the best interest of the welfare of our guests, crew and communities we visit in an effort to do our part as responsible corporate citizens to minimize, to the greatest extent possible, further spread of COVID-19 as we gradually relaunch our vessels.”
DeSantis’ office said it disagreed with the judge’s legal reasoning, contending that a ban on vaccine passports does not violate speech rights. The office said it will appeal the decision to the Eleventh Circuit of Appeals.
“A prohibition on vaccine passports does not even implicate, let alone violate, anyone’s speech rights, and it furthers the substantial, local interest of preventing discrimination among customers based on private health information,” DeSantis’ office said in a statement to The Hill.
The Hill reached out to Rivkees for comment.
Norwegian sued Rivkees last month in an effort to stop the state from enforcing its vaccine passport ban on businesses.
The Miami-headquartered company contended that the state’s legislation against vaccine passports was a violation of the First Amendment because it blocked communication between business and customers.
The cruise line also argued that the law breached the 14th Amendment because it limited the company’s ability to keep its employees and customers safe.
Norwegian earlier this month, during a virtual court hearing, called on a federal judge to block the law banning vaccine passports.
Derek Shaffer, the cruise line’s attorney, pointed to the spike in COVID-19 infections in Florida as reason why the company should be permitted to require proof of vaccination before boarding a ship.
Essentially that's what he's doing. IMO, foolish.
FYI....this judge is an obama appointee.....just sayin’
The now 5+ year long coup is fully bipartisan in nature...
We shall see.
Common sense. The cruise lines are trying to save their industry, not from covid but from a pis*ing match between DeSantis and the federal government. With around 180,000 Florida jobs in the middle.
The ship is private property and if the owner of the property wants to require XYZ before being allowed on (to board) their property, they are within their constitutional rights to do so.
No question about it. It happens. Interviews with white applicants are often perfunctory and lacking in any objective purpose or intention of selecting the best qualified person for the job. The #1 selection factor is very often based solely on race and gender preferences. Same thing goes for promotions.
Unfortunately the right to refuse service to customers doesn’t extend to every business.
I have long contended that the 1st amendment right to peaceful assembly covers the assembly for the purpose of conducting business. As such, it also incorporates the right to NOT assemble. Thus it takes both parties to agree to conduct business. If one party does not wish to conduct business, then no business should be conducted.
Granted that is not how the left or current court rulings have aligned.
A fellow traveler who speaks the truth.
Furthermore, you have to castrate yourself to get by working for some childless corporate sexist woman who is power mad.
No thanks.
To the contrary, the best boss I ever had in my life was a black executive woman. She was the exception. A motivator and champion.
So certain people with legal religious exemptions for the vaccine will be banned from cruises?
Looks like it.
It does. But not in every case for refusal.
That's up to the cruise line, a private business. Of course I believe a baker has the right to refuse to bake certain themed cakes for religious reasons.
This is a foreign flag and foreign owned ship doing business in the US, does it really have, should have constitutional rights like American businesses may or may not have? Personally, they should have no rights in the US.
Ferry them out to intl waters until the appeal overturns it.
So a baker doesn’t have to make a cake a gay wedding then?
The Constitution doesn't work that way.
“But not in every case for refusal”
Thank you, you admitted it, all business do not operate with the same rights. Again, the Christian baker doesn’t seem to have that right, even after the USSC ruled in his favor; the state of Colorado found another reason to sue him, because he refused to bake a cake to celebrate somebody coming out as a trans-whatever; at this point its obvious, the state of Colorado is attempting to break him (financially) and put him out of business. Go figure.
But how can that be? You claim he has the right to refuse service just like a Cruise ship operator does, so what gives?
In the end it is only theoretical exercise to claim that all businesses operate with the same rights, in practice its not true. So you can deny, deny, deny all you want, but all that matters is whether we all get to exercise the same rights in practice. And that ain’t happening anymore.
Sexual orientation is a protected class under anti-discrimination laws. Anti-vaxer is not.
I’m okay with this. I’d prefer we reduce government’s interference with private businesses.
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