Masks, Planes, and the CDC Mandate

We the People

National Constitution Center

News Commentary, News, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2022

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On April 18, a federal judge in Florida struck down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s mask requirement on airplanes, trains, buses, and other public transportation. In a 59-page opinion, Judge Mizelle stated that the CDC had exceeded its legal authority under relevant federal law, including the 1944 Public Health Services Act, and failed to follow administrative procedure rules. The decision further vacated the mask mandate on a nationwide basis. The U.S. Department of Justice plans to appeal the decision. Michael Dorf of Cornell Law School and Adam White of the American Enterprise Institute join us for a discussion about the legal arguments on both sides of the decision, and a broader debate about nationwide injunctions—when a single district court judge blocks a law or government regulation on a national scale. Jeffrey Rosen moderates. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello friends. I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center
0:07.7	and welcome to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate. The National
0:12.2	Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit
0:15.3	chartered by Congress to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution
0:20.0	among the American people.
0:21.7	On April 18th, a federal judge in Florida
0:24.4	struck down the Center for Disease Control's
0:27.4	mask mandate on airplanes, trains, buses,
0:30.1	and other public transportation.
0:32.4	In her opinion, Judge Misell said that CDC had exceeded its legal authority.
0:38.6	The US Department of Justice plans to appeal the decision.
0:42.8	It's wonderful to be joined by two experts on constitutional law
0:47.7	and the administrative state and two great friends of we the people
0:50.8	to help us understand the legal arguments on both sides of the decision
0:55.4	and the broader debate about nationwide injunctions.
1:00.3	Michael Dorf is Robert S. Stevens, Professor of Law at Cornell Law School.
1:05.0	He also writes a bi-weekly column for Justitia's website,
1:08.6	verdict, and post several times on his own blog, Dorf-on-law.
1:13.8	Mike, welcome back to the show.
1:16.3	Thanks, it's great to be here.
1:17.3	And Adam White is senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
1:20.5	and co-director of the Seaboyden Gray Center for the study of the
	...

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