Federal Court strikes down public transportation mask mandate

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - A federal district court in Florida declared a mask mandate in place on airplanes and other public transportation unlawful, South Carolina’s attorney general says.

While South Carolina has a suit pending in Florida over the public transportation mask mandate, Attorney General Alan Wilson said the state was not involved in this specific case.

But as in this case, Wilson argued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention exceeded its authority and did not go through the Administrative Procedures Act as required to implement the proposed mask mandate.

“Passengers have liberty rights too, and that liberty should be recognized and protected,” Wilson said.

U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle struck down the mandate, writing, “The Court concludes that the Mask Mandate exceeds the CDC’s statutory authority and violates the procedures required for agency rulemaking under the APA.”

Wilson said this is a victory for the rule of law.

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