by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:57 AM ET, Wed May 19, 2021
A federal judge in Tampa ruled the civil case between the state of Florida and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over the return of cruising should be turned over to a mediator.
According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the mediator was provided instructions by U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday to hear the positions of both sides before June 1 and help come to an agreement outside the court system.
Officials in Florida filed the lawsuit against the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services on April 8, claiming the agencies' rulings were "arbitrary and capricious, unconstitutional and violate federal laws governing administrative procedures."
The Florida attorney general's office believes the CDC and affiliated decision-makers "overstepped" their authority when imposing a multi-step process for cruise lines to safely resume operating from U.S. ports after over a year of suspended operations.
Tampa attorney Joseph H. Varner III was named mediator and James Percival will serve as his lead attorney. Merryday also allowed the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) to file a friend of the court brief supporting Florida's claims of economic damages suffered.
"Plainly, the outcome of this case will affect far more Americans than just the 159,000 Floridians whose livelihoods are tied in one way or another to the cruise industry," ASTA's lawsuit reads. "Indeed, they represent but a small percentage of those impacted by the defendants' actions when viewed in strictly economic terms.
"That being said, the impact goes well beyond the economic, as this case raises broader and concerns about the freedom of individuals to travel as they see fit and infringes upon their fundamental rights," the ASTA continued.
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