The U.S. government on Friday filed what it says is its last brief in the case against the man who filed a lawsuit seeking to end the federal transportation mask mandate.
The government, in conjunction with seven U.S. airlines, is seeking to dismiss the suit against Lucas Wall.
"Lucas Wall and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention greatly differ about the scientific facts regarding the efficacy of mask wearing and what Mr. Wall calls 'the harms of forced muzzling,'" the government said. "But for those who seek to use our nation's public-transportation systems during a global pandemic, Congress has entrusted those judgments to the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Wall, of Washington, DC, was the first to file suit last month saying he can't wear a mask because he has generalized anxiety disorder, according to a complaint filed in US District Court in Orlando, Florida. He is suing the CDC; Southwest, Alaska, Allegiant, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue and Spirit airlines were all named in the suit.
The case is now in the hands of Magistrate Judge Daniel Irick at the U.S. District Court in Orlando.
"I'm confident the court will vacate the illegal and unconstitutional Federal Transportation Mask Mandate, which CDC issued without any authority from Congress and in violation of the constitutional right to freedom of travel, to due process of law, and states' rights under the 10th Amendment," Wall, 44, said in an email. "The Supreme Court struck down the Eviction Moratorium with strong language that CDC had no power to ban evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The same law applies to the mask mandate."
Wall filed suit June 7 against the CDC, President Joseph Biden, the Transportation Security Administration and three other federal agencies to end the requirement that all passengers wear masks on all modes of transportation everywhere in the nation.
"President Biden said in September 2020 that the federal government has no constitutional authority to require face coverings," Wall said. "Yet just like with CDC's Eviction Moratorium, he did it anyway - and is now trying to defend his unlawful orders in court. Biden's constant actions in violation of his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution must be restrained by the judiciary."
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