The CDC Doubles Down

Amid everything else in yesterday's news, my main interest was in finding whether the CDC would extend its rule requiring masks on aircraft and public transportation yet again after the latest extension expired on May 3. Indeed, they did.

U.S. health officials on Tuesday restated their recommendation that Americans wear masks on planes, trains and buses, despite a court ruling last month that struck down a national mask mandate on public transportation.

Americans age 2 and older should wear a well-fitting masks while on public transportation, including in airports and train stations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended, citing the current spread of coronavirus and projections of future COVID-19 trends.

For months, the Transportation Security Administration had been enforcing a requirement that passengers and workers wear masks.

The government had repeatedly extended the mandate, and the latest one had been set to expire May 3. But a federal judge in Florida struck down the rule on April 18. The same day, the TSA said it would no longer enforce the mandate.

The CDC asked the Justice Department to appeal the decision, which the department did. On Tuesday, CDC officials declined to comment on the status of the appeal. DOJ officials did not immediately respond to a request for information.

As far as I'm aware, Los Angeles County via a health department order is the only jurisdiction that is at least theoretically requiring masks on public transit, although the TSA is not enforcing the CDC rule at County airports or rail transit stations. As I've discussed here, the Metrolink rail transit agency had ceased enforcement even before the judge's April 18 order. I'd heard some agencies in the New York area were still enforcing mask rules, but New Jersey Transit's current policy is:

At this time, there are no plans to extend the mask mandate on board vehicles now that the federal mandate has expired. However, masks remain optional, and we encourage all those who wish to continue to wear them to do so if that provides for a more comfortable travel experience.

However, the federal mandate has actually been renewed, but clearly New Jersey Transit has decided to act as if it hasn't. My respect for New Jersey has increased. Nevertheless,

A number of commuters who use the rails to get to and from work -- or wherever -- each day say NJ Transit should make at least one car available only to people who still want to wear face masks aboard for COVID safety reasons.

NJ Transit was among a number of agencies that made masks optional last week after a federal judge in Florida struck down the national federal mask order for travel.

A Change.org petition started two days ago asks NJ Transit to make a special face mask car offering similar to its designated quiet cars.

. . . Signs put in each mask car would explain the rules and enforcement could be handled similarly to disorderly conduct issues, he suggested.

Only about three dozen people had signed the Change.org petition for mask-only cars as of noon Tuesday, but the proposal is also circulating on social media. NJ.com has also reported that at least one board member has asked NJ Transit staff to report back on the feasibility of adopting a mask-only car model.

So, is it under consideration by NJ Transit? Not at this time, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

It looks as if COVID Karens have gone out of style. My anecdotal observation on the street is that maybe half the people wear them outside, but there seems to be a general acceptance that this is optional.

According to Wikipedia,

In law, desuetude is a doctrine that causes statutes, similar legislation, or legal principles to lapse and become unenforceable by a long habit of non-enforcement or lapse of time. It is what happens to laws that are not repealed when they become obsolete. It is the legal doctrine that long and continued non-use of a law renders it invalid, at least in the sense that courts will no longer tolerate punishing its transgressors.

The problem for the CDC is that by reinstating the mask rule, which it is currently continuing to do, while agencies are nevertheless ceasing to enforce it, which they are clearly now doing, the CDC risks making any future mask mandates covering new epidemics unenforceable. Apparently the CDC's idea in appealing the April 18 decision is to preserve its future ability to issue such a mandate, but in not allowing the current mandate to expire, they're going to bring about the same result of making any future rule unenforceable no matter what.

The solution is to get rid of these people. The battle needs to continue via the law and the ballot box.