MIAMI — The showdown between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the state’s multibillion-dollar cruise ship industry continues.
This time a U.S. judge has issued a temporary injunction ruling Norwegian Cruise Lines can demand proof of vaccination from passengers, in direct contradiction to a law signed by the governor earlier this year.
“We’re telling private businesses you may not conduct your business in a way that you think is beneficial to your business on the ground it essentially discriminates against those who are being vaccinated,” said Louis Virelli, a constitutional law professor at Stetson University. “The court in Miami was very unsympathetic to that argument.”
He says the judge in the case had to consider two items before granting the injunction.
“Are they likely to win at the full trial? And if so, would they be irreparably harmed between now and then if we didn’t stop the statute from being applied.”
In both cases, he says Judge Kathleen Williams decided yes. She found the state’s ban on businesses requesting proof of vaccination could actually be a violation of the first amendment.
“Anytime you single out a single message under the constitution, in other words ‘you can’t say this,’ the constitution tends to protect the speaker, and that’s what the judge says it’s happening here.”
The judge also found in this specific case the state law could interfere with interstate commerce.
“We don’t want the states messing around with the national economy. That’s the constitutional doctrine. The argument here is that Florida is doing that by interfering with the way cruise lines run their business. It’s clear they rely on interstate commerce, and in fact, international commerce and the balancing the court is doing weighs if the benefits to Florida are not greater than the cost of the interstate commerce.”
A spokesperson for Gov. DeSantis' office says the state will appeal the decision out of the U.S. Southern District. But legal experts say until further notice, cruise ships can ask for proof of vaccination.
“I don’t know I don’t know what the 11th Circuit will do, but I’m confident more trial-level judges will be willing to entertain arguments saying this has gone too far,” said Professor Virelli. “Not allowing a private business to determine who its customers are without an obvious stated benefit to the state, which is what you require to show, is problematic.”