Federal judge seems skeptical of Florida “vaccine passport” law.

A federal judge appeared skeptical Friday of the state’s arguments in a constitutional challenge by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to a Florida ban on so-called “vaccine passports.”

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams heard more than two hours of arguments on a request by Norwegian for a preliminary injunction against the ban, which has been a priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The ban prevents businesses, including Norwegian, from requiring customers to provide documentation that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Williams did not immediately rule on the request, but she suggested that the state is trying to decide how Norwegian can conduct business and pointed to “myriad choices” that cruise customers would have if they didn’t want to provide proof of vaccination to Norwegian.

At one point, the Miamibased judge appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama, pushed back against the term “vaccine passports.”

“That’s a phrase that doesn’t have any meaning in this legal analysis,” she said.

Norwegian filed the lawsuit July 13, saying the ban would prevent it from carrying out a plan to require passengers to be vaccinated as it returns to sailing after a long shutdown caused by the pandemic. DeSantis in April issued an executive order banning vaccine passports, and the Legislature later placed the ban in state law.

The cruise line’s attorneys contend, in part, that the ban violates the First Amendmentandwhatis known as the dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Derek Shaffer, an attorney for Norwegian, said the law regulates speech by preventing the exchange of information. Under the law, he said cruise lines could ask people about whether they are vaccinated but could not require documentation, a scenario that could provide an incentive for people to lie.

“It (the law) is trying to prevent the truthful speech,” Shaffer said.

Pete Patterson, an attorney for Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, the named defendant in the case, said companies don’t have a right to “extract” personal information from people. He said the Legislature was entitled to make policy decisions aimed at preventing discrimination against customers.

“This is a classic anti-discrimination law,” Peterson said.

But Williams raised questions about evidence that would show a need for the law. Shaffer said lawmakers had not provided such evidence.

“This legislative record is conspicuously bereft of that,” he said.

The cruise industry shut down in March 2020 after high-profile outbreaks of COVID-19 early in the pandemic. DeSantis has pushed for months to resume cruise-ship operations, while more broadly trying to block restrictions such as businesses requiring vaccine passports and schools requiring students to wear masks.