DeSantis fighting cruise ship vaccine ruling

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has filed documents arguing that a federal appeals court should toss out a preliminary injunction that allowed Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to require passengers to show documentation that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Attorneys for the administration filed a brief Monday at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta backing a new state law that seeks to bar businesses from requiring such documentation, or so-called “vaccine passports.” Norwegian filed a federal lawsuit challenging the law, and U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a preliminary injunction in August, finding that the measure violates the First Amendment and the dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

But attorneys for the DeSantis administration wrote that the law is an “economic regulation that does not implicate” the First Amendment.

“The law simply prohibits businesses from conditioning service on customers providing documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination,” the brief said. “Norwegian may still request that documentation from its customers, its customers may voluntarily provide it, and both parties are free to discuss the topic. What Norwegian may not do is deny service to customers who fail to provide that documentation.”

But in her August ruling,

Williams wrote that the law is a “content-based restriction” on speech, as it targets

documentation but allows businesses to request other information from customers

about issues such as vaccinations.

“While companies cannot require customers to verify their vaccination status with ‘documentation,’ the statute does not prohibit businesses from verifying vaccination status in other ways (e.g., orally),” Williams wrote. “Accordingly, under [the law], businesses could still ‘discriminate’ against unvaccinated individuals by adopting a vaccination requirement, which they could enforce by requiring oral verification of vaccination status before entry or by deterring unvaccinated patrons from entering by putting up signs that read ‘vaccinated customers only’ and ‘unvaccinated patrons are not allowed.’ ”

Norwegian and other cruise lines operating in Florida have been requiring proof of vaccination from passengers while the court case continues.

CARL JUSTE/THE MIAMI HERALD Gov. Ron DeSantis is challenging an injunction that allowed Norwegian Cruise Line to require “vaccine passports” to permit passengers to sail on their ships.