Opinion | Will the End of the Mask Mandate Hobble Our Response to the Next Pandemic? - The New York Times

A  society that lets randomly selected life-tenured judges obstruct the considered decisions of public health authorities - particularly during a pandemic that has killed 1 million of its countrymen- is not serious about representative government. - GWC

Opinion | Will the End of the Mask Mandate Hobble Our Response to the Next Pandemic? - The New York Times

By Lawrence Gostin and Duncan Hosie

Should the federal government have the power to address broad public health emergencies?

Last week, a federal judge effectively answered no.

The judge, Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, who serves on a Federal District Court in Florida and was appointed by former President Donald Trump, issued a nationwide injunction blocking the government’s mask mandate for planes, trains, buses and other forms of public transportation.

No matter how you feel now about masks, you should be alarmed by her decision. Judge Mizelle’s ruling could prevent the federal government from effectively and nimbly responding to future pandemics. And long after this pandemic has faded, her approach and rationale could undermine the federal government’s authority to confront other big problems, from occupational health and safety to climate change.

The Biden administration has appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, but that carries its own risks. Six of the 11 active judges on that court are Trump appointees. A loss there by the Justice Department could permanently weaken the government’s authority to respond to health emergencies.