The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned an injunction won by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. that blocked Florida from enforcing a law barring the cruise line from requiring COVID-19 “vaccine passports.”
In a 2-1 decision, the 11th Circuit on Oct. 6 sided with Florida’s arguments that the 2021 Senate Bill 2006 did not violate Norwegian’s free speech rights or the Constitution’s commerce clause. Supporters of SB 2006 argued that the law was needed to ensure Floridians were not discriminated against simply because they had health, religious or other concerns about the coronavirus vaccines.
A federal district court had entered a preliminary injunction against the Florida law on constitutional grounds, but the appeals court vacated that ruling.
“Florida’s statute is a regulation of economic conduct that only incidentally burdens speech, which does not implicate the First Amendment,” the appeals court said in its opinion. “And its burdens on interstate commerce do not exceed the benefits of furthering Florida’s substantial interests in protecting its residents from discrimination and invasions of privacy.”
The court’s opinion came just two days after the cruise line announced the relaxation of its travel requirements worldwide.
“We’re thrilled to welcome all guests back on our ships to cruise freely to the places they’ve been dreaming of – regardless of vaccination status and with no testing requirements,” Norwegian announced.
A spokesperson for the cruise line told the Florida Record in an email that circumstances had changed and that maintaining the injunction would lack any practical value.
“As we informed the courts last (week), because we are no longer requiring COVID-19 vaccination to board our vessels, we believe the preliminary injunction granted in August 2021 was moot and therefore appropriate to be lifted,” the spokesperson said.
Norwegian had argued that its previous requirements for passengers to provide documentation about COVID-19 vaccination status were needed to comply with federal health provisions once cruise ships were allowed to set sail again last year.