TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Two weeks after suing federal health officials, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has asked a judge for a preliminary injunction to block restrictions on the cruise-ship industry.
Moody’s office filed a 27-page motion Thursday in federal court in Tampa arguing that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has violated a law known as the Administrative Procedure Act by issuing guidelines that have kept cruise ships from sailing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The motion pointed to issues such as the emergence of vaccines, which Moody’s office argued have not been adequately taken into account by federal health officials.
“This court should preliminarily enjoin the CDC’s unlawful acts and allow the approximately 159,000 Floridians whose livelihoods depend on the cruise industry to get back to work,” the motion said. “Without this court’s intervention, Florida will lose millions, if not billions, of dollars.”
The state filed the lawsuit April 8.
As of Friday morning, the federal government had not filed arguments in the case.