CDC and TSA Form FEDERAL MASK POLICE…and Enforcement Is Up to Officer Discretion by Daisy Luther for The Organic Prepper
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have teamed up in an effort to enforce mask-wearing in public conveyances and transportation hubs for the “preservation of human life.”
This isn’t a pro or con mask article because that could be considered disinformation. The heightened emotions around the mask debate have become tribal in nature, and nothing written by me or anyone else is likely to change the minds that have already been made up.
This article merely outlines the new rules to be enforced by the new mask police. Some readers may be concerned about the risk of arbitrary enforcement and excessive potential punishment to which those using public transportation will be subject.
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Elizabeth Nolan Brown writes for Reason.com:
The order will be enforced by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents and “other federal authorities,” as well as state and local officials. “To the extent permitted by law…federal agencies are required to implement additional measures enforcing the provisions of this Order,” the CDC says.
“CDC reserves the right to enforce through criminal penalties,” the agency adds, though it claims not to intend “to rely primarily on these criminal penalties.” The feds may also implement “additional civil measures enforcing the provisions” of the order (which “is not a rule within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act,” the CDC notes, “but rather is an emergency action”). (source)
So, basically, we don’t get to know ahead of time with the criminal penalty might be, as it is not outlined in either the CDC order or the executive order. (More on the EO below.)
Back in early 2020, would you ever have imagined that your decision of whether to wear a face-covering or not could one day be a federal crime?
Here’s what the CDC has to say about the order.
The CDC issued a lengthy PDF order on Jan. 29th.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an Order pdf icon[PDF – 11 pages] on January 29, 2021 requiring the wearing of masks by travelers to prevent spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. Conveyance operators must also require all persons onboard to wear masks when boarding, disembarking, and for the duration of travel. Operators of transportation hubs must require all persons to wear a mask when entering or on the premises of a transportation hub.
This Order must be followed by all passengers on public conveyances (e.g., airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, ride-shares) traveling into, within, or out of the United States as well as conveyance operators (e.g., crew, drivers, conductors, and other workers involved in the operation of conveyances) and operators of transportation hubs ( e.g., airports, bus or ferry terminals, train or subway stations, seaports, ports of entry) or any other area that provides transportation in the United States. (source)
Please keep in mind this is the same CDC that told us last March that we should definitively not wear masks.
