Lucas Wall v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

USCA11 Case: 22-11532 Document: 94-1 Date Filed: 12/15/2023 Page: 1 of 3
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Eleventh Circuit
____________________
No. 22-11532
Non-Argument Calendar
____________________
LUCAS WALL,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION,
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION,
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY,
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees,
USCA11 Case: 22-11532 Document: 94-1 Date Filed: 12/15/2023 Page: 2 of 3
2 Opinion of the Court 22-11532
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
D.C. Docket No. 6:21-cv-00975-PGB-DCI
____________________
Before JORDAN, GRANT, and LAGOA, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
In December 2021, Lucas Wall filed a pro se complaint
against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
Department of Health and Human Services, the Greater Orlando
Aviation Authority (GOAA), and the Central Florida Regional
Transportation Authority (LYNX) seeking to enjoin their
enforcement of the federal transportation mask mandate,1 the
international traveler COVID-19 testing requirement, 2 and GOAA
and LYNX’s mask requirements on the grounds that these orders
violated a host of federal statutes and the Constitution. The district
court granted summary judgment to the CDC and HHS, dismissed
1 Requirement for Persons to Wear Masks While on Conveyances and at
Transportation Hubs, 86 Fed. Reg. 8025 (Feb. 3, 2021).
2 Requirements for Negative Pre-Departure Covid-19 Test Result or
Documentation of Recovery from Covid-19 for All Airline or Other Aircraft
Passengers Arriving Into the United States From Any Foreign Country, 86 Fed.
Reg. 69256 (Dec. 7, 2021).
USCA11 Case: 22-11532 Document: 94-1 Date Filed: 12/15/2023 Page: 3 of 3
22-11532 Opinion of the Court 3
Wall’s state-law claims against GOAA and LYNX,3 and denied
summary judgment to Wall.
This Court recently held in Health Freedom Def. Fund v.
President of the United States that a challenge to the federal
transportation mask mandate was moot following a declaration
that the public health emergency was over. 71 F.4th 888 (11th Cir.
2023). Although Wall also challenges the international testing
order, which was not at issue in Health Freedom, the reasoning of
that decision indicates that the testing order is moot as well because
it expired at the end of the public health emergency. Requirements
for Negative Pre-Departure Covid-19 Test Result, 86 Fed. Reg. at
69262. As in Health Freedom, none of this Circuit’s mootness
exceptions apply to either order. See Health Freedom, 71 F.4th at
892–94. Accordingly, Wall’s challenges to the federal
transportation mask mandate and the international traveler testing
requirement are moot.
* * *
For the foregoing reasons, we VACATE the judgment
below with instructions that the district court DISMISS the case as
moot.
3 On appeal, Wall filed an unopposed motion to remove GOAA and LYNX as
parties. Because he does not appeal the district court’s dismissal of his claims
against GOAA and LYNX, Wall’s motion is GRANTED.