COVID and Cruises

Julian SanchezI ’vewritten previously about the unhelpful state of public discussion around what are misleadingly dubbed “vaccine passports”—a discussion that tends to conflate Orwellian visions of immunization papers being demanded at every pub and corner bodega with the far more plausible scenario: a few categories of businesses exercising their freedom of association when they deem it necessary, given their specific circumstances, to operate safely.One example I offered was cruise lines, because several had already announced their intention to restart operation for fully vaccinated passengers, and also because it seemed like such a clear ‐​cut case where such a restriction would be eminently justifiable. Yet Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has pushed one of the most extreme “vaccine passport” bans, isinsisting that the ailing cruise lines sailing from his state may not require passengers to be vaccinated before boarding, threateninghefty fines against companies that request proof of vaccination.This is objectionable on general principle, insofar as business owners should generally be free to make their own judgments about who they want to allow on their property. There are, of course, well ‐​known exceptions, designed to remedy exceptional wrongs embedded in our history: “Public accommodations” cannot lawfully deny service on the basis of certain “immutable characteristics” like race and gender. But analogizing “discriminati...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs