Masks No Longer Required on MTD Buses, Still Highly Recommended

Source: MTD Santa Barbara

Due to a court ruling on Monday, April 18, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) January 29, 2021 order requiring masks on public transportation and at public transportation hubs is no longer in effect.

While not required, MTD still highly recommends wearing a mask while riding the bus, especially if unvaccinated. The health and safety of our employees and riders remain a top priority. MTD employees are still subject to daily health screenings, and buses are cleaned and sanitized daily.

MTD Santa Barbara

Written by MTD Santa Barbara

Press releases from the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD). Learn more at sbmtd.gov

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  1. VOR – Ipointed out her factual qualifications as judge – which she doesn’t have any qualifications and the American Bar Association stated so. I never said anything personal about her, created insults, or insinuated hate towards the woman. Not sure where you are getting that from? In fact most that I’ve read about her is that she is a stand up person, was a good lawyer, but not qualified at the time to be a judge. Not sure where you are getting that from?

  2. Which personal attack did I make? I commented on the person’s professional experience for this position – which is very little. The American Bar association rated her as unqualified. That’s a fact – not an opinon.

  3. Please tell us where I attacked this judge as a person. Pointing out someone’s lack of professional qualifications for a position is not a personal attack. The Amercan Bar Association said she was unqualified. So I’m actually stating facts.

  4. Before her appointment to the bench, Kimball Mizelle had never tried a case in court as a lead attorney and had only eight years of experience as an attorney, which led the nonpartisan American Bar Association to declare her not qualified for the position.
    The ABA wrote in a Sept. 8 letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that “a nominee to the federal bench ordinarily should have at least 12 years’ experience in the practice of law.” It added that Kimball Mizelle “was admitted to practice law in Florida on September 27, 2012. This represents a rather marked departure from the 12-year minimum.”
    The ABA did point out that of Kimball Mizelle’s four distinguished federal clerkships, one, a one-year clerkship, was in the trial court.
    “That year, plus her 10 months at a reputable law firm and approximately three years in government practice translates into five years of experience in the trial courts. We have taken into account the nominee’s experience in federal grand jury proceedings, which are non-adversarial and do not take place before a judge. In each instance those proceedings resulted in the defendant’s agreement to a plea of guilty with no trial,” the letter read.
    “A substantial majority of the Standing Committee has determined that Ms. Mizelle is ‘Not Qualified’,” the organization wrote.
    In addition – as a lawyer, she had brought 2 cases to verdict.

  5. It truly truly TRULY is about time. There are a few holdouts (one of my kids indoor sport is still making you mask) but we are almost there! And again, you can keep masking (and keep your 8 year old) masking forever if you want…but it’s no longer logical in any capacity to continue mandating it in 99.9% of venues/situations.

  6. Is there a legal aspect she got wrong in her ruling on the CDC/travel mask mandate that you’d care to share? Otherwise, you’re just, how do you always put it… ‘spewing [left]-wing taking points’. So, 1) does this ruling reflect the proper application of our current laws? and 2) If it doesn’t, how so?

  7. Mizelle’s opinion in Health Freedom Defense Fund v. Biden, the case striking down the masking requirement, is so poorly reasoned that it is difficult not to suspect that it was written in bad faith. Its primary argument is that federal law permits the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to require businesses to clean up contaminants that can spread disease, but that the law does not permit the CDC to actually prevent such contamination from occurring in the first place. But, to arrive at this interpretation of the law, Mizelle takes extreme liberties with statutory text including – Interpretation of Health Freedom completely inaccurate, use of the word sanitation does not mean what the judge thinks it means/ Mizelle also briefly notes that the statute CDC relies upon to require masking has historically been used for more modest regulations, such as “quarantining infected individuals and prohibiting the import or sale of animals known to transmit disease.” But Covid-19 is the most serious public health crisis since the late 1910s, and arguably the most serious crisis of any kind to face the globe since World War II. So it’s unsurprising that the CDC used its authority more aggressively to confront a historical crisis than it did to fight more ordinary diseases. In case there’s any doubt that Mizelle is not operating in good faith, the next segment of her opinion erases any doubt. Mizelle invents a distinction between CDC regulations governing “property” and CDC regulations governing “an individual’s liberty interests” that is directly counter to the statutory text. The elected branches, and not judges, should decide public policy. In addition there are also recent peer reviewed studies that show masking does lessen the possibility of getting COVID and the science is contrary to the judges theory about “absorption” of germs.

  8. 238pm – Exactly…and so you can choose to keep doing it forever! Do what you want…thankfully though we’re ending that (so much of the time completely useless) charade for everyone. Do what makes you happy and makes you feel safe…no one is going to stop you from wearing that mask.

  9. Omicron 2.0 is ramping up locally. My doctor said they saw 5 cases last week, and there is a case in my kid’s class too. And that’s only the people getting tested. Not to mention there is a nasty strain of flu making the rounds.

  10. Uh oh, it’s omicron 2.0 and it’s “really ramping up locally”! Plus a “nasty flu”? Crap, we’re all in for it…back to constant masking you say? Maybe staying at home and all kids out of school again and doing only zoom because there’s “something” new out there? Hey while we’re at it let’s see if the government can toss us another trillion dollar bailout relief package (hello, that’s your tax dollars!) so even fewer people will want to work. Why not?

  11. That’s great – and when the next pandemic comes along – say with something similar to Ebola, the CDC won’t be able to do anything about it because of “government overeach.” These hand to mouth working class arguments are sadly populist and ignorant. Throwing the baby out with the bath water. But that is the GOP these days.

  12. Look, you already won. It’s (mid) April of 2022 and we’re just now dropping the mask mandate! You got everything you wanted! You can keep masking and getting boosted forever. Seriously, at this point, with omicron, what is the value in the person next to you on the plane loosely wearing a cloth mask?

  13. We really should take some time and study the numerous mandates, executive orders, required guidelines, etc. imposed over the past two years, at both the State and Federal level, that were subsequently ruled illegal by the courts (thank you separate branches of government). Checks and balances are critical but when they take two years to work through the courts the damage of the governments overreach has already been done. Newsome had several actions against schools and churches ruled unconstitutional yet it took over a year to get it overturned by the court system. You’d think making our established check and balances more efficient would be a bi-partisian issue, but too many forgot or didn’t realize that when you voluntarily agree to the governments overreach you’re setting a precedent for the government to do it again, but next time it may not come with a reason you agree with or come from a politician you voted for.

  14. The ruling Judge, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, 35, was only eight years out of law school at University of Florida when Trump appointed her to the lifetime position in 2020. Her only trial experience was as an intern, and that she held four clerkships, including one for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Mizelle was rated “not qualified” by the American Bar Association prior to her appointment, citing her lack of experience.

  15. Attacking her as a person vs. the legal opinion used in determining a matter of law is… well right up your alley GT. Is there a legal aspect she got wrong in her ruling that you’d care to share or are you just going to stick to your usual insults and hate?

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