The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by John Disney/ALM The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by John Disney/ALM

A federal judge put off acting on a request by Florida to find that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention violated an injunction against pandemic-related restrictions on the cruise-ship industry.

The decision Monday by U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday came after a flurry of legal activity that started Friday when a federal appeals court blocked restrictions that the CDC had imposed on the industry because of COVID-19. The appeals court kept in place a preliminary injunction that Merryday issued against the CDC last month.

On Saturday, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's office filed a motion asking Merryday to find that the CDC had violated the injunction and suggested that the CDC was in contempt of court. That motion was based on a letter that the CDC sent Friday to the cruise-ship industry after the appeals court ruling.

But CDC attorneys fired back Sunday, describing as "baseless" the state's arguments that the federal health agency violated the injunction. Merryday issued an order Monday saying that for "a time, the disposition of Florida's motion is deferred."

The wrangling came in a battle that has drawn national attention as Moody and Gov. Ron DeSantis argued the CDC overstepped its legal authority in imposing restrictions on the cruise-ship industry, a position Merryday agreed with in the preliminary injunction.

The case focuses heavily on what is known as a "conditional sailing order," which the CDC issued in October. The conditional sailing order included a phased approach to resuming cruising during the pandemic, with ship operators needing to meet a series of requirements.

After Friday's ruling by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the CDC sent a letter to the cruise industry saying that the conditional sailing order and related measures had become "nonbinding recommendations" because of the injunction.

The letter requested that cruise-ship operators inform the CDC about ships that voluntarily comply with the conditional sailing order. Also, the letter outlined requirements for ships that do not voluntarily comply, including requirements about inspections and reporting illnesses or deaths.

In addition, ships not voluntarily complying would be designated as "gray" under a CDC color-coding system, the letter said.