Officials allowed car show despite dangers
After arguing in court that holding an outdoor gathering that was expected to draw tens of thousands would “put the lives of Pennsylvanians at risk” and threaten to reverse progress on the state’s mitigation of COVID-19, Pennsylvania officials gave the green light to a June car show in Carlisle — as long as organizers capped total capacity at 20,000 people on the fairgrounds at one time.
The state Department of Health had sued in Commonwealth Court to put a stop to Spring Carlisle, a massive automotive flea market, but agreed to a settlement that was under wraps and marked “confidential.” It was obtained by the Post-Gazette this week after it surfaced in a different legal case.
The settlement revealed the state said Spring Carlisle “may continue as a flea market” as long as organizers “[enforced] all applicable social distancing, masking, area cleaning and hygiene requirements” and limited capacity. No more than 250 people were to be allowed inside a building on the premises, and no more than 20,000 people were to be allowed on the fairgrounds at once. The event normally draws 100,000 people from all over the world, the suit noted, and anticipated that crowd size again.
Meanwhile, the state — as of the time of the June 19 settlement — was continuing to prohibit “any gathering for a planned or spontaneous event of greater than 250 individuals,” which included “a concert, fair, festival, conference, sporting event, movie showing or theater performance.” The Department of Health’s lawyers included this phrasing in the department’s original filing as it laid out its case for why the car show should be shut down.
When asked a series of questions about the confidential settlement, Maggi Mumma, deputy press secretary for the
Department of Health, said due to the terms of the settlement, the department couldn’t comment on it specifically.
But Ms. Mumma did say the state’s guidance for settings such as outdoor flea markets “where individuals do not congregate for discrete events or shows” has “always been different than the guidance offered on large gatherings for an event or show.”
“Throughout the pandemic, the administration has maintained open communication with any entity with questions on the administration’s guidance and will continue to do so as necessary,” Ms. Mumma said.
When it sought to shut down the event, though, the health department had said on the record its undertaking of “unprecedented measures to save lives and reduce the number of deaths caused by the COVID-19 virus” — including limiting the size of public gatherings — was succeeding, and warned of the potential consequences of going forward with the car show.
“When individuals choose to ignore those safeguards — such as by holding an event anticipating 100,000 attendees — they put the lives of Pennsylvanians at risk and threaten to reverse the significant progress that has been made to resolve this crisis,” the health department wrote in its filing. “That dangerous conduct must be stopped before it can occur.”
At a hearing for the case in June, Brian Downey, the Department of Health’s lawyer, said “the risk we are looking at right now is so significant” with Spring Carlisle because it could draw tens of thousands to the fairgrounds, including travelers from virus “hot spots” in and outside of the state, according to a report in PennLive.
According to the original suit, the car show’s organizers had originally inquired with the state about obtaining a waiver permitting them to allow more than 250 people into their event.
The state responded by reiterating the 250-person limit and again reminded the organizers afterward they were obliged to follow the rules.
The health department said the Carlisle organizers made it clear they intended to proceed without abiding by the attendance restrictions, which led the state to take action in court over the potential “public health threat.”
The confidential settlement — signed by the parties on June 19 — was sought by plaintiffs in a different lawsuit in U.S. District Court this past week.
In that case, Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, as well as businesses and politicians in those counties, are suing Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine for violating their constitutional rights, asserting the state’s business closure orders were “arbitrary, capricious and interfered
“When individuals choose to ignore those safeguards — such as by holding an event anticipating 100,000 attendees — they put the lives of Pennsylvanians at risk and threaten to reverse the significant progress that has been made to resolve this crisis. That dangerous conduct must be stopped before it can occur.”
— Pennsylvania Department of Health legal filing
with the concept of‘ordered liberty’ as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment,” among other claims.
They filed a motion requesting the Carlisle settlement agreement, insisting the terms were relevant in their own case because “it is believed that the agreement permitted thousands of visitors to attend the [car show] in direct violation of the congregate and other business closure restrictions” they were suing over.
“That defendants’ action in permitting commercial speech and preferring it to political speech is concrete evidence of violations of the constitutional rights of various of the candidate-plaintiffs in this case,” they wrote in the motion seeking the agreement.
“It also evidences discrimination as regards to other commercial events, such as golf tournaments and county fairs, testified to by the county commissioners.”
A spokesman for Carlisle Events, the organization that ran the car show and was the defendant in the health department’s suit, declined comment because “the agreement was signed with an understanding of confidentiality.” He pointed to a joint statement from both parties, which was the only public comment the two had agreed to make.
“The Pennsylvania Department of Health is committed to protecting the health of Pennsylvanians, and our mission of a healthy Pennsylvania for all,” the statement read. “We are pleased to have worked with Carlisle Events to improve its efforts to protect Spring Carlisle vendors and patrons and the public from COVID-19.
“As a result of those efforts, the department and Carlisle Events have resolved the current litigation,” the statement continued. “We will continue to work to protect the health of Pennsylvanians, while also assisting businesses as they work to reopen.”