Miami strip club wins challenge against county’s COVID-19 curfew

A small victory in Miami on Friday could shift the power infavor of businesses that arefighting against local COVID-19 restrictions in South Florida.

Tootsie’s strip club in Miami Gardens won in a civil lawsuit against MiamiDade County and will be able to stay open past the county’s coronaviruscurfew, which the judge called “illegal.”

The curfew has been in place nearly three months to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. Restaurants were forced to close their dining rooms at midnight, which is when clubs typically open. In a number of cases, establishments such asTootsie’s that stayedopen were fined and forced to shut down at midnight.

The situation has been similar in Broward. Earlier this month, nightclub owners demanded answers from BrowardMayor Dale Holness, who said businesses would still have to shut down at 11 p.m. even after Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed South Florida businesses to reopen.

In Miami-Dade, Judge Beatrice Butchko ruled that Tootsie’s can operate all night because of DeSantis’ statewide decree, which effectively snatched power from local governments to enforce COVID-19 restrictions on businesses.

DeSantis’ order allowed counties and cities to set capacity limits for restaurants but kept local governments from issuing rules that keptpeople fromworking.

“TheMiami-Dadecurfew orders conflictwith[DeSantis’ executive order] because they prohibitTootsie’s from operating; they prohibit employees and contractors fromworking; and they reduce capacity to zero for the entire time subject to

the curfew,” Butchko wrote in the ruling.

Sports radio host Andy Slater broke the news that Tootsie’swon the suit.

Miami-DadeandBroward imposedthe curfews inJuly to crack down on late-night parties in bars, streetsandin private homes. The curfews also affected restaurants thathadto close their dining roomsearly.

PHOTOCOURTESYOFTOOTSIE’S Tootsie’sstrip club inMiami Gardens, shown inaprepandemic file photo, won in a civil lawsuit againstMiamiDadeCounty, andwill be able to stay open past the county’s coronavirus curfew, which the judge called“illegal.”