Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Lawsuits fight bar closures, mask requirements
Owners want to reopen with similar restrictions faced by other businesses
South Floridians who vehemently oppose the new coronavirus restrictions are making their arguments in court this week, saying the pandemic rules are overbearing and unconstitutional.
Bar owners in Broward want to know why their businesses can’t open, especially when Disney World has been allowed to open. Some Palm Beach County residents are pushing back against being required to wear masks.
A group of 22 bar owners filed a lawsuit in Broward against the governor and the county, demanding the right to reopen with the same restrictions as other area businesses, including restaurants.
“All businesses [are] allowed to operate at some level except bars,” the lawsuit states. There is nothing but speculation to suggest that “bars were places where people were more likely to catch the virus.”
Alex Arreaza, the Fort Lauderdale attorney who wrote the complaint, said Gov. Ron DeSantis is sending mixed messages by allowing theme parks to operate and pushing to open schools while allowing the county to shut down bars. “Are they saying children are more likely to obey social distancing requirements than adults in bars?” he said.
“At the same time as you are not allowing these businesses to open, you’re allowing Disney and Universal and all these other parks to open, and they have more people in a day than all these businesses put together,” Arreaza said. The state’s spike in COVID-19 cases took place when bars were not open, Arreaza said, arguing that bars are no more likely to spread the virus than any other business.
Palm Beach Circuit Judge John , meanwhile, held a hearing on a legal action filed on June 30 by four residents who say being forced to wear a mask infringes on their constitutional rights to free speech and privacy. The suit against Palm Beach County, its mayor and commissioners calls masks “harmful medical devices” with “wellknown risks and potential for serious injury and death.”
The county’s ordinance requiring face masks went into effect in late June and is subject to review every 30 days. Kastrenakes, who is
being asked to strike down the rule, pointed to two similar cases in Alachua and Leon counties in which mask ordinances were upheld. He did not issue a decision Tuesday but said he would within a week.
“We’re talking about the right to live, your honor,” attorney Louis Leo IV said. “The right to breathe fresh air. You can’t get any fundamental than the right to breathe air.” He said people without masks have been subjected to unfair hostility and ridicule.
Cory Strolla, another plaintiff attorney, said the mandates are reinforcing that hostility. “These vague and unconstitutional mandates from the defendant have literally caused people to start pulling firearms on each other and macing each other,” Strolla said. “This is not about managers enforcing the mandate. This is about misleading ads from a county where they’re putting masks on children … and making it look like if you don’t do this you’re going to kill people. That leads to other Florida residents literally fighting with each other in stores.”
Kastrenakes said he is aware of conflicting opinions on the effectiveness and necessity of masks.
Assistant County Attorney Rachel Fahey said the need for masks is not scientifically controversial, pointing to opinions from the Florida Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Florida Surgeon General’s health advisory.
“It is widely acknowledged that wearing face covering is substantially related to the furtherance of stopping the spread of a deadly disease,” Fahey said.