Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Bars must stay closed in Broward, judge rules
Broward’s bars will stay closed during the pandemic until the state decides it’s safe to reopen, a Broward judge ruled Tuesday.
The judge’s ruling is the latest in a statewide trend of judges upholding the state’s right to restrict business activity and require public compliance in the name of public health.
The decision by Broward Circuit Judge Keathan Frink was not final. But for dozens of small-business owners forced to shut their doors six months ago to stop the spread of COVID-19, it might as well have been.
The bar owners filed suit a month ago asking the judge to allow them to reopen. Tuesday’s
three-hour hearing ended with the judge rejecting the plaintiffs’ call for a temporary order to permit them to once again serve wine, beer and other drinks to customers.
Currently, restaurants that serve alcohol are allowed to operate with restrictions as long as most of their business comes from the sale of food. But bars that don’t have kitchens are out of luck until the coronavirus threat passes and the state and county’s executive orders are lifted.
“We’ve all been ready just to have a chance to reopen,” said James Colunga, owner of Johnsons Fort Lauderdale in Wilton Manors. “Opening at 50 percent capacity isn’t going to make us rich and drive around in Lamborghinis, but it will let us start to pay our bills.”
Bar owner after owner testified that the forced closures have left them faced with the real possibility of going out of business before the end of October.
Their attorney, Alex Arreaza, accused state officials of hypocrisy in allowing theme parks like Disney and Universal Studios to operate, pushing for students to return to classrooms, but balking at the threat posed by consenting adults consuming alcohol at” a neighborhood pub.
“If the governor had his way, classrooms across the state would be full and barrooms would be empty,” he said. “Why is one considered a coronavirus threat while the other is not?”
Frink sympathized with the bar owners and their need to make a living, but the state has the right to limit commercial activity when public health is at risk, he ruled. “The infringement is rationally related to the public health need based on the pandemic,” Frink said.
But the ruling leaves the door open for the bar owners to make their case as their lawsuit moves forward, assuming the restrictions last that long.
Throughout the state, business owners and citizens have gone to court to challenge closures and mask mandates, but so far, the courts have sided with the restrictions.
“We do not have a constitutional right to infect others,” Circuit Court Judge John Kastrenakes said in late July when he upheld Palm Beach County’s mandatory mask order.
In June, a Broward judge backed a hospital’s bid to limit hospital visits, finding that a patient’s right to have family at her side was less important than the harm that would follow if coronavirus were to spread through the building.
And a judge in Tallahassee rejected a challenge to Leon County’s mask mandate, setting up an appeal that is still pending.
A spokeswoman for Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation said Monday it’s still uncertain when bars and breweries can again serve alcohol for onsite consumption.