State Supreme Court OKs Trump campaign rally

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Friday denied a request for a temporary injunction to stop the BOK Center in Tulsa from hosting a campaign rally for President Trump on Saturday. All nine justices agreed that the groups filing the lawsuit could point to no law requiring that the BOK Center management force people to wear masks or maintain certain distances.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Dustin Rowe wrote that social distancing measures are not mandatory for Oklahoma businesses.

"It is not the duty of this Court to fashion rules or regulations where none exist, simply to achieve a desired outcome," Rowe wrote.

Attorneys in Tulsa representing two businesses and two residents asked the court to prevent ASM Global, which manages the 19,000-seat arena, from hosting the rally without adhering to social-distancing guidelines "to protect against a substantial, imminent and deadly risk to the community."

The petition cited a rise in documented cases of COVID19 in Tulsa County, which have spiked in recent days. Attorneys Clark Brewster and Paul Demuro argued that the rally should be prohibited because it would act as a "spreader" event for the transmission of the virus.

Demuro said the goal was to enforce Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

"The only winner today is the virus. The virus won," Demuro said in a statement ." Our lawsuit didn't fail. Our elected officials failed us."

Attorneys for the company that owns the arena argued the Trump campaign had already agreed to take temperatures and hand out masks and provide hand sanitizing stations.

Oklahoma set a new state record for case increases in a single day on Thursday, confirming 450 new cases. The state added 352 new cases on Friday, giving it 802 new cases in two days.

Gov. Kevin Stitt said earlier this week that people concerned about the spread of COVID-19 at the rally should stay home.

The state Supreme Court cited St it t' s Open Up and Recover Safely (OURS) Plan, specifically Phase 3, which gives business owners or local officials the discretion to determine when and if social distancing measures should be applied.

"Thus, social distancing measures as of the date of the President's rally are not mandatory in Oklahoma as Petitioners claim," Rowe wrote.