Nightclub loses in federal court

Owners dispute closure due to virus

A federal court has ruled against the owners of a New Haven nightclub who claimed in a lawsuit that government orders closing the business and threatening its continued existence are violations of fundamental constitutional rights.

U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea, in ruling against the 50’s Lounge, said government has clearly established authority to limit rights when confronted by public health emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic.

Owners Michael Amato and Joy Monsanto claimed in a suit filed in April that successively restrictive shutdown orders by New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and Gov. Ned Lamont were legally unsupportable on a variety of grounds and asked for a court order that would allow them to reopen.

“If these orders are not stayed,” Amato and Monsanto argued in their suit, “our business will incur financial hardship to the point where we may need to furlough our employees without pay, terminate their employment for the foreseeable future, and ultimately close our doors for good.”

Shea brushed aside many of the owner’s arguments, often for technical reasons. He concentrated much of his decision on refuting an allegation that emergency government orders shutting down nonessential businesses and limiting social or recreational gatherings to five people are unconstitutional. He also noted that, under state emergency orders, the lounge owners are permitted under certain circumstances to sell alcoholic beverages and food in to-go containers.

Shea referred to a U.S. Supreme Court decision giving government extraordinary powers to combat public health emergencies and a decision three years ago by U.S. District Judge Alfred Covello upholding the state of Connecticut’s right to impose involuntary quarantines on travelers from Africa during an Ebola outbreak.

Neither the nightclub owners nor their lawyers could be reached to discuss the decision.