(The Center Square) – Plaintiffs unhappy with executive orders by the North Carolina governor during the COVID-19 era are having their day in court.
And winning.
The North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association is among the latest. A state appellate court unanimously says a decision by Superior Court Judge James Gale was in error, and plaintiffs not allowed to reopen subjected them to unequal treatment.
In the ruling written by Judge April Wood, treatment of the bars was “illogical and not rationally related” to stopping the spread of COVID-19. Judges Donna Stroud and Jefferson Griffin were the other members of the panel.
Pending an appeal up to the state Supreme Court, the case goes back to the trial court. Monetary damages, if any, could be decided there.
Gov. Roy Cooper took plenty of criticism for shutting down the state, appearing regularly in press conferences alongside then-Secretary Mandy Cohen from the state Department of Health and Human Services. Together, they fielded selected call-in questions that were favorable to them. In doing so, they didn’t have to publicly answer many questions on who was being told to stay home, schools, and closures of business and houses of worship.
The association was one of more than 185 entities suing. Cooper’s legal team presented “science and data” to back up his executive orders; the judicial panel found areas without merit.
While the bars and taverns gained a measure of victory, they did not get a win saying the shutdown was an unconstitutional taking of property.