Gyms and fitness centers in Ohio were ordered closed on March 22 along with other businesses the state classified as “non-essential.” The state recently eased the COVID-19 restrictions and many gyms are scheduled to reopen on Tuesday, albeit with limited class sizes and strict social distancing requirements.
In a scathing nine-page decision, Lake County Common Pleas Judge Eugene A. Lucci excoriated Acton and her health department for exceeding their authority, saying the director “has no statutory authority to close all businesses, including the plaintiffs’ gyms.” Acton, the judge said, “has acted in an impermissibly arbitrary, and oppressive manner and without any procedural safeguards.”
Judge Lucci went on to say that fundamental liberties—the right to own and use property and earn a living—are at stake in this case. Acton has “criminalized lawful businesses, imposing strict liability for violations, including severe criminal, civil, and equitable penalties,” the judge opined, noting that “some of the plaintiffs’ businesses will not survive the lockdown of two or more months.”
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politi...r-criminalizing-gyms-and-its-glorious-n416107
In a scathing nine-page decision, Lake County Common Pleas Judge Eugene A. Lucci excoriated Acton and her health department for exceeding their authority, saying the director “has no statutory authority to close all businesses, including the plaintiffs’ gyms.” Acton, the judge said, “has acted in an impermissibly arbitrary, and oppressive manner and without any procedural safeguards.”
Judge Lucci went on to say that fundamental liberties—the right to own and use property and earn a living—are at stake in this case. Acton has “criminalized lawful businesses, imposing strict liability for violations, including severe criminal, civil, and equitable penalties,” the judge opined, noting that “some of the plaintiffs’ businesses will not survive the lockdown of two or more months.”
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politi...r-criminalizing-gyms-and-its-glorious-n416107
