The Carolina Jnl
Four years after North Carolina faced the brunt of COVID-19, the state’s top court faces a series of cases tied to the pandemic. Its rulings could influence how government and businesses respond to future emergencies.
The North Carolina Supreme Court already has made its first pronouncement in a high-profile COVID controversy.
Justices ruled in August in favor of Ace Speedway, an Alamance County race track. Ace’s owners challenged the state’s decision to shutter the track during early days of concern about COVID’s spread.
The Supreme Court ruled that Ace made a strong enough case to proceed with a lawsuit against North Carolina’s top health official. Ace argued that Gov. Roy Cooper and his health secretary targeted the speedway because of one owner’s public criticism of Cooper’s COVID shutdown orders.
State lawyers opposing Ace emphasized Cooper’s need for a relatively free hand to address the pandemic’s health threat.
Those arguments did not persuade Supreme Court justices. Even Democrat Allison Riggs, who owes her seat to a Cooper appointment, backed the court’s unanimous ruling favoring Ace.
Riggs and her colleagues will hear eight more COVID-related cases on Oct. 22-23.
Two cases challenge another aspect of Cooper’s shutdowns. Separate sets of North Carolina bar owners contend that the governor violated their constitutional rights. They criticize Cooper for keeping their businesses closed while allowing others to reopen during the pandemic. They question why the government ordered their doors shuttered when restaurants with bars reopened for customers.
Lower courts have allowed bar owners’ lawsuits to move forward. Yet Supreme Court justices have agreed to hear the state’s appeal. As with the Ace case, government lawyers focus on Cooper’s power to address an international health emergency.
Legal challenges related to COVID shutdowns extend beyond the governor’s orders. Two cases on the state Supreme Court’s October calendar involve the University of North Carolina’s decision to drop in-person instruction.
Read more. https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/top-nc-court-tackles-legal-issues-linked-to-pandemic/
