Tucson Businesses Win Preliminary Injunction; Pima County's 10 pm COVID Curfew Lifted

TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The owners of a group of Tucson businesses, including Cobra Arcade Bar, HighWire, The Maverick and Union Public House, have won a preliminary injunction, immediately overturning Pima County's mandatory 10 pm curfew orders. According to the ruling by the Pima County Superior Court, "Because the Court finds the Resolution is not statutorily authorized and violates the Governor's executive Order, and that the Plaintiffs have demonstrated the possibility of harm, the Court finds the Plaintiffs are entitled to relief."

Lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Thomas A. Denker of Munger, Chadwick & Denker, says, "We are gratified on behalf of all citizens of Pima County that the court made a detailed and well-reasoned analysis of the law and the facts, and properly concluded that even in an emergency, the government must act reasonably and without exceeding its legitimate authority. No one is above the law. We also are pleased that our clients will be able to return to providing service to their customers safely both before and after 10pm, as the law allows."

Most important, says Grant Krueger, owner of The Maverick and Union Public House, this ruling is a win for the employees and other who have lost their jobs or seen a severe cutback in their wages due to the curfew. "This isn't about ownership; this is about people like the single mom that works for me as a cocktail waitress who suddenly had her income cut by 75 percent. It's about the cooks and dishwashers, the security guards and DJs, and what's happened to all those careers overnight. All based on a curfew that doesn't seem to be backed by science."

Enacted by the Pima County Board of Supervisors on December 15, the plaintiffs successfully argued the mandatory 10 pm curfew has had a dire effect on these locally owned lounges, bars and restaurants, which have already had to invest heavily in new staff training and safety regulations, as well as limit capacity to ensure social distancing. Furthermore, they argued that there's no data to suggest that forcing businesses to arbitrarily close at 10 pm prevents the spread of COVID because those businesses are already required to abide by numerous requirements imposed by the Arizona Department of Health Services at all times of the day.

According to the ruling, "The parties agree on several relevant facts. Plaintiffs own and operate establishments within Pima County that serve food and operate bars. Following the Governor's initial emergency orders, each of Plaintiffs' establishments closed for several months at the beginning of the pandemic and reopened in August or September 2020. Since reopening, each of Plaintiffs' businesses have operated under ADHS guidelines requiring they operate at 50% capacity, adhere to social distancing measures, and require patrons to wear masks unless seated at their table to eat and drink. It is also undisputed each of Plaintiffs' businesses operated under these guidelines until 2 a.m. prior to the Resolution. Plaintiffs all testified they had no barriers to enforcing the ADHS guidelines, and at no time prior to the curfew were their businesses overcrowded."

Led by the Tucson-based attorneys at Munger, Chadwick & Denker, P.L.C., the lawsuit was also being assisted by ASU law professor, Ilan Wurman, Associate Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, who previously filed a petition that helped to partially overturn Arizona Governor Doug Ducey's order related to bar closures.

Dawson Fearnow
MMPR MARKETING
[email protected]
(602) 264-2655

SOURCE Cobra Arcade Bar