SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Restaurants are hanging by a thread due to pandemic restrictions and an Encinitas-based lawyer keeps them open with the help of the constitution.
“They’re in a battle for their survival,” said Curran & Curran Law partner Michael Curran.
About 98,000 companies across the country closed permanently between March and September, according to Yelp.
“You know we were sitting on our couch,” said Curran, who he and his wife were trying to think of ways to help. “[we were] investigating the first amendment and thinking why restaurants cannot protest peacefully in the process of managing their restaurants? And the legal reason is that there is no reason why not. “
Curran said the constitution will protect their livelihoods, just as it protects anyone’s right to keep a poster during a protest.
“The highest law in the country is the constitution. It is in full force at all times, in an alleged pandemic and not,” he said.
This comes after Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear said on Thursday that street and sidewalk permits would be removed from restaurants that defy order.
He maintained his stance in a press release published Friday on ABC 10News, in which he read in part “Right now, it can only be taken away that we cannot have restaurants that use public right of way to violate county health orders.” .
On his website, he said the pandemic is a “serious health emergency: we all need to do better.” He cited an increase in coronavirus cases over the past month as a cause for concern.
On Wednesday, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria signed an executive order to demand accountability.
Gloria said she ordered the San Diego police department and asked the city attorney to prosecute fines and other enforcement actions against flagrant offenders and people who repeatedly violated health orders.
“Throughout human history we have never closed any pandemics,” said El Cajon Mayor Dr. Bill Wells.
He has been in favor of companies remaining open through the pandemic, saying the blockades do not work and that there is no “hidden from the virus”.
Dr Wells said the future will face serious economic challenges: “I don’t think anyone has any understanding of what it will take to get back to normalcy. I think it will be a period of several years process, probably a decade.”
He hopes that vaccines will change the flow and that we will all learn something from them.
“I hope that, as a society, we learn something from this and take a look at our laws, so that no one under the guise of a crisis can take over an entire state like California with 40 million people with no one to answer to and getting all their direction from public health officials who are totally unelected and who have a very narrow approach, ”he said.
Curran said his clients hope they don’t have to go to court, but that they are prepared to fight if the need arises.