The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Louisiana (United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, on appeal from the Eastern and Western Districts of Louisiana) · Louisiana
- Level
- Court
- Authority
- 28 U.S.C. 1292(a)(1); Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection); Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905); In re Abbott, 954 F.3d 772 (5th Cir. 2020)
- Issued
- 2021-01-13 Jan. 13, 2021
- Effective
- 2021-01-13
- End
- n/a (judgment) (read as 2021-03-31)
- In force
- Jan. 13, 2021 to Mar. 31, 2021
- Quarters
- 2021 Q1
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Business closureAlcohol and barsOther
- Addressees
- specified businesses: bars holding Class A-General permits; by its reasoning, every business regulated by the proclamations
- Character
- adjudication
- Collection
- Standing duties: Louisiana DUT-LA
Operative words
In sum, the Bar Closure Order's differential treatment of bars operating with AG permits is at least rationally related to reducing the spread of COVID-19 in higher-risk environments.... The district courts' orders denying injunctive relief are AFFIRMED.
Penalty
n/a (the proclamations' penalties under R.S. 29:724(E) remained enforceable)
What it required
Held that the Governor's proclamations closing bars for on-premises consumption were valid exercises of the State's public-health power, rationally related to reducing the spread of COVID-19, and left every bar bound to obey them; the opinion records that the proclamations issued 'pursuant to the Louisiana Health Emergency Powers Act, LA. R.S. 29:760' and that the bar owners did not challenge the Governor's authority to issue them. Character as recorded: adjudication (order_operating_condition layer).
Retrieval noteThe Fifth Circuit's published slip opinion (Judge Willett concurring separately on Jacobson). The opinion recites (slip op. at 3): 'The same day as the WHO's declaration, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared the pandemic a statewide public health emergency,' and in note 2: 'The Governor issued the first emergency proclamation pursuant to the Louisiana Health Emergency Powers Act, LA. R.S. 29:760.' It records the district courts' finding 'that the Governor's Bar Closure Order was rationally related to the goal of protecting public health' on the testimony of Dr. Billioux of the Office of Public Health (slip op. at 8). cite the slip opinion by docket number and date. The companion district-court decision is already in the library as Ex. LA-075 (4 Aces Enterprises, LLC v. Edwards, No. 20-2150 (E.D. La. Aug. 17, 2020)).