Ohio court rules gyms can ignore stay-at-home order

  While people are busy arguing on Facebook about face masks, that is not what I consider to be the biggest or most important issue facing Americans in the wake of the COVID-19  lock down orders by a long shot. Sure the face masks are an inconvenience, but I am more concerned with the fact that millions of Americans have been put on house arrest while the various State governments pick which of those Americans will be allowed to work and where they can go when they are not working.

  But the State governments are not only picking which Americans are winners and which ones are losers (essential vs nonessential) but also which businesses are winners and losers; Walmart, Lowes,  and Home Depot are among the winners while small business owners are counted as losers.

  Americans are growing tired of the government calling many of them nonessential workers and the businesses they own as nonessential businesses. To the person who needs the job all jobs are essential, and to the person that owns a business that business is essential, and I grieve for the millions of Americans who will permanently lose their jobs or their businesses because of the rash actions of a reactionary government.

  The lock down orders, which were supposed to only last two weeks to get through the incubation period have now dragged on for over two months, have worn people out and as they look to regain their freedom cases are starting to be adjudicated on the side of freedom.

  We have seen Judges rule against the Wisconsin stay-at-home order, Massachusetts’ gun shop closures, and Kentucky’s in-person Church service ban, and an Oregon judge ruled the state stay-at-home order was “null and void” before the state Supreme Court put a stay on the decision. Now we have a ruling coming from Ohio which states that gyms can reopen without fear of retribution from the State government. Here is more:

A Lake County Court of Common Pleas judge ruled against Dr. Amy Acton and the Ohio Department of Health in a lawsuit filed by more than two dozen gyms that were ordered to close as part of the statewide stay-at-home directive.

Court records from May 20 show Judge Eugene Lucci granted a preliminary injunction blocking state and county health officials from taking any action against fitness centers that violate the safety restrictions by reopening.

The ruling states that Dr. Acton, the Lake County General Health District, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and the Ohio Attorney General are “enjoined,” or prohibited from imposing any penalties for non-compliance of the Department of Health director’s order, given that they operate in compliance with safety regulations.

The lawsuit, filed by 1851 Center for Constitution law on behalf of Rock House Fitness Inc, and 34 other gyms, was presented on May 8 to the Lake County Court of Common Pleas judge after the statewide stay-at-home and “Stay Safe Ohio” orders restricted certain non-essential businesses from operating as a precautionary measure to help limit the spread of COVID-19.

“Constitutions are written to prevent governments from arbitrarily interfering in citizens’ lives and businesses. On that front, the call to action is clear. The Governor and health director may no longer impose their own closures and regulations and write their own criminal penalties to enforce those regulations and closures,” explained 1851 Center Executive Director Maurice Thompson.

  That last paragraph pretty much sums up everything that is wrong with many of these lock down orders, and explains the overreach of many of the State governors who have basically created laws and penalties out of thin air and are using their emergency powers during a crisis to strip Americans of their ability to earn a living or to use their recreational time as they see fit.

malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium