California Judge Says Los Angeles County’s Outdoor Dining Ban Isn’t ‘Grounded in Science, Evidence, or Logic.’
A decision from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant is yet another rebuke of officials trying to reimpose lockdowns on a skeptical public.
A California judge has blocked Los Angeles County's ban on outdoor dining in a sharply worded opinion that cites both a lack of evidence for the policy's efficacy in controlling the pandemic and public health officials' failure to consider the costs of closing down on-site dining for some 30,000 restaurants.
The county's ban "is an abuse of the Health Department's emergency powers, and is not grounded in science, evidence, or logic," wrote Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant in a decision in a lawsuit brought by the California Restaurant Association (CRA) challenging the policy.
Individual restaurants have said they wouldn't comply with a ban on outdoor dining, and county sheriffs have said they won't enforce one. One café even labeled its diners "peaceful protestors" in a nod to an exemption in current restrictions for outdoor political expression. Several municipalities within Los Angeles County registered their dissent by vowing to create their own health departments.
A decision from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant is yet another rebuke of officials trying to reimpose lockdowns on a skeptical public.
A California judge has blocked Los Angeles County's ban on outdoor dining in a sharply worded opinion that cites both a lack of evidence for the policy's efficacy in controlling the pandemic and public health officials' failure to consider the costs of closing down on-site dining for some 30,000 restaurants.
The county's ban "is an abuse of the Health Department's emergency powers, and is not grounded in science, evidence, or logic," wrote Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant in a decision in a lawsuit brought by the California Restaurant Association (CRA) challenging the policy.
Individual restaurants have said they wouldn't comply with a ban on outdoor dining, and county sheriffs have said they won't enforce one. One café even labeled its diners "peaceful protestors" in a nod to an exemption in current restrictions for outdoor political expression. Several municipalities within Los Angeles County registered their dissent by vowing to create their own health departments.