A Columbus, Ohio-based think tank this week prevailed in an administrative case on behalf of a Washington, D.C. tavern owner against D.C.’s since-rescinded mandate forcing indoor establishments to require that patrons wear masks and submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
The Buckeye Institute handled the matter for Eric Flannery, a Navy veteran and co-proprietor of The Big Board, a bar and grill operating three blocks east of Washington’s Union Station. Despite the city’s mask and vaccine-card rules, Flannery announced that “everyone is welcome” at his restaurant. This winter, the D.C. Department of Health (DOH) officials responded by suspending the tavern’s operating and liquor licenses, ordering the place to temporarily shutter and slapping Flannery with a $2,000 fine.
Flannery contested the levy before the D.C. Office of Administrative Hearings. Judge Cory M. Chandler found in favor of the plaintiff on grounds that the DOH exceeded its regulatory remit when it fined The Big Board. Although the petitioner also asked Chandler to consider whether the city’s COVID order violated the federal D.C. Home Rule Act, the judge concluded his court did not have the authority to invalidate the municipal edict.
Chandler dismissed the fine as illegitimate because D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s (D) order did not specify financial penalties.
“The statute Respondent is charged with violating states that a Mayor’s emergency order ‘may provide for a fine of not more than $1,000 for each violation,’” the judge wrote in his opinion. “But the cited Mayor’s Orders do not set a fine. They provide that an individual who knowingly violates the order may be subject to penalties authorized by law, but do not state the amount of the penalty.”
Flannery attorney and Buckeye Chief Executive Officer Robert Alt lauded Chandler’s ruling while lamenting that the tavern had to endure what he deems heavy-handed coronavirus-mitigation policy.
“Administrative Law Judge Chandler ruled that Mr. Flannery owes zero dollars in fines, which is exactly the right amount,” Alt said in a statement. “The Buckeye Institute is pleased that Administrative Law Judge Chandler dismissed this latest notice of infraction by D.C. Health. But there are bigger issues at stake here too: The Big Board should have never been subjected to these lawless orders in the first place.”
Supporters of mask and vaccine mandates, since rescinded in D.C. and in most other places, declared them essential to mitigating the spread of the novel coronavirus over much of the last two years and cited many studies to bolster that claim. With regard to masking in particular, however, a number of studies have emerged countering that narrative.
For instance, one study overseen by data analysts at the University of Southern California and elsewhere examined two adjacent K-12 school districts in Fargo, North Dakota that had similar employee vaccination rates, student demographics, population sizes and COVID countermeasures. One district enjoined a mask mandate throughout last winter and the other did not, yet the former actually ended up with a slightly higher percentage of students testing positive for infection.
DOH did not return an email seeking comment.
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Ohio Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “The Big Board” by The Big Board.
