Health/ State government

Lawsuit challenges Baker’s emergency declaration

Says governor applying wrong law to COVID-19 crisis

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A SMALL GROUP of business owners and pastors filed suit against Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday, alleging he exceeded his authority by using the Civil Defense Act of 1950 to declare a state of emergency in Massachusetts and order sweeping societal changes in response to COVID-19.

The lawsuit, filed in Worcester Superior Court, said the COVID-19 health crisis is not a civil defense crisis and therefore the governor’s declaration of emergency and his 30 executive orders should be declared invalid.

“Governor Baker is applying the wrong law to address the crisis at hand and, by doing so, he has unlawfully exercised legislative police power,” the lawsuit says.

According to a recent CommonWealth article, the Civil Defense Act of 1950 was passed at a time when the United States was worried about the spread of communism and military threats from the Soviet Union. The law allows the governor to declare a state of emergency when the state is threatened by enemy attack, sabotage, riots, fires, floods, earthquakes, droughts, or other natural causes.

The lawsuit says COVID-19 poses a serious health risk to the state, but it does not meet the definition of a civil defense crisis. “It does not pose a generalized or universal threat to ‘public peace, health, security, and safety,’” the lawsuit states.

The Baker administration had no immediate comment. In the past, the administration referred questions about the governor’s legal authority to the law itself.

The lawsuit was filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance of Washington, DC, on behalf of 10 plaintiffs – two hair salons in Hubbardston and Lexington, the owner of three restaurants in the North End, pastors of churches in Westfield and Somerville, the headmaster of Trinity Christian Academy of Cape Cod, and the owners of a tanning salon in Burlington, a gym in Billerica, a family entertainment center in Marlborough, and a convention facility in Devens.

Michael DeGrandis of the New Civil Liberties Alliance said the state’s Public Health Act should be the statute used to address COVID-19 because one of its main purposes is to control and prevent the spread of infectious diseases. He said the Public Health Act grants broad authority to local boards of health to deal with such a crisis.

Most of DeGrandis’s clients don’t care about the legal issues; they just want to open their businesses.

Carla Agrippino-Gomes, the owner of three North End restaurants, including Terramia and Antico Forno, said she and other restaurant owners in the North end may choose to open on Friday even if the Baker administration hasn’t given the green light.

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About Bruce Mohl

Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.

About Bruce Mohl

Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.

“Give us guidelines or else we’re going to take matters into our own hands,” she said. “I think we can do it right and do it safely.”

Robert Walker, the owner of Apex Entertainment LLC in Marlborough, said the shutdown has gone on too long and it’s time to reopen the economy more quickly. “The time has come to return business decisions to business owners,” Walker said.

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