{"id":49921,"date":"2020-12-11T16:18:08","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T23:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-mexico-seeks-courts-protection-from-business-lawsuits\/"},"modified":"2020-12-11T23:18:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T23:18:08","slug":"new-mexico-seeks-courts-protection-from-business-lawsuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-mexico-seeks-courts-protection-from-business-lawsuits\/","title":{"rendered":"New Mexico seeks court\u2019s protection from business lawsuits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"New
New Mexico state police officers screen cars for compliance with an emergency lockdown order that bans nonessential visitors and limits vehicle passengers to two people May 7 as they enter Gallup, N.M.<\/span>Morgan Lee\/Associated Press file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a Monday night court filing, the administration of Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham urged the state Supreme Court to intervene and defuse the lawsuits.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder well-established law, harms caused by the exercise of the state\u2019s police power to protect public health are not compensable,\u201d attorneys for the governor\u2019s office and the state attorney general\u2019s office wrote.<\/p>\n

Arguments are scheduled in January as the Supreme Court weighs the fate of at least 14 lawsuits that describe the pandemic-related health orders as a regulatory \u201ctaking\u201d that merits just compensation to businesses under provisions of the state Constitution and health-emergency statutes.<\/p>\n

The original lawsuits were filed by businesses running the gamut from an oxygen healing bar in downtown Santa Fe to a florist in Farmington and an auction house in rural Portales claiming they were adversely affected by the state\u2019s pandemic response.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis specter of liability would hobble the State\u2019s ability to take emergency action \u2013 whether destroying a burning building or prohibiting activity known to spread a pandemic \u2013 that is necessary to protect health and safety,\u201d the governor\u2019s office stated.<\/p>\n

A reply brief from businesses is due in late December. Attorney A. Blair Dunn, who represents multiple businesses in the litigation, on Tuesday accused the governor of \u201ccherry picking\u201d judges by moving the litigation to the state Supreme Court, though all current justices have won or retained seats by election.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur New Mexico Legislature made it clear that even in a public health crisis the use of police powers to combat a pandemic requires just compensation\u201d said Dunn, citing provisions of the state\u2019s public health emergency response act.<\/p>\n

In an August ruling, the state Supreme Court has upheld the authority of the state health secretary to restrict or close businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

In that decision, the high court rejected assertions by the restaurant industry that a ban on indoor dining service was arbitrary and capricious.<\/p>\n

It invoked recent statements by U.S Chief Justice John Roberts that the judiciary should not normally second-guess decisions regarding health emergencies.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s public health orders have evolved dramatically in recent months amid a major surge in New Mexico COVID-19 infections and deaths since October.<\/p>\n

A $320 million aid package was approved by lawmakers in November that provides grants to small businesses, underwritten by federal relief funds.<\/p>\n

That comes on top of more than $75 million in federally sponsored small-business aid that is being funneled through local governments this year.<\/p>\n

On Dec. 2, the state shifted to a county-by-county system for reopening the businesses and relaxing restrictions on public gatherings.<\/p>\n

Lujan Grisham has said that color-coded rating system provides incentives for local businesses and communities to limit their exposure to the disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mexico state police officers screen cars for compliance with an emergency lockdown order that bans nonessential visitors and limits vehicle passengers to two people May 7 as they enter Gallup, N.M.Morgan Lee\/Associated Press file In a Monday night court filing, the administration of Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham urged the state Supreme Court to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[815,685,138],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-49921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-associated-press-new-mexico","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49921"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=49921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}