Lawsuit challenges daily fines

SANTA FE — A Clovis business owner is one of about a dozen challenging the authority of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to issue daily fines for health order violations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A lawsuit filed Wednesday in the 9th Judicial District argues the governor’s administration has improperly threatened businesses with $5,000 daily fines, when the state Public Health Act authorizes fines of $100 or less, and seeks a permanent injunction from issuing the larger fines.

Lujan Grisham, Public Safety Secretary Mark Shea and Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel are named as defendants.

The lawsuit notes Sid Strebeck as owner of K-Bob’s Steakhouse in Clovis, saying, “His business has been reduced to takeout only under the closure order and the threats of civil penalties, which continues to cost him tens of thousands of dollars every week.” Other businesses listed include taverns, restaurants and car dealerships.

The lawsuit comes after the state Department of Health ordered the closure of nonessential businesses and banned public gatherings as part of a broader strategy intended to limit the transmission of COVID-19, which has contributed to 294 deaths in New Mexico and infected more than 6,400 people as of Friday.

Lujan Grisham declared a public health emergency March 11 and later imposed a series of business restrictions, including limiting restaurants to takeout and delivery. She has since started to relax many of the restrictions, saying that New Mexicans have succeeded in slowing the spread of the virus.

The litigation was organized with the help of the Republican Party of New Mexico, and GOP Chair Steve Pearce said the governor’s actions have been devastating to the economy and locally owned businesses.

“There’s been no common sense and no equity in the governor’s order,” Pearce said, “and innocent business owners are being threatened, feeling the financial pain and losing their livelihoods.”

The lawsuit notes COVID-19 has not impacted the state equally, with the brunt of the virus in the northwestern part of the state where the plaintiffs do not live or operate businesses.

Lujan Grisham has cited her authority under the Public Health Emergency Response Act and a variety of other laws as New Mexico has battled the coronavirus, and noted the state has already won previous court challenges. She has repeatedly said she understands the frustration of business owners, but that the restrictions have played a vital role of the state’s success at limiting transmission of the disease.

States throughout the country have imposed similar restrictions, Lujan Grisham has said. In a recent letter to Republican state senators, she noted that more than 90,000 people in the United States have died during the pandemic.

The Albuquerque Journal and The Eastern New Mexico News contributed to this report.