Lawsuit against Cooper's pandemic-era shutdown rules can proceed, NC Supreme Court rules

A lawsuit accusing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper of singling out a business for punishment during the Covid-19 pandemic for political reasons can proceed, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled on Friday, years after the lockdowns in question have been lifted.

2024-08-23

Cooper ordered many businesses to close down in March 2020, in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus. Many complied with the rules, but among the holdouts was Ace Speedway in Alamance County, whose owners are behind the lawsuit against Cooper.

Ace Speedway has since become a cause célèbre in conservative circles, starting during the anti-mask movement in 2020 and continuing on to present day. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the GOP nominee for governor, launched his gubernatorial campaign there last year. And the Republican-led state legislature voted in 2022 to give Ace Speedway $50,000 in public funding as part of that year's state budget.

The history: During the pandemic, Ace Speedway co-owner Robert Turner said the coronavirus "ain't killing nobody," the Supreme Court noted in Friday's ruling, and kept the race track open in defiance of Cooper's emergency orders.

After races there had continued for several months Cooper sent a letter to Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson, reminding Johnson that violating the shutdown order was a crime. Johnson, a Republican, declined to take action.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services then sued Ace Speedway for violating the public health rules. A judge sided with the state and forced the racetrack to follow the emergency directives Cooper had been issuing.

The legal battle between the racetrack and the state continued for several more months, until eventually Cooper signed a new order allowing larger outdoor gatherings once again. Once he did that, DHHS also dropped its lawsuit against Ace Speedway.

The lawsuit: Ace Speedway then brought its own legal complaints against DHHS, alleging that Cooper shouldn't have been allowed to issue the emergency orders he did, and also accusing him of targeting it because of Turner's highly public, politically charged opposition to the public health rules.

"The claims also allege that Governor Cooper took these actions not because there was an actual health hazard at the racetrack, but to punish Turner for speaking out, and that health officials did not take similar actions against other large outdoor venues whose owners did not openly criticize the governor," Justice Richard Dietz, a Republican, wrote in Friday's opinion. "We emphasize that these allegations remain unproven. After all, the case has barely begun."

But the racetrack owners should at least be given the chance to try proving those claims, he continued in the opinion for the court, which was handed down in a unanimous 7-0 vote.

State officials had asked for the case to be dismissed, since state law typically prevents people from being allowed to sue the government. But Dietz's ruling says those rules don't apply when it comes to constitutional violations, and the state constitution does guarantee freedom of speech without government reprisal, as well as "the enjoyment of the fruits of their own labor" — generally interpreted as the right to work and make money.

Now that the case is allowed to go forward, the arguments could largely focus on two questions: Whether Cooper had DHHS improperly single out Ace Speedway for political reasons, and whether the health emergency was serious enough to close businesses, even temporarily, and therefore deprive people of the fruits of their labor.

Although the Covid-era shutdowns have been gone for years, a final decision in the case could inform how the state government will be allowed to handle future pandemics or other emergency situations.