The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Maryland (United States District Court for the District of Maryland) · Maryland
- Level
- Court
- Authority
- 28 U.S.C. § 1331; 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6)
- Issued
- 2020-11-18 Nov. 18, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-11-18
- End
- final in the district court (read as 2020-12-31)
- In force
- Nov. 18, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020
- Quarters
- 2020 Q4
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Stay-at-homeBusiness closureGathering capFace-covering requirementStanding duty
- Addressees
- the plaintiffs and, as precedent, every business and person subject to the Governor's orders
- Character
- adjudication
- Collection
- Standing duties: Maryland DUT-MD
Operative words
Jacobson holds that it is not the role of the judiciary to second-guess policy choices... the court cannot conclude that Governor Hogan's measures are arbitrary or unreasonable, or that they plainly violate any of the plaintiffs' constitutional rights.... Accordingly, the defendants' motion to dismiss will be granted.
Penalty
Not applicable (judicial opinion)
What it required
Dismissed the constitutional challenge to the Governor's series of COVID-19 executive orders, confirming as of the fourth quarter of 2020 that the closure, gathering, distancing and face-covering orders stood as valid exercises of the State's police power binding every addressee. Character as recorded: adjudication (order_operating_condition layer).
Retrieval noteEleven pages; ECF header 'Case 1:20-cv-01130-CCB Document 71 Filed 11/18/20.' Opening sentence: 'This action brought by citizens, business owners, and religious leaders is a challenge to the constitutionality of a series of executive orders issued by Maryland Governor Lawrence Hogan aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19.' Conclusion at 11: 'Accordingly, the defendants' motion to dismiss will be granted.' The court applied Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905), noting the Supreme Court's plurality invocation of it in 2020, and the second Jacobson test for a 'plain, palpable invasion of rights.'.