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Small Businesses File Brief Against California’s Unconstitutional Shutdowns

Small Businesses File Brief Against California’s Unconstitutional Shutdowns

November 8, 2023

Small Businesses File Brief Against California’s Unconstitutional Shutdowns

FRESNO, Calif. (Nov. 8, 2023) – NFIB filed an amicus brief in the case Ghost Golf Inc. et al. v. Gavin Newsom at the California Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District. The case concerns Governor Newsom’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, the government shutdown of businesses ordered during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the separation of powers. “The Blueprint was a statewide one-size-fits-all mandate, which harmed small businesses in the state,” said Beth Milito, Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center. “California’s Constitution does not permit such power in the hands of the Governor and California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and we ask the court to serve as a meaningful check on their actions.” NFIB’s brief argues two main points: 1) actions taken by the Governor and the CDPH to address the COVID-19 pandemic violated California’s separation of powers, eroding the liberty of Californians and the State’s small businesses, and 2) those actions to address the COVID-19 pandemic destroyed small businesses during the pandemic and continue to have a lasting negative impact on businesses post-pandemic. The NFIB Small Business Legal Center protects the rights of small business owners in the nation’s courts. NFIB is currently active in more than 40 cases in federal and state courts across the country and in the U.S. Supreme Court.
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