Plus. What is your basis to bring suit? Loss of profit?. You can't sue somebody for the money you "think" you would have made. You had no contract with John Smith down the street, guaranteeing he would see 5 movies per month in your theater.
The constitution:
"...nor shall private property be taken for public use,
without just compensation."
ARTICLE XIV. SECTION 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States;
nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty,
or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the
equal protection of the laws.
These orders for "the public good" can be construed as essentially taking private property because I can no longer operate my business on said property. The business owner has certainly been deprived of the property and has not received due process.
And finally, and most clearly, allowing an "essential business" such as a grocery store to operate under social distancing guidelines but not allowing a movie theatre to operate under the same guidelines
CLEARLY does not provide the movie theatre owner "
equal protection of the laws" as applied to the grocery store owner. There can be no dispute of this final point. It is clear that "essential businesses" are treated differently by these orders.
A movie theatre can easily operate in a way to provide for 6 foot minimum spacing between parties while in the lobby, at the concession stand and in the auditorium. However, they are not allowed to do so while Publix is allowed to.
A restaurant can easily space the parties in the dining room for the same requirement but they aren't allowed to. I'd actually argue that customers dining in a "socially distanced" dining room are at less risk of becoming infected vs. having every customer come into contact with the same employee for takeout.
I understand the logic of Publix being open because people need to get food to survive but they don't need to see a movie. However, they don't need to go to Home Depot to survive either and Home Depot is considered essential.
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