TRENTON, NJ — The New Jersey Republican State Committee has filed a lawsuit seeking to force Gov. Phil Murphy and his administration to allow small businesses to reopen amid the coronavirus crisis, claiming Murphy’s decisions on essential businesses were arbitrary and violate the equal protections clause of the Constitution.
Murphy, during his daily coronavirus briefing Thursday, pushed back, saying the state’s decisions are made “about what’s essential and not essential based on data, science, facts, health.”
“I’m sorry if folks don’t like the definitions, but the fact of the matter is they’re quite consistent nationally,” Murphy said, adding that efforts are continuing to get businesses reopened.
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The suit was filed in Cumberland County by the state GOP committee along with four small businesses: Postas Barber Shop, Franklin; Eastlyn Golf Course and The Greenview Inn, Vineland; Mizzitraining, Hillsborough; and the Bucket Brigade Brewery in Cape May Courthouse.
It alleges that Murphy’s executive orders have created “arbitrary and capricious classes of employers and employees” and that the “unconstitutional” executive orders “deny millions of New Jerseyans equal protection under the law.” It seeks to force the reopening of all small businesses.
Murphy on Thursday said he hoped it would be a matter of weeks before those businesses and others could reopen, part of “stage two” of the state’s reopening plan. Read more: Gov. Murphy Provides Timeframe For NJ Salon, Gym, Dining Reopen
“Governor Murphy has irreparably harmed New Jersey small businesses by arbitrarily declaring some essential and others nonessential,” said Doug Steinhardt, chairman of the Republican State Party. “While mom and pop barbers, bars, brew pubs and retail shops are shuttered and struggling, big box stores, with big cash cushions, survive.”
“Governor Murphy has callously covered his ears, closed his eyes, and ignored New Jersey’s cries for honest answers to real problems,” he said. “The Covid crisis has created challenges for governments everywhere, but 49 other states are making progress, while New Jersey flounders. Governor Murphy could be guided by science, but instead hides behind it.”
The state Democratic Committee fired back. “For years, Trenton Republicans partnered with Chris Christie to put our state in a deep hole,” said Philip Swibinski, the committee spokesman.
“Now, throughout this crisis, they have engaged in hyperpartisan attacks on Governor Murphy. The Trenton Republicans ignore science, ignore health professionals and ignore data — they even make light of the need to keep New Jerseyans safe,” Swibinski said. “While New Jerseyans from every political affiliation are rallying behind the governor’s leadership, the state’s incredibly out-of-touch Republican Party is trying to hijack the court system to literally play politics with peoples’ lives.”
“This should tell New Jersey residents everything they need to know about Trenton Republicans — they’re just like the Trump Washington Republicans, and all they care about is scoring political points, even at the expense of the people of our state,” Swibinski said.
The lawsuit isn’t the first filed by businesses against Murphy over the shutdown. Three Toms River businesses joined a group of Toms River high school seniors in a lawsuit seeking to force changes to the reopening plan, including allowing in-person high school graduations. Read more: Toms River Students, Businesses Sue To Overturn Murphy’s Orders
The Toms River lawsuit — which includes a car wash, a nail salon and a golf equipment store — is set to be heard May 29 in Superior Court in Ocean County, NJ.com reported.
In recent days, businesses have begun bucking Murphy’s orders on nonessential businesses. A gym in Bellmawr was shut down Thursday after three days of opening in spite of the order, and a Hillsborough gym defied the order and opened Thursday.
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“The Bill of Rights may be above Phil Murphy’s pay grade, but it’s not above ours,” Steinhardt said, referring to a remark Murphy made during an interview with Tucker Carlson in mid-April. “Our interventions may not matter to him, but they matter us.”