Judge Denies Camps Permission to Operate This Year - Declares Cuomo Rules Constitutional
A federal judge today ruled in favor of the Governor -
upholding Cuomo’s decision to disallow camps this summer due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
Citing the potential dangers of sleeping in bunks and other
possible risks involved in sleepaway camp settings, on June 12, Governor Cuomo
made public his decision to bar sleepaway camps from operating in the State of
New York this year.
The Association of Jewish Camp Operators sued the State in
federal court over this decision and later filed for a temporary restraining
order on the Governor’s decision.
At today’s hearing, the judge sided with the Governor and
denied sleepaway camps the ability to operate this year.
The camps were represented by Bennet J. Moskowitz, Esq., Avi
Schick, Esq., and William Alexander Smith, Esq. from Troutman Pepper.
The State represented by Christopher Liberati-Conant, Esq.
Assistant Attorney General from Attorney General For New York Hon. Letitia A.
James's office argued that the Governor and State at large were protected by
legislative immunity because a public official is shielded from liability and
injunctions if their actions can be determined to be in the public interest.
Hon. Glenn T. Suddaby, Chief United States District Judge
from the Northern District Of New York, who heard the case found that the
closure of camps for summer 2020 was ultimately in the public interest due to
the appearance of health risks involved. The judge cited the means of
transmission of the coronavirus through droplets as a primary risk factor.
The camps argued that the Cuomo decision to disallow camps
was a form of religious discrimination. The judge found no basis to this claim
in facto or evidence.
The court also found that the camps lawyers attempt to
connect sleepaway camps and higher education programming with sleepaway camps
was baseless. The judge found that day camps represent significantly less risk
that sleepaway camps because campers spend relatively few hours each day in day
camp and only eat one meal together while in sleepaway camp, campers spend all
day together and eat all three meals together. When comparing higher education
programming to sleepaway camps, the main difference that was considered was
sleeping arrangements. In traditional sleepaway camp settings, campers sleep in
bunks of 10 or more campers in the same room while in dormitory settings in
higher education facilities, students sleep with relatively few people per
room.
The judge also wrote that there was a concern that there was
not sufficient hospital capacity upstate should an outbreak occur.
The judge did find however that the Governor created a “de
facto exemption” for protesters under the COVID-19 related guidance which
created an air of discrimination.
The judge also found that the Governor’s order to close camps infringed on parents’ free exercise rights under the first amendment.