Bar owners continue their fight in court against Gov. Stitt’s Executive Order

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahoma bar owners took the stand Friday to express the harm that has been done by Governor Kevin Stitt’s Executive Order, which prevents them from serving food and beverages after 11 p.m.

The Governor’s legal team argued that they are just trying to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, arguing that restaurants and bars are hot spots for transmitting the virus.

Attorney Frank Urbanic asked if Governor Stitt’s legal team had data showing that the positive coronavirus cases are linked to visiting bars and restaurants. They did not.

Judge Susan Stalling posed the question that instead of targeting certain groups, why not issues a statewide mask mandate. The Governor’s team replied that it’s best to target hot spots.

Another point of discussion regarded the citations given to the businesses by the ABLE commission, specifically why there were multiple reasonings listen for the tickets, instead of one uniform answer.

Urbanic, who is representing the plaintiffs, said the nonuniformity only adds to the confusion.

“The Executive Order is not a law,” said Urbanic. “I don’t know how many times we have to tell people this. An Executive Order, at least under this circumstance, is not a law.”

Judge Stallings did not come to a decision at the hearing, rather the court will reconvene at a later date.