Miami-Dade County v. Miami Gardens Square One, Inc.
Tootsie's Cabaret obtained a temporary injunction barring Miami-Dade County from enforcing its COVID-19 late-night curfew, arguing the Governor's Executive Order 20-244 (phase three) preempted it. The Third DCA reversed, holding that EO 20-244's prohibition on local orders that 'prevent an individual from working or from operating a business' is ambiguous and, read with its preamble and predecessor orders, reaches only measures that prohibit work or shut a business down entirely — not a curfew that still allows operation from 6:00 a.m. to midnight. The court also rejected implied preemption and conflict, vacating the injunction for failure to show a substantial likelihood of success.
Key facts
- Tootsie's Cabaret challenged Miami-Dade County's COVID-19 late-night curfew (6:00 a.m. to midnight) as preempted by the Governor's Executive Order 20-244, which was issued during phase three of the pandemic response.
- The trial court granted a temporary injunction barring the County from enforcing the curfew; the Third District Court of Appeal reversed.
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Why it matters
The opinion is a leading Third DCA statement on how courts construe gubernatorial executive orders using ordinary statutory-interpretation canons and on the high bar for implied preemption of local emergency measures… — full analysis with a trial
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