MAINE, USA — Back in May 2020, two Maine campgrounds filed a lawsuit against Governor Janet Mills, claiming her plans for reopening businesses were unconstitutional.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the State of Maine.
The owners of Bayley's Camping Resort in Scarborough and Little Ossipee Lake campground in Waterboro, as well as the owner of two restaurants, says Mills' 14-day quarantine for out-of-staters was an unconstitutional restriction on people's right to travel freely from state to state.
In response to the ruling, Maine's attorney general said they are gratified the court agreed the state's quarantine was sensible and necessary.
Attorney General Aaron M. Frey issued this statement in response:
“At a time when little was known about the COVID-19 virus except that it was deadly and easily spread by asymptomatic individuals, the Governor sensibly required that most people entering Maine self-quarantine for fourteen days. This measure was necessary not only to prevent the spread of the virus, but also to protect Maine’s health care system, which is designed for a population of 1.3 million residents but which easily could have been overwhelmed in the face of a seasonal influx of many times that number. We are gratified that the court, in upholding the quarantine requirement, thoughtfully considered the scientific and medical evidence we submitted and correctly recognized that Maine’s goals were compelling and that the requirement was carefully tailored to advancing those goals.”
