Arbitrary lockdown rules
Another way in which the Administrative State burdened liberty during the Covid-19 pandemic was through the creation and enforcement of arbitrary lockdown rules. Governors utilized the full extent of their emergency powers (and then some) during the pandemic. Many bypassed the appropriate legislative channels to implement mandates in the name of “public health.” City mayors ruled through executive decree to control the most intimate aspects of people’s lives. Worse yet, most of the rules they came up with made little common sense.
In New York, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an Executive Order mandating that bars and restaurants couldn’t sell alcohol unless they also sold food. To get around this, many bars started selling $1 bags of chips or popcorn just to stay open.[1] Pennsylvania had a similar rule, however the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board issued guidance explaining that chips and popcorn alone wouldn’t cut it. Instead, the bar had to serve a meal, which the Board defined as “food prepared on the premises, sufficient to constitute breakfast, lunch or dinner.”[2] The city of Nashville effectively banned dancing, requiring dance floors in bars and venues to be filled with tables and requiring that bar patrons stay seated at all times, except when going to the restroom.[3]
While these rules may seem like the punchline of a Seinfeld episode, the detriment they caused to small businesses and their employees was no joke. Just as quickly as these rules were enacted, they were overzealously enforced. New York state suspended and revoked the liquor licenses for many bars and restaurants during lockdown for “egregious” violations of the Governor’s executive order, such as: having an unauthorized DJ, selling a drink without a food order, and, perhaps most egregiously of all, allowing patrons to sing karaoke.[4] These suspensions and revocations of liquor licenses were death knells to independently-owned businesses that rely on alcohol sales to stay afloat. The shuttering of bars and restaurants around the country because of arbitrary and irrational Covid rules caused the livelihoods of countless American service workers to vanish and countless family establishments around for generations to close forever. Such arbitrary rules were particularly damaging to businesses near state borders, where residents could cross the border to escape the arbitrary rules (but the businesses left behind could not).
The very same individuals who were to blame for these arbitrary Covid rules also frequently flouted them. California Governor Gavin Newsom, who threatened misdemeanor charges and fines for not wearing a mask (even outside) in the summer of 2020 was shortly thereafter pictured at an upscale restaurant with a large group of lobbyists—with no mask in sight.[5] Indeed, many “rules for thee but not for me” situations proliferated throughout the pandemic. By disregarding the separation of powers, Governors and executive officials were able to pass mandates with great ease. But even they found it hard to follow their own arbitrary rules. As a result, more than one hypocritical governor from a lockdown state was pictured vacationing in lockdown-free Florida.
[1] Elva Ramirez, RIP ‘Cuomo Chips’: New York State to End Rule Requiring Food with Alcohol, Forbes (Apr. 27, 2021), https://www.forbes.com/sites/elvaramirez/2021/04/27/rip-cuomo-chips-new-york-state-to-end-rule-requiring-food-with-alcohol/.
[2] Commonwealth of Pa., Pennsylvania Provides Clarifying Guidance to PLCB Licensees Regarding Operations During Targeted Mitigation (July 22, 2020), https://www.pa.gov/agencies/lcb/about-us/press-room/pennsylvania-provides-clarifying-guidance-to-plcb-licensees-regarding-operations-during-targeted-mitigation.html.
[3] See Health Director Order 12: Phase 3 Reopening, Nashville.gov, https://www.nashville.gov/departments/metro-clerk/legal-resources/emergency-health-orders/order-12.
[4] See Governor Cuomo Announces 21 Additional Bar and Restaurants’ Liquor Licenses Suspended for Egregious Violations of Coronavirus-Related Regulations (Oct. 23, 2020), https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-21-additional-bar-and-restaurants-liquor-licenses-suspended-egregious.
[5] Matt Cannon, Every Mayor, Governor Accused of Breaking Covid Restrictions – and Why, Newsweek (Dec. 3, 2020), https://www.newsweek.com/every-mayor-governor-caught-breaking-covid-restrictions-1552033.
April 1, 2025