Judge Sides With Austin Over Four-Day 10:30 PM Curfew, Abbott Defiant

[#TexasPolitics365] 

A Travis County district judge has sided with the City of Austin to keep the New Year holiday restrictions on dine-in services at Austin-Travis County bars and restaurants. 

The Attorney General's Office says they will appeal the ruling.

KHOU reported that District Judge Amy Clark Meachum denied the requests for temporary restraining order and temporary injunction filed by the State of Texas, saying "the State has not demonstrated a probable right to the relief sought nor imminent and irreparable harm."

Gov. Abbott remained defiant, tweeting New Year's Eve:

To Texas restaurants. A formal statement. “The Governor’s statewide executive order allows food establishments to be open for in-person dining on New Years Eve as authorized by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.  They should remain open. Happy New Year!” Cheers!"

Anecdotally, the order itself seemed to be met with mass disobedience in Austin. An Uber driver posted a message to Facebook New Year's Day, noting that he was driving until 2:30 in the morning New Year's Eve. 

"Drove Uber til 2:30 AM. Austin was hopping last night! Nothing seemed to be closed after 10:30. Lots of ppl are livid with Adler (aka, Cabo San Doofus😂)....even the libs."

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Gov. Abbott Tells Austin's Mayor His New Year's Curfew Is Illegal

[#TexasPolitics365] 

Gov. Greg Abbott has a message for Austin mayor Steve Adler: your New Year's Eve curfew is not allowed.

Adler ordered all businesses in Austin to close over the New Year's holiday tomorrow night, from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. January 3rd. The order closes bars and restaurants during one of their busiest holidays of the year.

A news release published on the city's official website explained:

"Venues serving food and drink may still operate between 10:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. using drive-thru, curbside pick-up, take-out, or delivery service. This change applies to any venue serving food or drink from an onsite kitchen, food truck, or catering service. Between 6 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., venues are permitted to continue dine-in operations."

County Health officials in Travis County also went along with the curfew order.

In the official City resolution, issued Tuesday, Adler cited the governor's previous order (GA-32) allowing reopenings if counties exceeded certain hospital admission standards.

His resolution ordering the closures, issued Tuesday, notes, "Travis County has experienced 48,951 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 542 deaths as a result ofthe disease." 

But Gov. Abbott was not having any of it. He took to Twitter almost immediately, tweeting late Tuesday night:

"This shutdown order by Austin isn't allowed. Period. My executive order stops cities like Austin from arbitrarily shutting down businesses. The city has a responsibility to enforce existing orders, not make new ones."

KVUE TV reported that the Texas Attorney General's Office also weighed in on Twitter, noting that the city's orders, "violate @GovAbbott’s Exec Order GA-32. They must rescind or modify their local orders immediately."

At risk are potentially hundreds of jobs in tens of thousands of dollars in earnings over the New Year's holiday, which brings to a close a year in which hundreds of thousands of lost their jobs in the restaurant and bar industries throughout the state.

Is unclear whether habit or the Attorney general's office would seek an injunction Wednesday to override the order, or whether businesses in Austin and Travis County would simply ignore it, risking fines.

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