SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The state Supreme Court is weighing a challenge against New Mexico’s pandemic-related ban on indoor dining under the administration of Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Arguments were scheduled Wednesday in Santa Fe at a court that recently upheld the state’s authority to levy hefty $5,000 daily fines against businesses that flout health orders linked to the coronavirus.
New Mexico is among a handful of states including California and New Jersey that prohibit indoor dining as a temporary safeguard against the spread of COVID-19.
Attorneys for the restaurant industry assert that state health officials are invoking science as the basis of the ban without sharing specific scientific findings or deliberations.
