On Tuesday, December 18th, Judge Amy Berman Jackson – a Federal district judge in DC – granted the DC government’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by The Big Board (plus one of its owners Eric Flannery) last October 2022. The H Street bar/burger joint became well known when it was shut down temporarily by DC Health and the DC liquor authorities when it publicly flouted the DC vaccine/mask mandate in early 2022. The Big Board had sued saying that DC’s emergency legislation and emergency orders violated the U.S. Constitution and the DC Home Rule Act..

In the 14 page opinion, Judge Jackson ruled that the Federal court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case because

• The Home Rule Act did not allow private citizens to sue DC under a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1871.
• Big Board and Flannery did not have standing to allege that a DC law that suspended some judicial review procedures during emergencies violated their 5th Amendment due process rights because they in fact were provided “notice and an opportunity to be heard” during the process (see excerpt below

Another lawsuit against ANC 6C continues.