OUTRAGE! St. Louis County Sues to Put Fitness Center Out of Business in Legal Show of Force
From House of Pain website
The House of Pain gyms are in danger of going out of business and declaring bankruptcy because St. Louis County Executive Director Sam Page wants to show everybody who’s boss.
St. Louis County filed suit in St. Louis County Court asking for an injunction to close two House of Pain fitness centers in Chesterfield and Maryland Heights, Missouri.
The suit alleges House of Pain is open for business despite an executive order by County Executive Director Sam Page (pictured below) that all persons must stay in their own homes and all businesses he deems “non-essential” must close.
Attorneys for House of Pain have explained to the County attorney that the statutes referenced in Sam Page’s orders clearly do not give him authority to close down businesses, nor deprive citizens their Constitutional rights. The County, for its part, disagrees and believes Sam Page is empowered to suspend the US Constitution.
In their letter of May 9 to the county Chris McDonough of The McDonough Law Firm LLC, attorneys representing the gym, stated:
As applied to gyms and fitness centers specifically, there is no question the May 8 St. Louis County Order’s mandate that they close is ab initio. It is blatantly unconstitutional in that it denies citizens like my clients equal protection of the laws in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
But it gets better. The gym’s attorneys itemize the businesses Sam Page considers life-or-death essential in St. Louis County. Again, from Chris McDonough’s letter to the county:
Among other things, St. Louis County has arbitrarily and capriciously permitted certain businesses such adult lingerie and sex toy boutiques, “big box” retailers, liquor stores and cigarette retailers, for example, to remain open as “essential businesses,” but gyms have been declared by the St. Louis County Government to be non-essential and ordered to close. Gyms, unlike liquor stores and cigarette stores, actually provide a service that helps people stay fit and maintain their health. As you must know, obesity is a known complication factor for COVID-19.
BOOM!
In Sam Pages perverted mind, you might die without a carton of Benson & Hedges, a bottle of Tequila Rose, and a 9-inch wireless rechargeable vibrating dildo with remote, but exercise and strength training are non-essential personal pleasures you can do without.
House of Pain’s lawyers would know better, but it seems that companies shuttered by county order must also be compensated under the Fifth Amendment, which states:
“…nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
Ordering a business closed for, as the county claims, the welfare of the county is clearly seizing the property of House of Pain’s owners without just compensation.
And this is a crucial. Owners of the House of Pain have stated the shutdown has them of verge of business failure. That would mean long-term unemployment to the owners and their employees. They did not reopen the gyms out of greed, but out of desperation. Their employees want to work, and their members want to stay in shape.
In fact, members who used the gym during the shutdown included two Missouri legislators and numerous St. Louis County police officers and fire fighters. By shutting down the gym, Sam Page is risking a fatter, weaker first-responder corps.
The request for an injunction was filed today, May 11. Defendants have not yet filed their responses, and the judge, Lorne Baker (Division 35), has yet to rule.
Stay tuned to The Gateway Pundit as this story develops.
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