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Campgrounds, restaurants sue to block Gov. Mills’ 'unconstitutional' quarantine rules for out-of-staters amid coronavirus pandemic

Bayley’s Camping Resort and Little Ossipee Lake Campground, as well as the owner of two restaurants where campground patrons often visit, are suing the Mills.

SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Editor’s note: You've probably heard the term ‘flattening the curve’ as a way to stem the tide of coronavirus cases. The above video explains what that means. 

Two campground owners and two restaurant owners filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Janet Mills Friday because they feel her plans for reopening businesses in Maine amid the COVID-19 pandemic are unconstitutional.

Filed in federal court in Portland by the owners of Bayley’s Camping Resort in Scarborough and Little Ossipee Lake Campground in Waterboro, as well as the owner of two restaurants, the suit said Mills’ order that out-of-staters coming to Maine must quarantine for 14 days is an unconstitutional restriction on people’s right to travel freely from state to state.

Last week, a similar suit was filed against the governor, asking a federal court to find the restrictions on business activity in Mills' executive orders unconstitutional. 

As for the most recent suit, lawyers for the campgrounds filed a proposal for a preliminary injunction, which would block Mills from implementing her reopening plan while the lawsuit moves forward. 

All of this comes after Mills issued a new executive order Thursday to allow lodging operators to begin taking reservations for June 1, but left the quarantine requirement in effect. An earlier executive order prohibited reservations, except for essential workers.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers said in the filing that Bayley’s campground had 715 reservations canceled because of the requirement that campers undergo a 14-day quarantine prior to renting space there.

At NEWS CENTER Maine, we're focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the illness. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: /coronavirus

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