Movie Theaters Sue New Jersey Over Reopening Restrictions

A group of theater owners claim New Jersey’s restrictions violate their First Amendment rights

The National Association of Theatre Owners is suing the state of New Jersey for not allowing them to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic. The owners of the theaters claim the state’s restrictions is a violation of their First Amendment rights.

The group – which includes large chains such as AMC, Regal, and Cinemark – filed the 29-page lawsuit against New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, as well as the state’s Acting Commissioner of Health Judith Persichilli. The theater owners argue against the state’s placement of them in the third phase of reopening, while other “similarly situated places of public assembly” such as libraries, museums, and shopping centers have been able to reopen as part of Phase Two.

The group particularly argues against New Jersey’s decision to allow houses to worship to reopen at 25% capacity while keeping entertainment venues shuttered with no reopening date set. The theater owners claim they were immediately dismissed by state officials after suggesting new safety protocols for their venues, implying that this insinuates a state-sanctioned bias.

Per the lawsuit, regarding the suggested protocols:

Rather than address these comprehensive safety proposals in any meaningful way, Defendants have chosen to continue to discriminate against movie theatres and to continue to require the closure of indoor movie theatres. The ostensible reason offered by Defendants is that there are other and virtual ways to watch movies. Defendants have not applied this rationale to the other places of public assembly that Defendants have permitted to reopen.

On the Larger Scale

New Jersey is one of seven states that has yet to open movie theaters in any capacity. The other six are Arizona, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

According to a Variety report, as of June 26th only 18% of the United States’ movie theaters are operational. An even smaller number of those theaters are operating at full capacity. On average most theaters are operating between 25-50% capacity, as per their region’s guidelines.

However, these reopening procedures – in New Jersey and elsewhere – will likely change in the coming weeks as states around the country are seeing new spikes in COVID-19 cases. And with venues in major hubs like Los Angeles and New York closed for the foreseeable future, movie theaters won’t be fully operational any time soon. And yet, given the debt that theaters around the country are accruing due to the social distancing shutdowns, this promulgates an economic cycle that puts the theaters’ livelihoods at risk. It’s nothing but a vicious Catch-22.

To quote Variety’s Kaare Eriksen, “it makes little to no sense to remain open now aside from sheer survival.”

Novel Coronavirus Update

As of this writing, New Jersey has seen over 173,000 total COVID-19 cases, with over 13,000 confirmed deaths. The number of daily new cases are declining, but there are still some hundreds rolling in.

As of this writing, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports just over 2.9 million cases within the United States, including over 130,000 related deaths. The World Health Organization reports  11.5 million cases of the virus worldwide and more than 535,000 deaths.

Keep abreast on our reporting of the outbreak as it pertains to the entertainment industry here. Stay inside if you can, stay healthy, and stay safe.

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