A new wave of Coronavirus infections has led to sweeping restrictions on freedom of movement and public gatherings in California. A ban on outdoor dining that was announced last month has been particularly unpopular, and now a judge has ruled that it is an abuse of power.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant said in a tentative ruling on Tuesday that “The Restaurant Closure Order is an abuse of the Department’s emergency powers, is not grounded in science, evidence, or logic, and should be adjudicated to be unenforceable as a matter of law.”

The judge made the tentative ruling concerning a legal case presented by the California Restaurant Association. The statement was part of a 73-page assessment that heavily criticized L.A. County’s decision-makers. In it, the judge said that bars and restaurants were only responsible for 3.1% of residential Coronavirus outbreaks in California. Chalfant asserted that the majority of outbreaks were linked to “chain/fast food type restaurants.”

Outdoor Dining is Only a Moderate Risk

The judge, like many in the business community, believes that outdoor dining at restaurants, when combined with practical measures to prevent transmission, is not a threat to the wider community. In his assessment, Chalfant said that the outdoor dining ban “ignores the outdoor nature of the activity, which the CDC says carries only a moderate risk.”

Some officials appear to agree with the judge’s assessment and have stated that the outdoor dining ban is more to do with preventing gatherings rather than it is to do with the risk involved. Mark Ghaly, the Secretary for the California Health and Human Services Agency, said recently that the decision to limit outdoor dining “really has to do with the goal of trying to keep people at home.”  Ghaly admitted that the ban is “not a comment on the relative safety of outdoor dining.”

California officials have claimed that they worked closely with the industry to make dining safer and reduce the risk of Coronavirus transmission. However, strong pushback from the restaurant community suggests that consultation was limited in scope.

California Coronavirus Case Numbers are Rising

Even with restrictions in place, California reported more than 23,000 new Coronavirus cases on Tuesday, a jump of 11,000 compared to a week ago. Hospitalizations are up by more than 71% and intensive care cases have increased by 68.7%. California is America’s largest federal taxpayer and the largest single-state economy in America. Restrictions in the state have effects that go beyond the borders.

While observers will easily agree that the Coronavirus is a very real and serious public health issue, California’s apparent overreach, in this case, is likely not an effective tool to address it.