Man who tried to have Beshear impeached sues governor over loss of liquor license
The owner of a Lexington coffee shop who defied many COVID-19 related orders has filed a federal lawsuit alleging Gov. Andy Beshear and state alcohol beverage control officials wrongly revoked his liquor license.
Andrew Cooperrider alleges in a lawsuit filed in federal court that Beshear and state Alcohol Beverage Control officials did not have the authority to revoke his liquor license for Brewed, his Lexington coffee and beer shop.
State ABC officials moved to revoke Brewed’s liquor licenses on Nov. 25, 2020, for failing to comply with Beshear’s executive order requiring masks and restaurants to shut down for in-person dining.
Brewed was also ordered by Lexington-Fayette County Health Department officials to shut down after the Malabu Drive restaurant continued to serve patrons indoors. Brewed eventually agreed to comply and stopped serving food and beverages indoors in December 2020.
Cooperrider then led an unsuccessful push to have Beshear impeached, which spurred ABC officials to take retaliatory action against Brewed, the lawsuit alleges.
“Cooperrider led a citizen effort to seek the impeachment of Governor Beshear for his COVID-19 related misconduct, engaging in significant amounts of additional protected speech, and, at the same time, prompting the institution of other retaliatory measures against him,”the lawsuit alleges.
Lawsuit details
In February and March 2021, the Republican-controlled legislature passed several measures to restrict Beshear’s powers during a state of emergency.
House Bill 1 allowed a business to remain open if it adopted a plan that met or exceeded the Centers for Disease Control or the executive branch recommendations, which ever was the least restrictive.
The lawsuit alleges Brewed had such a plan which ABC knew about.
As part of its two-year budget, the General Assembly also placed limitations on the executive branch enforcement efforts on Beshear’s previous executive orders, according to the lawsuit.
To enforce a previous order, the executive branch was supposed to send information to the Legislative Research Commission detailing the facts of the violation and how much time it would take for state employees to enforce the action.
The Beshear administration did not provide that documentation to the legislative branch in the enforcement action against Cooperrider, the lawsuit alleges.
Brewed’s license was revoked on March 4, according to court documents.
“This was done contrary to the recommendation of the hearing officer that heard the matter, and was done in a vindictive and retaliatory manner,” the lawsuit said. “These actions were taken primarily to punish Brewed and Cooperrider for their First Amendment protected speech.”
Named in the lawsuit are Beshear, Ray Parry, Secretary of the Public Protection Cabinet, Allyson Taylor, Commissioner of Alcohol Beverage Control, and several other high-ranking ABC officials.
A spokeswoman for Beshear said they have not seen the lawsuit.
Impeachment efforts
This is not the first lawsuit Cooperrider has filed against state officials.
After his unsuccessful bid to have Beshear impeached, he was ordered to pay fees associated with that effort.
State law says people who bring an unsuccessful impeachment petition are liable for the costs involved in resolving it. That includes legal costs of the committee and the officials facing impeachment, and the time put in by staff members.
In addition to the impeachment claims against Beshear, others had filed unsuccessful petitions to have state Attorney General David Cameron and state Rep. Robert Goforth, a Republican from Laurel County, impeached. All three impeachment attempts were unsuccessful. Cooperrider and others involved in the unsuccessful impeachment petitions sued in federal court, attempting to challenge the state law.
In total, the group was told to pay $60,000.
The group filed a federal lawsuit in April 2021 seeking to overturn the state law.
According to documents in that lawsuit, Cooperrider, Tony Wheatley, and Jacob Clark, who signed impeachment petitions against Beshear, will not have to pay any costs as part of an agreement with the state House of Representatives clerk.
Cooperrider is running in the Republican primary against Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, in the 22nd District. That district includes a portion of Fayette County, Jessamine County and Garrard County. Cooperrider jumped into that race after being redistricted out of the 12th District earlier this year.
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 1:27 PM.
