NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro's department of law says it’s investigating whether a house party over the weekend in East Nashville violated the city’s public health order. It's now considered to be a criminal investigation.
Metro Director of Law Bob Cooper said Tuesday that Metro legal, Metro police and the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the matter. Under Metro’s health order, gatherings over 25 people are not permitted.
Promoted as the big unveiling for The Fashion House intended for photo shoots, people showed up to Saturday’s party to snap photos and even get tattoos. Mayor Cooper called the party "irresponsible," said Metro Codes posted a "Stop Use Order" on the property for "illegally operating a commercial business in a residential district."
Cooper said during Tuesday's briefing that if organizers violated the order, they face a Class C misdemeanor under Tennessee law and up to 30 days in jail. He said the DA’s office and Metro legal will “pursue all available remedies” in the case.
More often than not, it amounts to a fine of no more than $50, but Metro attorneys say a maximum of 30 days in jail is also an option. It’s the same penalty for breaking any of the mandates in phase 2, set up by Metro Public Health.
NewsChannel 5 legal analyst Nick Leonardo says it’s one example of the freedoms we may have to put on hold in the interest of public health. If MNPD is called to a home and they notice a gathering of more than 25 people, they can write citations for violating a phase 2 mandate.
“The problem that you’ve got no matter what the penalty is, you’ve got to have an agency Willing to enforce it. It’s no different than the masks that we see. We’re not seeing a whole lot of enforcement,” Leonardo said.
MNPD says they chose not to write any mandate citations following Saturday’s party, because according to their report the party had ended around 1 a.m. NewsChannel 5 has asked numerous people who were at the party and they say most people didn’t leave until at least three hours later.
Leonardo says the time to hand out citations was at the party and not long after the fact. He says any attorney could make the argument that if police didn’t believe a citation was needed, then one shouldn’t be written after the fact.
“The issue that we’re seeing is certain agencies not wanting to follow or enforce other agencies rules and that’s a big issue,” Leonardo said.
Several times during this morning’s presser, mayor Cooper made mention of how the city, Metro legal, Metro Public Health and MNPD were working together to better enforce phase 2 mandates. MNPD has said they are open to suggestions on how to enforce these mandates as they relate to private homes.
We reached out multiple times to the homeowners of the property on Fern Ave. for comment, but they haven’t responded. Metro would not say if those responsible for the party are cooperating with their investigation.
