UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ ANDREW COOPERRIDER; DEANS DINER, LLC, dba │ Brewed, │ Plaintiffs-Appellants, │ │ v. > No. 24-5351 │ │ MAGGIE WOODS, Malt Beverage Administrator with │ the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage │ Control, ANDREW G. BESHEAR, Governor of │ Kentucky, RAY A. PERRY, Secretary of Public │ Protection Cabinet, ALLYSON TAYLOR, Commissioner │ of the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage │ Control, WESLEY WARDEN DUKE, General Counsel for │ the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, │ and JOSHUA NEWTON, General Counsel for the │ Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, │ in their individual and official capacities, │ Defendants-Appellees. │ ┘

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky at Frankfort. No. 3:22-cv-00016—Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, District Judge.

Decided and Filed: February 7, 2025

Before: MOORE, CLAY, and THAPAR, Circuit Judges.

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COUNSEL ON BRIEF: Christopher Wiest, Theodore Roberts, CHRIS WIEST, ATTY AT LAW, PLLC, Covington, Kentucky, Thomas B. Bruns, BRUNS, CONNELL, VOLLMAR, ARMSTRONG, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellants. Jan M. West, J. W. Hall, GOLDBERG SIMPSON, LLC, Prospect, Kentucky, for Appellees Maggie Woods and Allyson Taylor. Laura C. Tipton, Travis Mayo, Taylor Payne, OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, Frankfort, Kentucky, for Appellee Andy Beshear. T. Chad Thompson, KENTUCKY PUBLIC PROTECTION CABINET, Frankfort, Kentucky, for Appellee Ray Perry. LeeAnne Applegate, CABINET FOR HEALTH AND No. 24-5351 Cooperrider et al. v. Woods et al. Page 2

FAMILY SERVICES, Frankfort, Kentucky, for Appellee Wesley Duke. Jennifer Wolsing, KENTUCKY PUBLIC PROTECTION CABINET, Frankfort, Kentucky, for Appellee Joshua Newton.

MOORE, J., delivered the opinion of the court in which CLAY, J., concurred, and THAPAR, J., concurred in part. THAPAR, J. (pp. 31–44), delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. _________________

OPINION _________________

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. In March 2020, Andrew Cooperrider expressed on social media his dissatisfaction with Kentucky Governor Andrew Beshear’s actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cooperrider, the owner of Brewed, a coffee shop and bar in Lexington, took specific offense to Governor Beshear’s executive orders requiring masks indoors and prohibiting indoor dining and drinking. Then, in November 2020, the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (“DABC”) suspended Brewed’s alcohol license. Upon DABC’s official revocation of Brewed’s license in March 2022, Cooperrider filed suit against the Governor, the DABC commissioner, and a number of other executive-branch officials alleging First Amendment and due-process violations. According to Cooperrider, his social media postings