## Facts

- During the 1918–1919 Spanish influenza epidemic, the City of Globe’s Board of Health adopted an emergency regulation targeting places where people congregated, including schools, churches, theaters, lodges, and other venues.
- The regulation declared such places a “public nuisance” during the epidemic and until further order of the board of health, and prohibited opening or holding sessions or services in schools and similar places.
- The regulation also barred congregating in various public and commercial locations and made violations punishable as a misdemeanor under state law.
- The parties stipulated that Spanish influenza was prevalent in Globe; several thousand people had been afflicted, many had died, and the disease was believed to be spreading.
- Before adoption, state and local health officials and physicians met and advised that the regulation was needed to prevent spread and to stop the epidemic.
- The school district’s term was limited to ten months; average attendance was about 1,500 pupils; and more than 80% of schoolchildren were free from disease and ready to attend.
- Globe School District No. 1 sued to enjoin enforcement, arguing the board exceeded its authority, unlawfully declared schools a nuisance, and imposed an unreasonable closure.

## Issues

1. Whether the City of Globe’s Board of Health had statutory authority to adopt and enforce an emergency regulation closing schools and declaring specified public assemblies a nuisance during an epidemic.
2. Whether the regulation’s school-closure and nuisance provisions were unreasonable or otherwise unlawful such that enforcement should be enjoined.

## Decision

- The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed judgment for the defendants and denied injunctive relief.
- The court held the local board of health had authority to issue the regulation as a disease-control measure during an epidemic.
- The court upheld the temporary nuisance designation and the closure of schools and other assembly locations as reasonable under the circumstances.
- The court concluded the regulation was not beyond the board’s powers and was not arbitrary or plainly unreasonable on the stipulated facts.

## Legal Principles

- The legislature may delegate broad authority to local health boards to issue rules and regulations necessary to protect public health and suppress contagious disease.
- During an epidemic, health authorities may temporarily restrict otherwise lawful gatherings and operations of public places, including schools, when congregations pose a contagion risk.
- A nuisance designation tied to emergency conditions and limited in duration may be treated as a valid public-health measure rather than an impermissible permanent reclassification.
- Courts generally will not enjoin epidemic-control measures that have a reasonable relation to disease suppression and are supported by emergency conditions and medical judgment, absent clear arbitrariness or excess of authority.

## Conclusion

The court upheld the City of Globe Board of Health’s emergency regulation closing schools during the Spanish influenza outbreak, ruling it was within delegated authority and a reasonable exercise of the police power, so the school district was not entitled to an injunction.


Globe Sch. Dist. No. 1 v. Bd. of Health, 20 Ariz. 208, 179 P. 55 (Ariz. 1919)