Connecticut's Supreme Court has ruled that executive orders issued by Gov. Ned Lamont affecting restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic could not not be used by a Norwalk eatery as an excuse not to pay the rent. The court ruled against the operators of the Blackstone's Bistro, who had argued the state's public health emergency declared in March 2020 and subsequent executive orders shuttering restaurants and later limiting capacity triggered a legal doctrine that allows for a lease to be breached when its terms become impossible or illegal to meet. But the court found that even under the most restrictive executive orders, restaurants were still allowed to operate using takeout service.