Should Cops Arrest People for Dining Based on One-Man Rule?
*The following is an editorial provided to Friends for Fullerton’s Future by Former CA Assemblyman and Fullerton resident Chris Norby.*
“City Allows Outdoor Dining in Defiance of State Health Order” blares the front page headline of the Fullerton Observer. The article bemoans the lack of police response in chasing off outdoor diners and closing local restaurants whose only crime is feeding people. Strange sentiments from a “progressive publication”?
California state government is a democracy whose powers are divided among the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The “Regional Stay-At-Home Order” referred to by the Observer is the arbitrary edict of one man –Gavin Newsom– that has not been passed by the legislature. The Fullerton Police Department should not enforce it. It should not shut down hundreds of local businesses and throw thousands out of work.
Emergency powers granted the Governor are of limited scope, when there’s no time for legislative action. This pandemic has been with us now for 10 months, yet none of his 58 emergency edicts have been approved by the legislature, which has had plenty of time to act. On December 8, L.A. County Superior Court Judge ruled against that county’s outdoor dining ban, as there was no “risk-benefit analysis” showing any connection with Covid-19 spread. Newsom himself doesn’t think so either, as his crowded unmasked dinner at the French Laundry showed.
There are many places in the world where the police enforce one-man rule. Does the Observer really want Fullerton to be one of them?
–Chris Norby / Fullerton
*This is being published without comment with the only change being to add a link to the mentioned Observer story for reference*
The Observer always errs on the side of “Fullerton Police will do what’s right” while feigning surprise every time they beat or kill without reason. Phony progressives, from beginning to end.
Yes, the Observers were always upset that Trump wouldn’t lock them in their own homes. It’s so odd.
Norby
One of Fullerton’s Finest Politicians
Norby? He’s a fucking idiot.
One of many
Definitely
They named a street after him…
No “they” didn’t.
No, police should NOT arrest anyone for outdoor dining. There is no science behind closing outdoor dining and it’s just ruining people’s lives by not being able to earn a living.
Newsom is just a power hungry moron who has absolutely no regard for small businesses and the destruction he is causing.
Yes, they should shut down businesses, including restaurants that do not care about health and safety. The stay at home order by “one man” Is the one man who is responsible for the health and well-being of this entire state and its residents. What an idiotic, stupid thing to say on Chris Norby’s part.
I guess you missed the part where even LA County officials said that closing outdoor dining was about control and not health. Keep on keeping on Karen, the Stasi is glad to have you aboard.
Recall the destructor !
Gov control
Stop socialism
Please sign recall petition.
Save our once beautiful, safe, clean, and inviting California.
https://recallgavin2020.com/homepage/
https://recallgavin2020.com/homepage/
Bullshit. Why the hell do you think Newsom would want to set restrictive rules just to control people? Do you think that works for any politician?
Do you even understand politics at all?
This is quite possibly the most naive fucking thing ever posted by you and that’s saying something.
See soda ban.
Also, you’re an idiot.
Oh, golldarnit. We have stepped in my own poop again. Why I keep doing this we will never know. Dr. Schwartzman says we need to stop the fecal-oral thing too, but we are not ready for that drastic step and anyhow I am not even sure Dr. Schwartzman is a real person and not some figment of our imagination.
It’s not actually “one man rule”. This is the administrative branch of our government setting policy.
And the administration absolutely has the authority based on existing legislation to set rules like this.
A judge quibbling about whether a cost benefit analysis was done does not mean the administration needs new enabling legislation to set binding health policy.
As to arresting people for outdoor dining… the point of this is that the government does control restaurant’s ability to operate and how they operate. So shutting down outdoor dining at peak COVID is a knob they can turn as necessary. The point is to reduce mixing of households which tends to happen when people eat out.
And when the numbers start to drop that restriction will drop.
Almost 4,000 dying a day with COVID currently being the leading cause of death… if that doesn’t matter, what does matter?
It’s necessary.
The administrative agencies are under the control of the Executive branch of government under our Constitutional system and the Executive has the authority to bring them in line if he or she does not approve of their actions. And at the state level the Executive is the Governor. Josh is correct, and you are not. Again.
“The administrative agencies are under the control of the Executive branch of government”
No… you don’t get it. The administrative agencies are not “under control of the Executive branch of government”. The administrative agencies + the governor ARE the executive branch of government.
“And at the state level the Executive is the Governor. ”
Also wrong. The governor is the head of the executive branch.
What you and Josh completely misunderstand is that the Executive Branch has only the leeway that the Legislative Branch and Constitution grant it.
Everything the executive branch including agencies and the governor is doing is informed by, required by, limited by authorization to create POLICY based on existing laws created by the legislature. That offers significant authority for the Administrative Branch to act without any requirement for the legislature to pass any new law.
Particularly in the area of health emergency which regardless COVID lasting 10+ months is still an emergency by any definition of the word.
The executive branch / administration may run afoul of those laws, and then the judicial branch will correct it.
But none of this is anywhere close to the fictional nonsense of “one man rule” that Josh and Norby are misleading you about.
You’re a lost cause in the Church of the State. We all watched Schoolhouse Rock and know how things are SUPPOSED to work, the grownups here are talking about how they actually work. Go back to licking government issued boots.
No I am indeed talking about how things actually work.
If you want to make a case that this is “one man rule” you need to show that he is acting in clear violation of or without legal authority conferred by the legislature.
You aren’t showing that. Because that’s not what is happening
When the legislature abdicates their prescribed and Constitutional duties and confers vague and limitless power upon the executive (sort of like war powers at the Federal level), it results in effective one man rule. The legislature gets to posture and complain without being on record voting for things that might not sit well with the unwashed masses. They get to sit on their asses until somebody else does the heavy lifting and gets the Judiciary involved.
This is how the executive in CA managed to put “Racial Equity” into the mix of rules for lockdowns contra actual science and without any legislative input.
One doesn’t need to be acting in violation of the law or without legal authority to be acting without constraints. It’s willful abdication and by design you fucking nitwit.
Actually maybe your problem is the “Schoolhouse Rock” thing. Your understanding seems to have stopped there and the gaps filled with cynicism and ideological b/s.
Emergencies like Covid-19 are the textbook example of why we have a separate executive and legislative branch. The legislature absolutely cannot keep up with emergencies. And beyond just keeping up, legislatures often deadlock on issues and cannot agree to pass new legislation. So it is basic wisdom that they delegate day to day control and details to the executive branch.
But it isn’t a blank check. And the governor doesn’t make these decisions alone. And the legislature can rein in the administration any time it wants with new legislation.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/state-emergency-authorities-address-covid-19
Consider news today that the governor is requesting $300M funds in the budget allocated to add people to handle vaccinations. There’s the legislature getting to weigh in again.
https://www.kcra.com/article/gov-newsom-covid-19-response-update-jan-4/35120523#
“Emergencies” like one that has been ongoing for nearly 10 months in a State that has been warning of a second wave since the start AND is controlled by a Super-Majority in both houses of the State Legislature with no blocking opposition and a Governor of the same party. They can spend oodles of time attacking bullshit like flavored vaping but heaven forbid they actually do their jobs on the single biggest issue in decades – an issue being used to crush businesses and ruin lives.
If they want fucking “racial equity” they can vote on it. But no, that issue was just gosh darn too hard to talk about in 10 months. Better get back to handing out AB5 exemptions to favored lobbying groups.
Shut the fuck up with your excuses that aren’t based in reality. Your faux-naiveté is tired.
You’re such an idiot you don’t even realize you make my arguments for me.
He makes the decisions without votes from the legislature because they’ve written vague laws and abdicate their legislative authority by leaving policy making up to bureaucrats and the executive itself. The Governor has absolute authority on the decisions. So even if he delegates stuff to his lackeys or appointed officials, he can still say no and dictate policy to them because it’s left up to the purview of the executive short of Judicial intervention. That the legislature CAN but doesn’t vote on these things proves my point – not yours. Holy shit you’re dumb.
As funny as it is to watch people make fun of you, I’ve grown bored with your “golly gee, gubmint is good and they only want what’s best for us, trust them” baby talk you like to spew. You have no concept of how government actually works and your idiotic posturing is based in partisan retardation as opposed to any desire for factual understanding of the world. Feel free to continue to comment as it’s not my site to dictate otherwise, but don’t expect me to respond or even pretend to take bad faith actors such as yourself seriously.
I don’t know you or respect you and I don’t owe you my time. Enjoy feeding the other commenters with your trite ramblings.
The authority to handle public health emergencies isn’t “vague.” You just say that because it’s vague to you because you don’t know anything.
Maybe they haven’t revisited it because the governor is doing just fine without them micromanaging the crisis. It’s. Not. Their. Job. The legislature created state government agencies and programs and gave the governor the authority to act exactly as they should.
Imagine if during a war you had to go back to Congress every time you wanted to move troops from one place to another.
Well a crisis like COVID is like a war. And the governor goes back to the legislature for authority as necessary.
Here’s my final point on the issue just to drive the point home. You’re a bad faith hack who doesn’t even have basic reading comprehension skills when you thoughtlessly ramble out a reply in your haste to make yourself feel smart.
I didn’t JUST write that the legislature writes vague laws. Read the rest of that sentence.
“AND ABDICATE THEIR LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY”.
When a State of Emergency is called, the Governor has unlimited authority. You’d know this if you weren’t jerking it to your own ego because it’s spelled out plain as fucking day in the California Emergency Services Act.
The Governor has one-man rule until stopped by the legislature or judiciary. It’s one man rule – which is how he’s able to create new diktats and change laws through executive fiat. The legislature won’t stop him because CA’s legislature is on his same team and it gives them cover when he passes racist shit like “Racial Equity” while pretending to worry about a virus. All while avoiding the very rules he sets for the rest of us mind you. It’s such a fucking emergency, so bad that the legislature just hands the keys to the kingdom for a year to the Governor while the Governor himself is exempted from the precautions of the very emergency. You live in clown world.
If you had bothered to read the whole sentence I wrote and not rushed to respond you might have been able to comprehend my point but alas – you’re a bad faith hack. Goodbye.
The legislature didn’t just pass the emergency services act, an act which is similar to legislation in just about every other state.
Has nothing to do with this specific crisis. It has to do with crisis IN GENERAL. And invests the executive branch with full authority to act.
I read your words. You’re just blind to the obvious argument which I’ve stated clearly. That’s not an “abdication”. It is how it is supposed to work.
Legislatures don’t handle emergencies. Legislatures put the agencies and authorities in place for the EXECUTIVE branch to handle emergencies.
You say the legislature “abdicated” responsibility. My argument as I made perfectly clear is the legislature already acted. What more legislation is needed? Should the legislature be micromanaging the emergency measures to reduce the spread of the virus? What expertise do you suppose they have to do that?
Maybe they should create a California Legislature Health Department. Hire public health officials to make recommendations, reach out to hospitals, nursing homes, etc.
Oh wait. All that infrastructure already exists. The legislature created it and put that under the control of the highest ranking democratically elected official.
Imagine that.
Follow your own stupid ideas all the way through to their comical end and you’ll see your error.