Thread: Judge Gorsuch Speaks out on Lockdowns and Mandates in Opinion

Justice Neal Gorsuch opinion on Lockdowns and Mandates.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch Statement: "The history of this case illustrates the disruption we have experienced over the last three years in how our laws are made and our freedoms observed.
Since March 2020, we may have experienced the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country.

Executive officials across the country issued emergency decrees on a breathtaking scale. Governors and local leaders imposed lockdown orders forcing people to remain in their homes.
They shuttered businesses and schools public and private. They closed churches even as they allowed casinos and other favored businesses to carry on. They threatened violators not just with civil penalties but with criminal sanctions too.

They surveilled church parking lots, recorded license plates, and issued notices warning that attendance at even outdoor services satisfying all state social-distancing and hygiene requirements could amount to criminal conduct. They divided cities and neighborhoods into color-coded zones, forced individuals to fight for their freedoms in court on emergency timetables, and then changed their color-coded schemes when defeat in court seemed imminent.

Federal executive officials entered the act too. Not just with emergency immigration decrees. They deployed a public-health agency to regulate landlord-tenant relations nationwide.They used a workplace-safety agency to issue a vaccination mandate for most working Americans."

Justice Neil Gorsuch Speaks Out Against Lockdowns and Mandates ⋆ Brownstone Institute

Originally Posted by Highly Favoured

We were fortunate that our pastors went head to head against the mandates. We met their initial criteria - meeting outside (in our winter coats), social distancing, masks if you wanted to. Some kept six feet away (which we've now learned was an arbitrary number and really did nothing to protect anyone), but a lot of us didn't. It wasn't long before we just started hugging and talking in small groups.

In a month our outside services were full.

The police drove by because doubtless, the neighbors called. They never stopped in. But this was because our pastors went to the police department to inform them what we were going to do. We (the congregation) knew that if the police showed up we needed to immediately social distance ourselves from each other and mask up. But they never did.

Before long (June I think) we moved back inside our building. We had protocols. You could mask if you wanted, hand sanitizer and masks were made available. People were strongly urged to stay home if they were sick.

Staying home when we are sick was probably one of the best things that came out of the pandemic. The work ethic in my community was always one of showing up to work no matter how sick one was. Now when someone is sick, they get an immediate "stay home and rest" and "don't come back in until you are well" instead of the former complaint about how shorthanded they will be, or my favorite: "are you so sick you can't come in and work for a few hours."

I was/am so proud of my spiritual father, Bishop Keith Butler and the other pastors when they sued Governor Witless, er, I mean Whitmer for violating the Constitution with those stupid mandates. They backed off quickly and Church resumed with precautions in place. Basically like your Church. Bravo for godly men and women that won't take that mess sitting down, but fought back.