The death rattle of COVID-19 regulations in the US?
by Yudi Sherman
The world has been watching with bated breath as the United States teeters on the brink of authoritarianism under the Biden administration. With President Biden pushing harsh vaccination and mask mandates and governors from Kathy Hochul to Gavin Newsom chomping at the bit to enforce them – even on children – the world’s beacon of freedom has been looking somewhat dim.
However, recent events appear to paint a promising portrait that shows justice and the rule of law are alive and well.
On Monday, a New York State Supreme Court judge struck down New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s statewide mask mandate. The mandate would have forced everyone in public locations and schools to wear masks. While the judge did say that precautions need to be taken to protect against COVID-19, such a law is “violative of the Public Health Law as promulgated and enacted and therefore null, void, and unenforceable as a matter of law.”
The judge also added that such a law would need to go through the state legislature, and thus is “violative of the State Administrative Procedure Act as promulgated and enacted and therefore null, void, and unenforceable as a matter of law.”
On Thursday, a federal court of appeals ruled that the lockdown imposed on gun stores in 2020 by California counties was unconstitutional. Judge Lawrence VanDyke spoke for the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals when he ruled that the 48-day forced closure of gun shops by Los Angeles and Ventura counties was a violation of the 2nd Amendment.
Speaking of the Second Amendment, Judge VanDyke said that it “means nothing if the government can prohibit all persons from acquiring any firearm or ammunition. But that’s what happened in this case."
On January 13, the U.S. Supreme Court famously ruled against Biden’s vaccine mandate. The mandate would have forced all employers with 100 employees or more to terminate all workers who do not get inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine.
Of course, the battle is not won yet. There are those whose devotion to COVID-19 mandates approaches religious fervor. Schools in Loudoun County, Virginia, for instance, are refusing to provide in-person education to students who do not wear masks, in violation of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s executive order. Arnold Schwarzenegger famously said “screw your freedoms” to those who do not get vaccinated, and others like Howard Stern and David Frum advocate for hospitals refusing healthcare to those who are unvaccinated.
But as far as the rule of law goes, a trend is appearing that suggests a more decisive move to the side of freedom.
