LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Open letter to Governor Newsom
Dear Sir: Your executive order N-33-20 relating to the COVID-19 virus is manifestly unconstitutional. It punishes citizens who have done nothing wrong, and who, in most cases, are not even suffering from a communicable disease, with unconstitutional house arrest.
Here is the part of your order that is at issue: “I...order all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place of residence...”
At the worldwide level, roughly 30 national constitutions and regional conventions, most notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, guarantee to all human beings freedom of peaceable assembly (among many other things such as freedom of worship). There is no exception for anything: not war, nor pestilence, nor famine and certainly not for some government’s idea of which assemblies may not be “essential.” The place of such assembly cannot be limited by government. It is strictly up to the people doing the assembling. Your order violates this inalienable human right, sir.
Here in these United States, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees to citizens their right of peaceable assembly along with other inalienable human rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of worship. Once again, there is no exception, these rights are absolute, and please not that the U.S. Constitution applies even here in California, protecting citizens of this state. Your order violates inalienable human rights as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, sir.
And, what about the California Constitution? Article 1, Section 3 (a) says: “The people have the right to instruct their representatives, petition government for redress of grievances, and assemble freely to consult for the common good.” No government code section can abridge these rights. You have violated them, sir, and in doing so, you have reneged on your own oath of office.
The right of assembly and petition imply two other inalienable rights: the right to leave one’s home (except as punishment for crime after due process) and the right to travel. Why? Because that is the only way for the people to assemble at whatever place they have chosen to assemble or to petition the government (in their own inimitable fashion) for the redress of grievances.
No citizen can be compelled to exercise these rights, and there may be many circumstances when it would be foolish to do so. I have no quarrel with you warning citizens and issuing “guidelines.” But you must stop short of coercion and threatening to arrest people. We the people may choose to stay home, many choose not to travel, to not assemble, to maintain a physical separation from others. Or, we may choose otherwise, individually or en masse. That is the whole point. It is up to us, not up to you, sir. Nor is it up to your Public Health Officers or police officers or elected officials at the state and local levels. Richard Van Tassell San Ramon, Calif.