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Thanks for the link! I'm surprised to find that California's legislature did not pass statutes making refusal to obey lockdown rules crimes.

In many places it's all governors' EOs and mayors' orders. Here in Texas, for example, no statutes have been passed enabling localities to dictate and enforce stay-at-home orders or wearing of masks, and the cities and counties thus lack the authority to do much of what they nonetheless have gone on to do in terms of ordinances and executive orders.

We're a nation of laws, and we have generally been very particular about process. Due Process, yes, but also all manner of procedure, from electoral, to parliamentary, and others. Besides that, the Constitution still applies -- no part of it has been suspended -- and much of it has been incorporated against the States (term of art for: "it wasn't clear before, but now is under Supreme Court precedents, that these various parts of the Constitution that talk of what Congress can't do apply to State legislatures too").

So around here, many people are wearing masks, but they don't have to, not legally, and those signs that say "customers must wear masks by order of the city and county" are correct but legally toothless. In fact, around here I see enough people not wearing masks at notable stores, like Central Market, and all the big box stores that are open, that I can only conclude there is no attempt even to enforce those unenforceable edits. If the county executive wants to require the wearing masks, they'll have to lobby the legislature for new statutes.

People will much more likely support their governors and mayors when the legislatures are also standing with them, and less so when they are not.




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