On the heels of a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruling that Gov. Tom Wolf’s lockdown orders are unconstitutional, violating both the First and 14th Amendments, back in California, Assemblymen James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) and Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) just filed their brief with the California Superior Court setting the clear legal argument against Gavin Newsom’s one-man rule.
States sill laboring under lockdown orders are pushing to get back some normalcy, and using the courts to achieve this.
Kiley and Gallagher explain:
“We are asking the court for two things: (1) “a judgment that the Executive Order so issued is null and void”; (2), a court order stopping the Governor from further exercising any “legislative powers in violation of the California Constitution.”
We were limited to 15 pages, although we are also filing a separate 15-page Opposition to the Governor’s own brief. Here’s how ours begins:
“In the case before the Court, Defendant Gavin Newsom declares that the six-month-and-counting State of Emergency centralizes the State’s powers in the hands of the Governor. This disquieting claim belies California law and defies America’s first principles.”
We then set forth the constitutional basis for the Court to step in:
“The authors of California’s Constitution learned the lesson of America’s founding even better than the Founders themselves, enshrining an explicit separation-of-powers provision. A California Governor is constitutionally forbidden from doing the very thing Gov. Newsom has done here: exercise legislative powers.”
Our brief then turns to the unprecedented abuses of this year:
“California has entered its seventh month of the COVID-19 pandemic, with no apparent end in sight. In addition to sweeping ‘guidance documents’ that close schools and shutter businesses, Governor Gavin Newsom has issued 53 Executive Orders that span 15 different California Codes and change over 400 state laws.”
And here is the crux of the legal argument: the Emergency Services Act does not authorize Newsom’s unconstitutional actions.
“Contrary to the Governor’s claim, the Emergency Services Act does not and could not inaugurate an autocracy in the State of California. Such a wild misapprehension of his own authority is precisely why this case demands a resolution on the merits.“
In June, Sutter County Superior Court Judge Perry Parker granted a temporary restraining order on Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order that requires all registered California voters to receive a mail-in ballot for the upcoming November election. Kiley and Gallagher had petitioned Judge Parker for the TRO citing that Governor Newsom had overstepped the bounds of his emergency powers when he was the sole lawmaker in Sacramento capable of making laws during the two months of the coronavirus pandemic when the state Legislature couldn’t meet.
Gov. Gavin Newsom in July petitioned to have Judge Parker removed, claiming that the judge was prejudiced against the governor, California Globe reported.
The Federalist reported:
In the Pennsylvania case, U.S. District Court Judge William Stickman struck down Gov. Wolf’s limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings of up 25 and 250 people, respectively. The limitations, Stickman wrote, violate “the right of assembly enshrined in the First Amendment.”
Stickman ruled that the governor’s stay-home order and mandatory closure of businesses, which were deemed non-essential to curb the spread of the novel Wuhan coronavirus, infringed on citizen freedoms and discriminated based upon arbitrary “life sustaining” and “non-life sustaining” standards breaching 14th Amendment protections.
Kiley and Gallagher’s entire brief is available HERE.
The New York Times has a map of the 50 U.S. States in varying stages of re-opening, and some, like California, reversing re-opening plans.
View Comments (17)
So thankful we have judges like U.S. District Court Judge William Stickman and Sutter County Superior Court Judge Perry Parker who use the law to bravely reign in tyrannical public officials like Gov. Newsom and Gov. Wolf who have abused their powers.
I am so happy to hear this.
Thank God for Assembly members Kiley and Gallagher! I hope this leads us to a full reopening.
We can protect the vulnerable and safely open.
Hoping for the best with this latest brief. I think we are all fighting cynicism out here because of the lawlessness of the governor and his cronies. Will this work? We'll see. Certainly appreciate the effort and fervently wishing for a good outcome. We simply can't go on like this.
Thank you also for the U.S. map which easily allows us to see state openings vs. those of us who are behind the fake COVID Curtain and in a different land, for the time being, anyway.
Thank you for standing up for the abused citizens of California. Newsom is out of control.
Yes, thank you. But what took you so long
CA is truly verrrry close to "banana republic" status. It used to be just a quip, now it's serious. Wake-up voters!
Thank you, brave men!
Newsom has abused his power since he has been in office , the laws that he has passed without asking the California’s has violated our rights (SB-145) as parents this should have been brought to the citizens not a one man show to over throw parents rights to protect our kids ! Also these lockdowns makes no sense Walmart, target, 99 cent stores, and strip malls can open but not indoor malls ...destroying our businesses for whatever reason he makes no sense . California is a mess due to his politics he is a dictator and needs to be stopped ...
Newsom must be stopped before he destroys the once great state. Audits need to be made in many agencies, huge taxes are collected for our roads, dams and forests and nothing is being done. Millions are being spent on illegals and our citizens and Vets are homeless. Far too many laws are being broken by Newsom’s administration. There needs to be a full investigation intro The “Train” to nowhere that seems to be a “money” pit . Billions spent and no results.
Another good reason to sign the recall petition in your county!!!
We need more of this! Thank you both for working for the people of California. The super majority needs to be accountable.