West Virginians are turning up the heat on Gov. Jim Justice in reaction to his COVID-19 policies and attempted assumption of dictatorial powers.
A Kanawha County attorney has filed a petition against Justice, the state Board of Education, and the state Department of Health and Human Resources to keep them from enforcing portions of the West Virginia School Re-entry Metrics and Protocols program.
A senior member of the varsity football team at George Washington High School is seeking to intervene in this case and obtain an injunction against the program, claiming the state’s school re-entry plan is denying him the chance to play football and earn an athletic scholarship.
The owners of a Putnam County restaurant have filed a suit challenging the state’s “Stay At Home Order” and mask mandate. “The governor cannot enact legislation, period,” says their attorney. “Not in a time of war, not in a ‘State of Emergency’ which has lasted over six months. The sole process for enactment of new laws in West Virginia is via the state Legislature, according to the state Constitution.”
A group of individuals and businesses has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to have the “never-ending executive orders mandating restrictions” declared unconstitutional. The plaintiffs claim Gov. Justice has violated the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by effectively depriving them of the right to operate their privately-owned businesses profitably. They also assert that he has denied them substantive due process, procedural due process, and equal protection, as well as their First Amendment right to assembly.
These are just a few examples of the growing number of legal challenges to Justice’s injustices. West Virginians have had enough. They’re fed up with the lockdown and the arbitrary and capricious enforcement of illegitimate and irrational guidelines, rules, regulations, edicts, diktats, decrees, or whatever they are. Nobody even knows what to call them, because their status is so (intentionally?) ambiguous.
Our judicial branch is supposed to serve as a check and balance against Executive branch overreach. Here’s hoping they are up to the task.