Lawsuits Swell as Owners, From Gun Shops to Golf Courses, Demand to OpenSome of those suing their state governments seek redress for specific, local grievances, as with the golf course or in a similar suit in Pennsylvania being pursued by a company that says it is the country’s oldest manufacturer of orchestra-quality bells and chimes. Those lawsuits and one in Arizona are rooted in the Fifth Amendment, which requires due process and guarantees compensation for property seized by the government.
Other constitutional amendments have been invoked in several lawsuits in recent weeks attempting to force open gun stores, or to argue that measures to curb the virus should not outweigh rights like freedom of assembly and religion.
Americans arguing for the right to commit societal suicide by greed and mass murder by stupidity is so perfectly in character. As a nation, we worship at the altar of Mammon, sacrificing our selves and the lives of our fellow human beings.
As someone who understands the gravity of this situation and believes we do in fact need legally enforceable social distancing measures in place, I don’t think there’s anything necessarily immoral about challenging the legality of those measures that are likely unconstitutional. Thus, while I understand why executives at the municipal/county/statewide level needed to act quickly with bold executive orders, I think it is now incumbent on the state legislatures (and congress) to start crafting more carefully thought out fallback measures that would be on more Constitutionally firm ground.
