Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Finally

Finally something has happened here in California that has already happened in some other states. No, this has nothing to do with the election, the result of which will probably not be known for days and maybe not for weeks.

Here I am referring to  a ruling by a  Sutter County Superior Court Judge in California. On 11/2/20 a Northern California judge tentatively ruled in favor of state Assemblymembers James Gallagher and Kevin Kiley regarding their lawsuit against Governor Gavin Newsom. The two Republicans are claiming the Democratic governor has abused his power during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been arguing that the California Emergency Services Act does not provide for one-man rule.

Similar suits in other states have had similar results, namely that governors cannot unilaterally dictate, and dictate, and dictate ad-nauseam to the residents of their state on a never ending list of issues. I would guess that we will see more of these suits as the Constitution does not take a holiday for a pandemic, or a flood, or a hurricane, etc.

Here in California, in Sutter County Superior Court Judge Sarah Heckman ruled as unconstitutional Governor Newsom’s statewide vote-by-mail executive order. The directive required that all registered voters in California receive mail-in ballots to avoid having large numbers of people gathered at polling places. It also mandated one voting place per 10,000 residents be open from October 31st to November 2nd for at least 8 hours.

The details of this particular case are not particularly important as the voting has been completed, but rather it is the principle that is important, namely that Governor Newsom is not a monarch, and California is not a monarchy.

In addition, the judge’s tentative ruling places an injunction on any unilateral attempts by the Governor to make or change state law in the immediate future.

“This is a victory for separation of powers. The Governor has continued to create and change state law without public input and without the deliberative process provided by the Legislature,” said Kiley, one of the two Republican state Assemblymen who filed the suit against Governor Newsom. “The judicial branch again gave him the check that was needed and that the Constitution requires.”

Finally, with this ruling perhaps there will be some clarity of just how much King Newsom can dictate to his serfs here in California.

11/4/20

121 Replies to “Finally”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.