Attorney Michael Herring sued Governor Tate Reeves in U.S. District Court in Oxford today. The Batesville lawyer asked the Court to strike down the Governor's Covid-19 executive orders.
Mr. Herrin claimed the closure of businesses as well as the classification of businesses as "essential" or "non-essential" was a violation of the constitution that should be prohibited. This passage is the thrust of the plaintiff's argument:
41. Plaintiff anticipates Governor will respond that the restrictions imposed by Executive Order have been greatly relaxed over the course of the pandemic and are set to expire on September 30, 2020, rendering this Complaint moot. This Court should take notice that these measures were originally initiated as “temporary measures” to “flatten the curve” and yet now six (6) months later, in various degrees, these measures are still in place. More importantly, any of these measures or even harsher ones, can be implemented by the mere stroke of a pen by the Governor sua sponte as and when he sees fit. The Emergency Management and Civil Defense Act in the Military Affairs Chapter of the Mississippi Code allows the Governor to act exactly as the King from which our Founding Fathers risked everything to gain independence, ruling by fiat without any check or balance, save the Order of this Court.
Mr. Herring charges the Governor with the following counts:
* Violation of First Amendment. The Governor limited church and other public gatherings in number. Such restrictions are banned by the First Amendment.
* Violation of Fifth Amendment. The executive orders prohibited citizens from the use of their property. Such limitations reduced the value of their property so much that it amounts to a taking. The restrictions included the closing of businesses.
* Violation of Fourteenth Amendment and Substantive Due Process (Section 1983): The closing of all businesses deemed to be "non-essential" was unconstitutional. Mr. Herrin argues:
65. Big box national chain retailers such as Lowes, Home Depot and Wal-Mart were allowed to remain open selling the exact same “essential” products as local mom & pop stores which were forced to close and lost all revenue.
66. The creation and application of the essential and non-essential standard was arbitrary and capricious...
67. The Governor’s Executive Orders which relaxed the standards applied in some counties while
maintaining stricter standards in other counties is equally arbitrary and capricious.
* Violation of Fourteenth Amendment and Procedural Due Process (Section 1983). The classification of essential and non-essential businesses violates the Equal Protection Clause.
* Violation of the Mississippi Emergency Management and Civil Defense Act. The At directs the Governor to reduce or terminate the state of emergency as soon as possible when conditions warrant such action.
The complaint claims the pandemic was grossly exaggerated:
34. The country has been stunned by continuing revelations by the CDC that the vast majority of “Covid-19” deaths involved serious life-threatening co-morbidities, including co-morbidities such as cancer, including all pneumonia and influenza (annual flu) deaths, including accidental deaths such as automobile accidents, and suicides and finally that according to the CDC, only six percent (6%) of all reported Covid-19 deaths were related to Covid-19 only. The State of Mississippi has been less than transparent regarding similar Mississippi specific data. The MSHD posts a graphic chart that shows co- morbidities by category, but is impossible to extrapolate from due to overlapping co-morbidities and the complete absence of a number for “non-noted” category.41% of the Mississippi Covid-19 deaths were nursing home patients. The complaint states there are only 1,685 Covid-19 deaths when such patients are excluded. The CDC says there are between 700 and 1,000 influenza deaths in Mississippi. "Thus without the unfortunate LTC facility deaths, the pandemic of Covid-19 becomes a bad flue year for Mississippi" states the complaint.
Mr. Herrin asks the Court to declare the executive orders to be unconstitutional. The complaint requests compensatory and/or nominal damages as well as attorney's fees.
The case is assigned to Judge Michael Mills.
36 comments:
Mike Mills is a no nonsense kinda judge who I trust will dismiss forthwith the threat this suit pose to the Governor's Orders that were issued under his clear authority to provide for the health, safety and welfare of Mississippians. Herrin: go away.
No lawyer here so I can't say whether a lot of this will stick. But I said early on that the essential/nonessential declaration was crap and that small businesses were disproportionately effected. But as one of our previous commenters would say, they are "small taters".
First we have the Straw Man. Now, another Red Herring.
He either misunderstands or misstates the facts on the 6% comorbidity numbers. Reading the complaint, this guy comes across as another right-wing nutjob. I bet he also thinks lizard people secretly control the world, and that Hillary was running a child sex trafficking ring out of a pizza restaurant.
Dumbass
I don't know what makes a debt collection attorney wake up one day and think he's a federal civil rights litigator. A verified complaint in federal court? What about governmental immunity for official acts?
The only injunction Judge Mills might issue in this case is against the filing of any further frivolous actions by Mr. Herrin.
"Governor's Orders that were issued under his clear authority to provide for the health, safety and welfare of Mississippians." I'd agree with the exception of these orders not affecting everyone equally. He even stated, in regards to the State Fair, that it was not a social gathering. Sports is another joke. I agree, no orders were needed. If people wished to avoid others and wear masks etc, this could have been done w/o orders or threat of legal action.
Side bar: Will this goober take the vaccine? Something tells me he won't.
" I don't know what makes a debt collection attorney wake up one day ".
He must be woke.
Go ahead cheer the 60% permanent small business closure rate, jackasses.
1:28, this goober here won't take one either.
A wise man once said, "A lawyer who represents himself in litigation has a fool for a client." I see nothing to the contrary here.
@ 1:28, why do we need a vaccine for a virus with a 99.7 percent survival rate?
The rest of you bootlickers, do you want to be Australia?
Good you have the right to cower in fear and stay home. I have to right to operate my property and continue to make a living. Anyone else ever notice all the people shouting for these shut downs, none of them have a business that will be closed? It’s a bunch of folks who either live on/work for the government, or have some type of employment in place where they can work from home and get paid. No one who will go hungry and be unable to provide for their family is for this crap. Tell these government employees their are being furloughed with no pay and let’s see what tune they are singing then lol.
F the governors orders. That's the problem with you people, you care too much. Name one person or business that has been fined by the state, not Cuckwhey in Jackson. They don't have the stones to actually enforce anything, and if they do, you will win that case.
I don't see anything on the face of the complaint that establishes Herrin's standing.
2:43 - You probably got a shingles vaccination. The survival rate there is 100%.
" The rest of you bootlickers, do you want to be Australia?"
If only we could be like Australia .
Sure, they have a complicated history as well.
And hell, while they are still far from perfect . . . they are light years ahead of Mississippi.
I almost married a girl from Melbourne.
She took me all over her Australian State of Victoria.
I can't help but wonder if 2:43 has ever ventured outside of central Mississippi.
2:43 Mumps, measles, and chickenpox have lower mortality rates. Guess we should stop vaccinations for those too.
Even if your 99.7% figure is correct that would mean 1,000,000 Americans would still die from COVID as it ran through the completely unprotected population, and that is not counting those that survive but still suffer potentially life-long complications.
2:43: The death rate from COVID-19 is right at 3%. Just do the math from the NYT reported figures. Not 0.3%. You don't understand the percentage on you calculator, apparently.
Herd immunity would create 6.4 million dead, many times the 200,000 dead we have now. Study up on Covid before it catches up with you.
He makes a good point that big box stores were deemed essential but small businesses were not essential.
Common sense has come to the JJ commenters. Glad to see so many exercising their ample brains to shout down the moronic covid deniers. Now if only everyone could turn their attention to the moronic "guest columns" and editorials published in the (failing) Northside Sun.
5:26 Apparently YOU don't understand the difference between cases and infections. The infection rate is 10X the case rate, so the 0.3% number is in fact correct for infections. Just for your edification I'll out it in simplified terms. A case is an infection, but an infection is not always a case, just like a MSU student is a college student, but all college students are not MSU students. I suggest you stop watching CNN and read some reputable studies on the subject. And thinking herd immunity would kill 6.4 million is idiocy.
Looking at currently known facts it would appear that the virus is real, it can kill you, and if you are a healthy adult at an appropriate weight for your age your chances of being a victim are extremely slim and similar to a bad flu. I just don't see the justification for the lockdowns of the general public. Locking down LTC facilities and the Veteran's homes seems like a prudent course of action. Advising people to not congregate in close groups seems to be prudent. Using force of law to restrict healthy people from going about their business seems wrong. I can legally smoke 20 packs of cigarettes, eat 10 hamburgers, and wash them down with a handle of bourbon. Can I not also possibly expose myself to Covid in a private business? I thought we were all about "my body my choice" these days.
Herring probably belongs to the same fruitcake "conservative" legal group as Roy Moore who just sued Alabama for the same things. I wouldn't be surprised to see more of these bogus lawsuits being filed around the country, all using the same template for pleadings.
Roy Moore is suing Alabama for the same thing. Seems to be a “grassroots” movement. These damn billionaires need to quit screwing with society because they can. “Liberals” and “conservatives” both.
Although exploited as a money making event, this virus is real. There are other things one can acquire, too. The effort to contain this thing has been a shitshow, but at least an effort was made. Would you rather them deny it, do nothing at all, and the outcome be worse?
Willful ignorance, which can lead to many affects in the real world, will be the nail in the coffin of this country. Please stop.
The lawyer did this for free publicity. It appears to be working.
Some of you intellectual giants on this board should check the federal court ruling on Pennsylvania restrictions before you go off half-cocked.
11:07 The general lockdowns are not needed now. We have a much better idea of how the virus spreads and which activities are most risky. Targeted controls are still appropriate though, and not just in the areas where at-risk people reside.
It is an infectious, respiratory disease. A nurse who goes to a party can get it and bring it back into the facility where she works. That is why nonessential activities where COVID is known to spread need to be in the mix as well. Dr. Dobbs specifically mentioned athletics in the press conference the other day. He has previously mentioned gatherings like weddings along with bars as known vectors for the disease.
Restrictions on nonessential activities that result in numerous "close contacts" need to be kept in place.
3:19: Good point. No standing. No need to go to the lack of merits. Just dismiss on standing. I agree.
I agree with 6:38. The would-be Masters of the Universe need to just live their lives and stop trying to use the rest of us to meet their need to play God with society.
I agree with 3:13 and for what it’s worth, I’m a lawyer. If you want to run your business then run it responsibly regardless of these orders and stop whining. I’ve never asked government permission to carry a handgun anywhere and if I get fined then so be it. If your neighbor needs an ass whipping, handle it and pay the fine. God, family, work and country in that order.
If he is a resident of Mississippi, he has standing. Next?
4:13 -- if you choose to opine on legal matters, first at least pass the GED before you try law school.
to your statement, that you didn't choose to pose as a question, I'll address it that way anyway.
No.
Next?
4:13 a.m., I think you have confused the concept of legal standing with personal jurisdiction. Very generally speaking, the courts have jurisdiction over persons who are residents of the state (there is a lot more to this, but its outside the boundaries of your statement). For a plaintiff to have standing, he must have a sufficient interest in the controversy before the court (there's a lot more to this too).
Hope that helps clear things up. I took the time to write this because I believe the response at 1:35 p.m. was not illuminating.
9:03, and others - better not double down on your bets, at least read Judge Mills' decree recently issued before even receiving a response from the Governor's team. Gave Herrin two weeks to make a legitimate argument or face immediate dismissal.
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