COVID-19 and the Constitution: Some Groups Resist Restrictions On Assembly

In a Facebook group earlier today I saw someone posted a "Change.org" petition to "bring the National Guard to Lakewood" to force a particular religious group to stop the free exercise of religion by this group, and to fine/jail rabbis who disobey the government rules on gatherings.

Below the post were comments by people outside of this community. As I read, I saw opinions resembling those of the Nazis before the Holocaust. My comment: "Stop trying to oppress minorities. Please. This is not 1940 and the National Guard is not the Gestapo. Remember this group also is protected by the Constitution. Find a solution that does not erase the Constitution." I followed that comment with, "Benjamin Franklin said it best: Those who would trade liberty for temporary safety deserve neither."

As background, this group has separated itself from the rest of the larger community. They wear very different clothes and have very different customs. They often speak a different language. They keep much of their commerce within their community and related communities of the same religious sect, in nearby states. They have decided not to obey the New Jersey governor's declaration of social distancing and curfew. They are not obeying the restriction against large gatherings, closing of schools and places of worship, nor have they agreed to stop having large weddings and parties.

The rest of the area around this community is abiding by the governor's "lockdown rules". This action is not without consequence for them. It is very hard to remain in a lockdown for an extended period of time. Many people have lost employment and are fearful of going out at all lest they contract the dread virus. They are resentful of those who they see as intentionally disobeying the rules, and resent the governor for not "cracking down" on "those people." They resent that they are suffering and this "other" community seems not to be. They are bringing long-held grievances and prejudices, and rolling it all into a "fifteen minutes of hate" not unlike those in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The people in this particular religious community have paid a very great price already by refusing to distance themselves from each other. Six rabbis have died of coronavirus. More have likely contracted the virus and some likely have died that are as yet unreported. The number of cases in Ocean County is growing, concentrated in this one community in Lakewood.


Yet, this group continues to assemble as usual. Why? A quick examination of history would show that this particular group has been the subject of centuries of religious persecution, and have learned to resist such persecution. A "crackdown" in New Jersey, restricting their religious practices, such as operating religious schools, and banning ceremonies such as weddings, would surely be seen as persecution. One can see why such a group would resist persecution. Indeed, such a "crackdown" of religious observance and assembling may be unconstitutional. Certainly they are counting on the Constitution as protection against religious persecution, as do all people in this country who observe religious practices.

I am increasingly uncomfortable with hearing various people call for restriction of freedom of assembly and the exercise of religion, which are protected under the First Amendment. Whatever the solution is, jailing people for assembling and worshiping should not be included in it. Even if most people are observing the restrictions and a few resist, the Constitution and our entire system of justice protects the rights of the minority. These principles go back centuries to the colonizing of this continent; back to English common law.

"But it's an emergency!" I have heard.

I can hear Benjamin Franklin's words again. I don't think the framers would agree that the Constitution goes out the window if people get sick. They were very familiar with illness, disease, starvation; the plague and other diseases from Europe were part of not so distant history, and yet they did not make any exceptions for disease mitigation.

It is possible to honor our Constitution while looking for alternative solutions. Such as making the life-saving drug hydrochloroquine available more widely. Such as testing people without symptoms. Such as rooting out the hoarders and black marketeers who are hijacking our supply chains for necessary medical supplies and medicine.

Those are entirely constitutional and would greatly decrease risk in the nation as a whole. But for some reason the *only* solution being pushed by our leaders and experts is to model worst case scenarios with fantastic death counts, shut people in, suppress rights and destroy our economy. I don't think jailing pastors is the right solution. If we go down that road there is no place to stop it. Better find a solution that gets us back to work and leave citizens to make our own decisions.
Our system is designed to protect the rights of the minority. Now is not the time to sacrifice our core values. Find solutions that work within our Constitution.

Perhaps finding and correcting the supply chain drains which are diverting the lifesaving drugs we need to stop the virus? Pivoting quickly away from dependency on China for key pharmaceuticals? Maybe channel our collective energy into getting hydroxycholoriquine & azithromycin into doctors' hands, prescribed to the general population, and get mass testing into the hands of the general citizenry (simple and available like a pregnancy test). These steps would mitigate community spread without violating our protected rights of assembly and worship.

Ask yourself why only Democrat governors (NV, MI, NJ, NY) have restricted doctors from prescribing hydrochloroquine and azithromycin, which have been shown to work in 100% of cases in multiple hospital trials of COVID-19 infected people. Why not make this therapeutic drug combination widely available? Why shut off supply? Why not find the black marketeers and prosecute them? Where did 1 millions packets of hydrochloroquine and azithromycin go? We have fewer than 200,000 cases here in the US. Why are not these people ALL getting this life-saving drug therapy? Ask yourself why Democrat governors and globalist organizations say that the only solution is to lock down the population and destroy our economy?

I am saddened by how easily people are enticed to give up their liberty and to turn on their neighbors. The snapshots below are the actual comments, not in a leftist group, but in a centrist activist group.

In times like this, remember our core values. Remember our Constitution. Remember who we are. Remember our framers, who fought for our liberty. Do not allow yourself to give that up, no matter how scary the crisis. Think of solutions that honor our Constitutionally-protected rights.