Friday, April 24, 2020

No rights in an emergency

Last week, I posted that there was a moratorium on all residential evictions because of the COVID pandemic (really because of the state's stay at home orders) and how it violates the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment.

Now they are taking things a step further. There are tenant and anti capitalist groups nationwide who are pushing for a complete moratorium on the collection of rents for the next 90 days. They are claiming that this is not unconstitutional because it's an emergency. 

Well, that's entirely different. After all, if it's an emergency, then our rights apparently don't matter. Heck, since it is an emergency, let's take some other actions. To avoid large groups congregating, let's go ahead and cancel all elections. Trump can simply remain the President until the emergency has passed.

No right to jury trial- it's an emergency.
No right to call witnesses- it's an emergency.
No right to free speech- it's an emergency.

Or could it be that the government has now inserted itself into a private contract between me and my tenants and is depriving my business of income for a quarter of the year without so much as a dime in compensation. I am a small business owner, and small businesses are getting royally fucked in this whole COVID thing. Instead, they will use hundreds of millions of dollars to "bail out" Ivy league universities who have a combined endowment of over $100 billion and don't need the money.

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