It begins: Law firm sues Governor Cuomo, NY Attorney General James for ‘abuse of power’ (VIDEOS)
[INTRODUCTION BY ADINA KUTNICKI: Whereas this report is directly related to Dictator-in-Waiting, Cuomo — an insufferable and incompetent blowhard — and his hand-picked wing-man, AG James, in reality, a growing list of similarly inclined U.S. officials can stand in their stead. Pick your poison.
But what makes this info so newsworthy and noteworthy lies in its intrinsic and inherent value to all who treasure freedom, above all else. Unarguably, without it it is akin to being the walking dead, yes, “give me liberty, or give me death” couldn’t be more timely or more resonant. Incontestably.
It is for this reason that every freedom-loving person should wish the litigants godspeed, regardless of all else. As a matter of fact, a growing list of legal filings are stacking up against those who arrogated to themselves powers which never belonged to them in the first place — ruining and crushing countless lives in the process! Incomparable, heartless bastards, the whole damnable lot of them!
For the above, and so much more, they must be stopped. But, if, heaven forfend, justice can’t be accomplished through regular channels, well, the citizens not only have a right, but an obligation, to rise up — as analyzed within.]
LAWENFORCEMENTTODAY.com May 18, 2020
GETZVILLE, NY – People are starting to push back against what they feel are subjective and draconian measures being implemented by governors across the country in response to COVID-19.
In New York, a law firm has filed an intent to sue Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Letitia James for abusing their power during the pandemic, according to the Washington Examiner.
The law firm, HoganWillig PLLC, which is located in the western part of the Empire state, claims that the stay-at-home order issued by Cuomo violates the U.S. Constitution, as well as state laws, while noting that a cease and desist order issued by Attorney General Letitia James amounts to nothing more than a “scare tactic.”
“Defendants, in a disturbing and gross abuse of their power, have seized the COVID-19 pandemic to expand their authority by unprecedented lengths, without any proper constitutional, statutory or common law basis therefore,” reads a complaint filed Wednesday.
Cuomo’s order said that lawyers could continue working remotely, however in-person work would be limited to “work only in support of essential businesses or services.”
The law firm continued to operate in a limited capacity during the pandemic, however still received the order from James demanding that they reduce the number of on-site employees, according to the ABA Journal.
“Defendants have engaged upon scare tactics, deceptively justifying ‘emergency powers’ that are no longer reasonably necessary to protect the public,” the suit continues.
Within the suit, the firm quotes Founding Fathers John Adams and Benjamin Franklin on the importance of liberty.
The suit also alleges the Cuomo and James “are violating the commerce clause by burdening interstate commerce, violating the contracts clause by impairing the law firm’s contractual obligations, violating the due process clause by arbitrary actions, violating the equal protection clause by discriminating against identically situated businesses, and violating the takings clause by forcing loss of the economic benefits of its property,” the Journal said.
“HoganWillig has a protected liberty interest in its right to remain in business without arbitrary government interference and its fundamental property right to use and enjoy the land in which it holds a recognized interest,” the complaint continued.
On April 20, the firm received the cease and desist order from James, addressing staffing levels at its Getzville, N.Y. office.
HoganWillig claims that it had taken steps to reduce the number of employees at the office, while protecting their safety when on the premises. In response, an assistant attorney general demanded that the firm take additional steps.
The Washington Examiner reported that among its plans to decrease the number of law firm employees on site was a plan for electronic monitoring.
In what could be interpreted as a “big brother” type of intrusion, the assistant attorney general “made it clear that plaintiff was being watched and monitored and was conducting car counts in the parking lot and underground garage,” the suit said.
The firm noted that they had applied for designation as an essential business, which was approved. They claimed the exemption based on the fact that they were needed to provide legal services for essential businesses. In an email that explained the designation, it said that only employees who were actively supporting essential businesses were permitted to work on-site.
New York, and specifically New York City, which basically served as “ground zero” for the pandemic in the United States continues under a stay-at-home order through May 28, with “non-essential” businesses closed.
While some regions have allowed to begin phase one of reopening some businesses, western New York—where the law firm is located with offices in Buffalo, Getzville and three other cities—has not yet met all seven criteria for Cuomo’s restart plan.
The Washington Examiner reported that among its plans to decrease the number of law firm employees on site was a plan for electronic monitoring.
In what could be interpreted as a “big brother” type of intrusion, the assistant attorney general “made it clear that plaintiff was being watched and monitored and was conducting car counts in the parking lot and underground garage,” the suit said.
The firm noted that they had applied for designation as an essential business, which was approved. They claimed the exemption based on the fact that they were needed to provide legal services for essential businesses. In an email that explained the designation, it said that only employees who were actively supporting essential businesses were permitted to work on-site.
New York, and specifically New York City, which basically served as “ground zero” for the pandemic in the United States continues under a stay-at-home order through May 28, with “non-essential” businesses closed.
While some regions have allowed to begin phase one of reopening some businesses, western New York—where the law firm is located with offices in Buffalo, Getzville and three other cities—has not yet met all seven criteria for Cuomo’s restart plan.
The lawsuit, aside from the allegations of abuse of power and to cease and desist what they believe to be unlawful and unconstitutional orders, also asks the state pay the firm’s attorney fees and associated costs, Syracuse.com said.
Our guess? Oregon is next – especially after this report from Salem over the weekend:
Business owners across the country have a decision to make. As many fight for their very survival, some have defied stay-at-home orders and reopened their businesses in spite of government-mandated shut down orders.
Some of these governors have deployed the resources of government agencies to carry out what some consider to be draconian emergency directives. In Oregon for example, the owner of a hair salon has been harassed by a number of government agencies for reopening her salon.
While the original premise of government-imposed stay-at-home orders and business shutdowns was to “flatten the curve,” many states where that has been accomplished continue to force businesses to remain shut.
Many people, especially those on the right, seem to believe that governors, most of whom tend to be in “blue” states, are enjoying their new-found power.
According to Townhall.com, Lindsey Graham, who owns the Glamour Salon in Salem, Oregon, said during a Friday press conference that she has been placed under investigation by a number of state agencies since she reopened her Salon.
Among those agencies she says are harassing her is child protective services.
“And, if you can possibly believe this, on May 7th, Child Protective Services showed up at my home,” she said, while fighting tears.
“They questioned my husband and I. They questioned my child, without me present, they searched our home and I’ve never expected such a violent, aggressive, vindictive thing ever could have been done to me or my family because I’m trying to earn a living, because I’m trying to work.”
Graham said that the CPS case is still open, she believes.
“They are still insisting that they want to talk to my three-year-old daughter,” she continued. “So, I don’t know if they’re going to try to talk to my eight-week-old newborn. We’ll see. But they did check his diaper.”
Graham referred to the CPS investigation and their concerns as “completely random, unmerited, unwarranted and unprovable.”
“So it was a completely false claim and if they don’t pursue a false claim and there are actually children out there that are being abused by their families, then they’re wasting their time investigating me because Kate Brown doesn’t like me, that’s pretty devastating,” Graham said.
“This is a false claim that wasted CPS’ valuable time when there are children who are really in need.”
Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration also got involved, hitting Graham with a $14,000 fine.
She said that the state’s licensing board also threatened to revoke the licenses of every stylist at the salon, which would prevent them from working anywhere in the state of Oregon.
Graham noted that while there are 23 hair stylists that work out of the salon, they are all independent contractors and are not employed by the salon. She said that as of the moment, only three of the stylists had decided to come back to work.
Graham estimated that each stylist was seeing between three and four clients per day.
A spokesman for Oregon OSHA said that Graham is endangering her workers.
“She is unquestionably operating in violation of the governor’s executive order, designed to protect workers and the public,” he told WW. “The penalty reflects both the nature of the violation and the employer’s willful decision to violate the law.”
Graham says that she will remain open as long as she can manage it.
“I’m bound to stay open as long as I can until the government basically tries to take my entire career, something I’ve worked 15 years for, out from underneath me,” she said. “That’s the most harmful thing they could have done, and I think that’s why they did it.”
“I’ve worked my whole life to build the businesses that I’ve built, and they want to take away my entire right to do that,” Graham continued.
“I feel persecuted by [Governor] Kate Brown herself because she’s governing these agencies. She’s allowing them to target me and, if not, requesting them to target me because every agency she has underneath her has come to me at this point,” Graham said.
Graham said that businesses should be allowed to reopen and allow citizens the ability to use common sense to take care of themselves. She said that Brown has “the ability to make the entire saga go away.”
“I believe that if she would let her people work and earn a living and let us do it safely and let us be adults, consenting adults that know how to take care of ourselves and take care of each other.
We’re humans. We have compassion for each other. We’re gonna look out for each other. We know how to do that,” Graham said.
“If she would just allow us to do that—I don’t want anyone to get sick. I know you guys don’t want anyone to get sick, but I also don’t want to go bankrupt and lose everything I’ve worked for.
So, let’s be active, mature, caring, sensitive to other people. Let’s open our business and be conscious. Let’s all be able to maintain our livelihood,” she concluded.
Similarly, ABC-12 reported that Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory affairs pulled the license of a 77-year-old barber after he opened in defiance of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders.
David Kallman, an attorney representing Karl Manke said that his license had been suspended. He was in the process of filing a petition for an emergency hearing to have the suspension lifted.
This past Friday, Manke received papers from the State of Michigan which effectively shut his business down, at least temporarily.
After receiving the papers, Manke said, “I feel she’s breaking the law. I feel she’s entered into a police state type of situation now. Getting my and taking my license without due process, just pulling my license is a police state tactic.”
He had reopened his shop on March 4 in defiance of Whitmer’s order, which classified as non-essential barbers and hair stylists.
Police, who likely better things to do, served Manke with a warning and two tickets prior to turning the issue over to prosecutors. The Michigan State Police served papers on Manke about a week-and-a-half ago.
Manke said the state’s actions are wrong and his attorney continues to fight them; he is in the process of filing for an appeal.
