- Joined
- Dec 9, 2009
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- Houston, TX
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- Conservative
I never said that the president or any other federal official can control what happens with masks in individual states. Its not the way it works. The states maintain rights not expressly given to the federal government in this situation. You do not have to explain that. But it is very naive to state that the federal government has no leverage over the states. They do. Money talks. Thats the way of the world, for better or worse. Did the jackass even TRY to get states with high Covid rates to shut down, to get the residents to wear masks by mandate, to socially distance and prevent large gatherings by mandate? You know the answer to this.
As far as what the courts might or might not do to people who refuse to wear masks over and over again, thats a matter of speculation. My own opinion is that the states should specify penalties as follows: first offense, a warning. Second offense a fine of $500. Third offense a fine of $5000. Fourth offense: take away the criminal's driver's license for a year. Fifth offense: incarceration. That seems fair to me. I did not say that you have to resort to arresting anyone. Fines are easy; so is removing a drivers license (remember: driving is a privilege granted by each state, not a right). You do not have to show that someone spread the virus for them to have violated a mandate, just as you do not have to show that a drunk driver has injured someone -only that they exceeded the legal limit for alcohol in the blood or are impaired.
So what is preventing your state from doing that