This article about a California court decision regarding Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 emergency powers was written by Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law (San Francisco, CA), who is a frequent contributor to this and many other blogs, providing in-depth, and intellectually stimulating, articles about vaccines, medical issues, social policy, and the law.
Professor Reiss writes extensively in law journals about the social and legal policies of vaccination. Additionally, Reiss is also a member of the Parent Advisory Board of Voices for Vaccines, a parent-led organization that supports and advocates for on-time vaccination and the reduction of vaccine-preventable disease. She is also a member of the Vaccines Working Group on Ethics and Policy.
On November 2, 2020, Judge Sarah E. Heckman ruled that the Governor’s power under the California Emergency Services Act (CESA) only included the power to suspend statutes, not to change them via executive order. While the decision clearly limits the Governor’s power to act in an emergency and raises questions about the validity of some of the Governor’s COVID-19 orders, it does not affect his order about the election that was the basis for the lawsuit, nor would it, for example, overturn California’s face covering mandate and other restrictions not issued under CESA.
It is appropriate for the judiciary to address the constitutional limits on actions by the other branches, and it’s not a bad thing to limit the powers of the governor, even in an emergency. But the narrow construction of the Governor’s power to act in an emergency under the constitution is concerning. Continue reading “Governor Newsom’s COVID-19 emergency powers limited by California court”