Today's Recommended Reading

Today's recommended reading is an article by Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr., Ph.D., J.D.:

 

DON'T FALL FOR THE BUNKUM OF "EMERGENCY POWERS"

(Part 1, Part 2)

 

I wanted to highlight a quote from this article that really resonated with me:

Now, just as with "emergency powers" and "business affected with a public interest," the phrases "compelling governmental interest" and "least restrictive means" appear nowhere in the Constitution. No objective definition of what constitutes a "compelling governmental interest" exists. No set of generally applicable rules for determining whether a means is "least restrictive" or not has even been promulgated. So when these terms are applied to the actions of some public officials by other public officials, they end up meaning whatever public officials want them to mean. This is "Humpty-Dumpty Law," in which legalistic verbiage functions as the playdough of power, and the only issue is who is to be master.

Mr. Vieira has an awesome understanding of the subjects he writes about. Go, read, and be enlightened.