The Coronavirus crisis: Power went to Phil Murphy’s head, but not his brain
By Paul Mulshine | Star-Ledger Columnist
“Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
So goes the famous quote from Lord Acton, who was an outspoken critic of oppressive government in the nineteenth century.
That saying would seem to apply to a certain governor of New Jersey in the 21st century.
Phil Murphy seemed like a reasonable enough guy until this coronavirus crisis came along. Then he started issuing decrees like this one:
“It shall be the duty of every person or entity in this State …. to cooperate fully in all matters concerning this Executive Order, and to cooperate fully with Administrative Orders issued pursuant to this Executive Order.”
When I’ve asked Murphy whether he intends to continue ruling indefinitely by executive order, he said that’s not his intention. But he’s given no date for giving up those powers.
One recent quote was particularly ominous.
“Until either a proven vaccine is in our midst, or proven therapeutics are widely available we cannot firmly enter the ‘new normal’ which eventually awaits us when life will once again return to all our workplaces, downtowns and main streets,” Murphy said during one of his regular COVID-19 briefings in Trenton.
What recourse does the humble citizen have in the face of such power?
I put that question to Enrique Guerra-Pujol. He’s a professor of business law at the University of Central Florida. He recently published a paper arguing citizens deprived of the use of their property for extended periods of time could bring a case for compensation under the “takings” clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“Each state governor has to figure out which law gives him the power to take emergency measures,” Guerra-Pujol said. “Does it exceed the power given to him by the Legislature? If it does, the question is, ‘How do we compensate the citizen?’”
The government would likely win such a case in the event of an emergency declaration that goes for a few weeks, he said. But when the governor keeps businesses shut for months, Murphy and several other governors have, that raises novel issues.
One such issue is the way in which many small retail shops are shuttered while at the same time big-box stores are open. And then there was the case of that South Jersey gym that the owner opened despite Murphy’s order.
“I find that very alarming when people are arrested for violating an order that hasn’t been litigated,” Guerra-Pujol said. “Maybe the court could save us from this.” (For the counter-argument, click this link at Reason Magazine.)
We may find out when that lawsuit filed last week by a state senator from South Jersey goes before a judge. Sen. Mike Testa of Cumberland County said the current orders violate the constitutional principle of equal protection.
“The governor and his executive orders have picked winners and losers,” Testa said. “You can go to the boardwalk in any Shore town and you can’t buy sunglasses, flip-flops and a T-shirt. But if you go two blocks inland you can buy them at a number of stores.”
In his suit on behalf of a number of small business owner as well as the state Republican Party, Testa is arguing businesses should be compensated.
“Obviously these small businesses have been irreparably harmed. They can prove real damages,” he said. “There are businesses that will never be able to come back from an entire lost season.”
In a press release, the state GOP got in the usual dig against Murphy for his statement during a TV interview that the Bill of Rights is “above my pay grade.”
But even within his own party the governor is finding increasing resistance.
Last week state Sen. Richard Codey told the NJ Globe website that “it’s time” for his fellow Democrat to reach out to the minority Republicans in the Legislature.
Never mind the Republicans. He should start reaching out to the Democrats.
State Senate President Steve Sweeney of Gloucester County told NJ Advance Media that he and other Democrats have been asking for the data the administration is using to determine which businesses can reopen.
“We can’t get that information,” said Sweeney. “It’d be nice to bring the Democratic leadership in, too. Right now, we do not know.”
What we do know is that the administration badly mishandled the most crucial aspect of this pandemic, the question of Covid-19 in the long-term care facilities.
More than half the fatalities in the state occurred in those facilities. Yet no one in either of the other two branches of government had any input into the disastrous decision-making behind it.
With absolute power comes absolute blame.
You don’t have to be a British lord to figure that out.
www.nj.com
By Paul Mulshine | Star-Ledger Columnist
“Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
So goes the famous quote from Lord Acton, who was an outspoken critic of oppressive government in the nineteenth century.
That saying would seem to apply to a certain governor of New Jersey in the 21st century.
Phil Murphy seemed like a reasonable enough guy until this coronavirus crisis came along. Then he started issuing decrees like this one:
“It shall be the duty of every person or entity in this State …. to cooperate fully in all matters concerning this Executive Order, and to cooperate fully with Administrative Orders issued pursuant to this Executive Order.”
When I’ve asked Murphy whether he intends to continue ruling indefinitely by executive order, he said that’s not his intention. But he’s given no date for giving up those powers.
One recent quote was particularly ominous.
“Until either a proven vaccine is in our midst, or proven therapeutics are widely available we cannot firmly enter the ‘new normal’ which eventually awaits us when life will once again return to all our workplaces, downtowns and main streets,” Murphy said during one of his regular COVID-19 briefings in Trenton.
What recourse does the humble citizen have in the face of such power?
I put that question to Enrique Guerra-Pujol. He’s a professor of business law at the University of Central Florida. He recently published a paper arguing citizens deprived of the use of their property for extended periods of time could bring a case for compensation under the “takings” clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“Each state governor has to figure out which law gives him the power to take emergency measures,” Guerra-Pujol said. “Does it exceed the power given to him by the Legislature? If it does, the question is, ‘How do we compensate the citizen?’”
The government would likely win such a case in the event of an emergency declaration that goes for a few weeks, he said. But when the governor keeps businesses shut for months, Murphy and several other governors have, that raises novel issues.
One such issue is the way in which many small retail shops are shuttered while at the same time big-box stores are open. And then there was the case of that South Jersey gym that the owner opened despite Murphy’s order.
“I find that very alarming when people are arrested for violating an order that hasn’t been litigated,” Guerra-Pujol said. “Maybe the court could save us from this.” (For the counter-argument, click this link at Reason Magazine.)
We may find out when that lawsuit filed last week by a state senator from South Jersey goes before a judge. Sen. Mike Testa of Cumberland County said the current orders violate the constitutional principle of equal protection.
“The governor and his executive orders have picked winners and losers,” Testa said. “You can go to the boardwalk in any Shore town and you can’t buy sunglasses, flip-flops and a T-shirt. But if you go two blocks inland you can buy them at a number of stores.”
In his suit on behalf of a number of small business owner as well as the state Republican Party, Testa is arguing businesses should be compensated.
“Obviously these small businesses have been irreparably harmed. They can prove real damages,” he said. “There are businesses that will never be able to come back from an entire lost season.”
In a press release, the state GOP got in the usual dig against Murphy for his statement during a TV interview that the Bill of Rights is “above my pay grade.”
But even within his own party the governor is finding increasing resistance.
Last week state Sen. Richard Codey told the NJ Globe website that “it’s time” for his fellow Democrat to reach out to the minority Republicans in the Legislature.
Never mind the Republicans. He should start reaching out to the Democrats.
State Senate President Steve Sweeney of Gloucester County told NJ Advance Media that he and other Democrats have been asking for the data the administration is using to determine which businesses can reopen.
“We can’t get that information,” said Sweeney. “It’d be nice to bring the Democratic leadership in, too. Right now, we do not know.”
What we do know is that the administration badly mishandled the most crucial aspect of this pandemic, the question of Covid-19 in the long-term care facilities.
More than half the fatalities in the state occurred in those facilities. Yet no one in either of the other two branches of government had any input into the disastrous decision-making behind it.
With absolute power comes absolute blame.
You don’t have to be a British lord to figure that out.
The Coronavirus crisis: Power went to Phil Murphy’s head, but not his brain | Mulshine
Prior to the arrival of Covid-19, the governor was just another deal-making politicians, but absolute power has changed him into a demagogue; will it take the courts to get him to give up his grip on power?
www.nj.com
