Tampa, Hillsborough County and Sheriff Must Mend Fences on Curfew – Elemental

With respect, the far-reaching nature of this overly restrictive curfew appears to be a gross and ill-advised overreach of government power and an extreme AND illegal violation of basic civil rights.

If it was just used to enforce the termination of large gatherings, parties, etc., thats one thing. A good argument can be made that local and state governments can employ such temporary powers to ensure public health and safety in extreme circumstances.

Even so, I would remind yall that Gov. DeSantis rightly gave religious gatherings an exception superseding the initial actions of Sheriff Chronister because the governor considered the more broad constitutional considerations of violating Freedom of Religion thats enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

Still, Sheriff Chronister, rather than making more of an effort to work with ALL religious leaders about social distancing during services and other religious meetings, decided to instead use his intimidating deputes to barge in like a rampaging army for a Godless dictatorship.

The sheriff no matter how well-intentioned MISUSED the weight of the government power entrusted to him to make church arrests. Meanwhile, he also used the powerful lever of law enforcement to bully other congregations into submission across the county.

There were MANY alternatives. How about making a full-court-press at video conferences to work with AS MANY RELIGIOUS LEADERS AS POSSIBLE before rushing in like a bull in a china shop?

Wouldnt that be good community policing and community relations?

This also applies to the CURFEW. City and county officials, if they were really honest with each other, should conclude that they did NOT make the maximum effort to truly think this out.

Come on. You can get arrested now for walking your dog after 9 p.m. or jogging by yourself or a properly separated exercise partner before 5 a.m.?

Its really come to this?

How about also making more of an effort to use every available option to stress the importance of social distancing during gatherings of more than 10 people? People are at home, yes, but these days there are SO many ways to reach them from social media to texting to working with local media.

Heck, even the pull-back by the Tampa Bay Times on how many days it prints the paper might actually represent a communication OPPORTUNITY.

Perhaps local governments could pay to use their print and delivery capacity (OR, it might even be funded with enough advertising) to use a specially printed smaller-than-normal newspaper (or at least create government pages online) to deliver a consistent, unified message county-wide.

Local government could use this approach to periodically inform, re-emphasize key messages AND also as a significant forum for citizen feedback.

I fully realize that journalists are normally averse to working with the government. Freedom of the Press as enshrined in the Constitution has always meant a fundamentally adversarial relationship.

Still, its worth at least exploring. Yall may even be able to obtain some state or federal funding if such an endeavor could be characterized as valuable now AND as an experiment for future crises.

These are clearly different times. Perhaps a temporary media-government arrangement shouldnt be so easily dismissed without exploring.

It might even include online video presentations, interviews with health, law enforcement officials and experts from across the local spectrum (hospitals, universities, corporations, etc.)

These would be done by local reporters at local TV stations that would also be easily available for smartphones and other devices. The stations could air content by their own reporters but also make it available for such a centralized effort to disseminate news.

There are many, many potential solutions to this problem. Yet it seems the curfew-oriented committees first instincts were to flex the broad, powerful muscle of government instead of the making attempts at more civil persuasion endemic of a democracy.

Their heavy-handed actions feel more like what youd see in Communist China or some other despotic nightmare than the United States of America.

Government, whenever possible, should ALWAYS try its best to work with EVERYONE. (Exceptions might include instituting Marshall Law during war or other extreme emergencies).

The government should ALWAYS err on the side of civic persuasion and, more importantly, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW to convince the many and diverse communities within our county about the highest and best interests of our entire population.

Instead, it appears that the local governments knee-jerk reaction no matter how well-intentioned was to forcibly mandate sudden change by using the intimidating force of government and gun-carrying law enforcement officers to ram such extreme changes down everyones throats.

To someone who didnt sit in on the curfew decision, it appears to have been made without ANY minimal constitutional considerations.

For instance, consider Commissioner Les Millers statement in Mondays Tampa Bay Times and the apparent concurrence by Sheriff Chronister (who tried to downplay the government overreach as mostly informational), and others who voted for the curfew.

To even consider arresting people and putting them in jail for up to six months, not to mention the fine, for merely walking their dog by themselves after 9 p.m. or jogging alone OR in small, socially distanced groups before 5 a.m. is absurd on its face.

There can be no other interpretation that such macro enforcement is a GROSS, inane and illegal violation of civil rights, let alone common sense.

I dont know the sheriff or Commissioner Miller personally, or for that fact of the matter, Tampas mayor or anyone else on this decision-making government body.

That said, your overly broad application of the curfew against the responsible and law-abiding citizens of the city and county is just plain wrong.

Its fundamentally un-American.

In fact, yall ought to be ashamed of yourselves for committing such an outrageous violation of the public trust.

Since youre asking for my input, I would urge yall in the strongest terms to IMMEDIATELY correct whatever misconceptions and conclusions about your motives that many citizens have come to.

You must emphasize that people can still jog and walk their dogs and still shop at convenience stores and express that your constituents still possess ALL of the individual and small group FREEDOMS that our constitution guarantees.

Yes, people are dying from the coronavirus.

But MANY MORE PEOPLE DIED to fight and uphold these sacred civil rights.

You should honor this noble sacrifice by generations of

Americans by bending over backwards to apologize as you emphasize that this curfew ONLY applies to groups larger than 10.

Moreover, you ought to further emphasize your adherence with the Governors exception granted to religious groups.

Such beliefs and faiths are often deeply held and VERY important to the mental health of large populations within the people you serve.

City and county officials should recommit themselves to talk and communicate by every means necessary to arrive at reasonable accommodations with religious groups while also stressing the overall necessity for good health practices.

WORK with people instead of trying to wield the heavy club of an oppressive government.

Well get through this crisis eventually and emerge stronger than before.

But the time to mend fences is definitely NOW.

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Tampa, Hillsborough County and Sheriff Must Mend Fences on Curfew - Elemental