Citizen rights: Inslee’s orders go too far

Gov. Jay Inslee has exceeded his authority. Across the country, 700,000 people lost their jobs in one week. Most employees in our state are not union or government employed, and the very real threat of losing their livelihood has come.

People are losing everything. Does this not matter when comparing it to the crisis of COVID-19? How many deaths, suicides, mental health issues and people pushed into poverty will come from that?

People are not able to flee abusive situations. People living in subsidized housing situations are suffering. Recovering addicts can’t go to meetings. These restrictive measures act as triggers for those in recovery, especially when coupled with canceled Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) (NA) meetings.

Feelings of depression, anxiety, fear, uncertainty, loneliness and boredom can easily escalate during this time.

We have enthusiastically revoked the First Amendment without a debate, partly to follow the example of nations that don’t have a First Amendment. Maybe these measures are temporarily for a good reason, but the constitution exists for a reason.

This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Citizen rights: Inslee’s orders go too far."