Will Hawaii's emergency lockdowns ever be declared illegal in court?
From Grassroot Institute, October 26, 2020
The state Constitution says emergency proclamations expire after 60 days, but Hawaii now is in its eighth month of lockdown.
Groups nationwide have filed lawsuits against the coronavirus emergency orders declared by their governors. Some have been successful. But what about Hawaii, whose governor just yesterday extended his state-of-emergency proclamation by another month, till the end of November? Can Hawaii’s seemingly interminable state lockdown, first ordered in March, ever be overturned in court?
The Grassroot Institute webinar held Friday, Oct. 23, discussed the trends of lawsuits across the nation and whether they offer any hope for Hawaii.
Our special guests were:
>> Honolulu attorney James Hochberg, who specializes in real estate law, education law and defending religious liberties. Hochberg recently joined with the Virgina-based Center for American Liberty in filing a lawsuit against Hawaii Gov. David Ige’s COVID-19 emergency proclamations.
>> Elliot Engstrom is legal director of American Juris Link, a legal network based in Arizona that connects litigators across organizations. He has closely followed the lawsuits happening across the nation and has been working hard to connect lawyers to support coronavirus-related lawsuits.
>> Patrick Wright, a former Michigan Supreme Court commissioner who now directs the Michigan-based Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. The foundation just last month succeeded in overturning Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s extended COVID-19 emergency executive orders.
Each of the guests gave a short presentation before answering questions fielded from the audience by Joe Kent, institute executive vice president.
Link: TRANSCRIPT
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