Editor’s Note: We have shared some materials from our buddy, Chainsaw of Truth, in the past. If you have any debt issues, he presented a very comprehensive look at how to solve those problems. Here, he presents an open letter that he has written to the Governor of Colorado, regarding that state’s mandatory mask order.
17 July 2020
Open Letter Regarding
Colorado Executive Order D 2020 138 – Mandatory Mask Order
Direct to Governor Jared Polis.
My name is XXX. I am a combat Marine veteran, honorably discharged in December 2003. I currently work as a senior controls system engineer and have done so with the same company for over 10 years. I have lived in Colorado since 2016 while my wife attends CU Boulder in pursuit of a doctorate in materials science engineering. I am a Christian, a patriot, and a self-informed citizen.
Yesterday, my wife mentioned to me that Governor Jared Polis had just announced a mandatory face mask order to take effect at midnight. I immediately read executive order D 2020 138 and was astounded at the gall of several of the sections. While issuance of such an order was not surprising, as the California Department of Health – under the direction of governor Gavin Newsom – issued a nearly identical guideline just four weeks prior, it is interesting to see the escalation from a guideline to an executive order. It is also interesting to see one of the copy and pasted terms from the California guideline, ‘Indoor Public Space’, thoroughly defined in governor Jared Polis’ executive order, as the California guideline offered no clarification for the newly invented term. It’s almost as if there is an author behind the scenes revising a single script as it gets handed out to each actor in turn. But I digress. This letter is intended to directly challenge the validity of Executive Order D 2020 138, as it directly and negatively affects myself, my wife, the local business owners that I have built relations with, my fellow Christians at the church I attend, and the people I have befriended since moving to Colorado. I cannot speak for all Coloradans, nor do I need to, as the erroneous nature of this executive order causes it to fall flat on its face.
After overcoming my astonishment of the brazen and impudent language coming from a public servant, I reread the executive order more closely and began researching several of the key terms and points. It became very clear that the order is severely lacking in justification of the Governor’s powers to implement and enforce a mandatory mask policy. The order attempts to invoke authority from the Colorado Constitution Article IV, Section 2 and the Colorado Disaster Emergency Act (C.R.S. 24-33.5-701 et seq). I carefully read both these documents and neither of them even remotely grants authority to the Governor to implement a mandatory mask policy. To wit:
Article IV, Section 2 of the Colorado Constitution states the following:
“The supreme executive power of the state shall be vested in the governor, who shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed”
The point here is that the Colorado Constitution states it is the Governor’s duty to execute the laws. An executive order, by definition, is NOT a law. A law requires a long sequence of reviews by several committees within the House of Representatives and Senate to ensure due process is upheld. You know, one of the pillars of American government structure. An executive order is a legal mechanism that circumvents that process and allows the governor to marshal state resources in times of emergency. That is so far removed from the definition of what a law is, that to invoke this article of the constitution as justification of authority relative to ANY executive order is not only nonsensical, it is an affront to all of the men and women who have served our great nation in a manner inline with what the founding fathers intended. In short, Governor Jared Polis has forgotten the face of his Father.
As for the Colorado Disaster Emergency Act, I believe the pertinent section to examine is ‘24-33.5-704: The Governor and Disaster Emergencies – Response – Duties and Limitations’. This section clearly outlines the special authorities granted to the Governor during a time of declared emergency, such as we are currently in since the March 10th declaration of a state of emergency due to the alleged Coronavirus outbreak. While it is personally pleasing to me to read statutes in their entirety while enjoying a good cup of coffee, I know most people gloss over in the eyes when presented with information that doesn’t include a computer rendered graphic and techno soundtrack, so I will keep my focus narrow.
C.R.S. 24-33.5-704(2) reads as follows:
“Under this part 7, the governor may issue executive orders, proclamations, and regulations and amend or rescind them. Executive orders, proclamations, and regulations have the force and effect of law.”
We note here the language stating that ‘executive orders… have the force and effect of law’, which implicitly implies they are not laws. In an article published in the Washington Times titled ‘Executive Orders Are Not Laws’ (https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/may/5/executive-orders-are-not-laws/) Attorney General William Barr is quoted on the subject:
“The Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis,” he wrote in April.
Stop the “draconian” practices, he warned government officials, on Fox News.
“If a state or local ordinance crosses the line from an appropriate exercise of authority to stop the spread of COVID-19 into an overbearing infringement of constitutional and statutory protections, the Department of Justice may have an obligation to address that overreach in federal court,” he wrote, also in April.
Criminalizing the act of standing in line at a private business without a mask on falls squarely into the aforementioned draconian practices that may land Governor Jared Polis in federal court. More on that later, for now let us get back to analyzing the authorities granted to a governor during times of crisis.
Section (7) is really the meat and potatoes of the statute. I won’t quote all of it here, as it lists a page full of items and I’m trying to avoid the glossy eye effect, but if one were to read each item, they would find it obvious that the only authority granted to the governor during a state of emergency is the authority to marshal state resources, not to infringe on the God given rights of private individuals in any way. The governor may suspend state statutes, utilize state resources, transfer state personnel, and determine where to contribute state money. The only mention of authority relating to private property and individuals has to do with commandeering property and compelling evacuation, neither of which applies to criminalizing activity that this mandatory mask policy attempts to do. Because the Disaster Emergency Act grants the governor special authority ONLY over state personnel and resources, NOT over private individuals or their property (except as previously stated), I find this statute to be totally irrelevant to executive order DD 2020 138.
Invoking this statute to justify authority to implement and enforce this executive order is nonsensical and deceptive. Governor Jared Polis is clearly overstepping the bounds of his office and has violated due process of law as well as separation of powers. Again, these are fundamental pillars of American government, arising out centuries of the most brilliant minds Western Civilization has produced and culminating in one of the greatest documents ever penned by men, the United States Constitution. As a Marine, I am well-aware of the domestic attacks on our liberties, and I will not stand idle.
Thus far I have made the clear case that neither Article IV Section 2 of the Colorado Constitution, nor the Colorado Disaster Emergency Act grants authority to the governor to implement a mandatory mask order, based solely on the definitions and limitations of those documents. But even if they did grant the authority to implement the executive order, several of the sections are in blatant conflict with long standing legal precedence, such that any trial that resulted from enforcement of this order would necessarily be thrown out of court by even the most junior of judges. To wit:
Section II(H) of executive order DD 2020 138 states the following:
“Any individual who endangers the health of others by knowingly entering or remaining in a Public Indoor Space… in violation of the terms of this Executive Order may be subject to civil or criminal penalties, including but not limited to prosecution for trespass.”
Three key points here jump out at me. The first is the assumption that an individual is guilty of endangering others by performing normal lawful activity; the second is that an individual is guilty of trespass by performing normal lawful activity; and the third is the definition of the newly fabricated term ‘Public Indoor Space’, which effectively seizes private property and treats it as a government facility. Each of these is in violation of basic God given rights, which are secured by the U.S. Constitution and upheld by over 200 years of case law. As I am not a lawyer, and this is not a trial, I will leave the details up to Representative Patrick Neville and his legal team as they prepare to sue the governor, just as Attorney General Barr warned would happen. However, I am an informed citizen and I recognize the tyrannical nature of this order, and I will not yield to it.
It is my duty as a patriot to reject such an order; it is my duty as a Christian to obey the government only when they do what is true and right; and as a man, it is my role to stand against the feminine tyranny that is currently sweeping across the country. These responsibilities, while under the conditions created by Governor Jared Polis’ mandatory mask order, put me in the precarious position of walking into every place of business as a criminal because I have no need to wear a mask. I will attempt to mitigate conflicts by speaking plainly to business owners and explain to them the unlawful nature of the executive order, but I am keenly aware that most people have been locked into a state of fear due to constant exposure to news and social media. The leadership in America has largely failed to negate this state of fear, and actions by Governors Jared Polis, Gavin Newsom, and others has only exacerbated it. The cumulative result of this has been the deterioration of our democracy into mob rule; the supplanting of individual rights and freedoms with collectivism; and the Word of God being ignored and replaced with the words of men.
History has shown us what happens when these conditions coalesce, and it is far worse than anything a flu virus is capable of. I encourage every man reading this to recognize this moment in time as your moment to stand and do what it right, no matter the cost. How easy it is to look back and criticize the mob that killed our Lord and Savior and say we would never have participated in that? And yet how many men are blindly following the orders of politicians without first considering the commands of God? How many men are looking to the government for guidance, instead of their own fortitude? How many men are wearing masks only for the sake of convenience? Ask yourself these questions. Your heart knows the answers, and history will judge your actions.
