GUTHRIE, Okla. (KFOR) – A group of Guthrie residents have field a federal lawsuit against their city, calling for the city’s ‘Shelter in Place’ order to be stricken down.
The 10 citizens filed the lawsuit Thursday, April 22, with the 1983 Civil Rights Act listed as the cause.
Guthrie officials issued a ‘Shelter in Place’ order until May 5 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. City officials also mandated that community members wear cloth masks if they must go out in public.
Defendants in the lawsuit include the City of Guthrie, Members of the Guthrie City Council, Mayor Steven Gentling, Chief of Police Don Sweger, and city attorneys William Wheeler and Sheri Mueller.
The 1983 Civil Rights Act, officially titled ’42 U.S. Code § 1983.Civil action for deprivation of rights’, states the following:
“Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.”
Attorney Frank Urbanic sent KFOR this statement:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across this country. In the interests of public safety, local governments are rushing to enact laws that they believe will protect people. While public safety is paramount, the Constitution must still be honored. A pandemic does not give local governments a blank check to write whatever laws they want. The Constitution secures fundamental rights regardless of the situation.
“Under the Ordinance, it is more lawful for a group of ten people to be in a store purchasing food for their dogs than it is for them to be six feet apart at a religious gathering.
“Here’s a short blog post I made that summarized the case.
Guthrie’s ordinance was just way over the top in its violations of civil liberties. One particular activity, such as driving to the grocery store, is legal under the Ordinance, but driving to a church is illegal. Standing on a sidewalk to peacefully protest is illegal, but standing on a sidewalk to exercise is legal. They’re criminalizing behavior that’s done to exercise a fundamental right when the exact same behavior not done to exercise a fundamental right is not criminalized. That’s ridiculous—and unconstitutional.
As I noted in the Complaint, this is completely unfair to law enforcement. Now a police officer is supposed to determine if someone is making a trip for an ‘approved’ purpose? There should have been a lot more thought put into this.”
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