Sign the Petition to End NC State of Emergency
Petition to End NC's Authoritarian State of Emergency
from July 1, 2022
North Carolina has been under a state of emergency since March 10, 2020, giving Governor Roy Cooper unfettered authority to suspend existing statutes and create new laws that are ordinarily reserved for the state legislature. This has allowed the governor to rule, not govern, through authoritarian restrictions that have had detrimental consequences on the people and businesses in North Carolina.
Gov. Cooper has kept the emergency in place under the guise of not wanting to overburden the state’s healthcare system. However, there’s been no such scenario. In fact, the governor has failed to lift the emergency in spite of greatly improved health metrics, data showing there were zero counties with a high risk of strain on our healthcare system, and a declaration from the president’s chief medical advisor, Anthony Fauci, that we were out of the pandemic phase.
North Carolina is now nearing month 29 of a public health emergency. Continuing the emergency merely perpetuates fear and keeps citizens on high alert while enabling the governor to abuse his emergency powers (and inevitably strip citizens of their constitutional rights). It also sets precedent for the governor to again declare a state of emergency under situations that are not truly warranted, normalizing his abuse of power.
Not relaxing a state of emergency when the emergency has passed is an abuse of executive power. We urge you to voice your opposition by signing a petition urging the North Carolina legislature to terminate the state of emergency NOW through a joint resolution of the General Assembly.
PETITION
To the Honorable Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, House Speaker Tim Moore, and the individuals serving in the North Carolina General Assembly: North Carolina has been under a state of emergency since March 10, 2020, giving Governor Roy Cooper unfettered authority to suspend existing statutes and create new laws that are ordinarily reserved for the state legislature. Very simply, this has allowed Gov. Cooper to rule, not govern, through authoritarian restrictions that have had detrimental consequences on the people and businesses in North Carolina. North Carolina is now nearly two and a half years into a declared public health emergency. Continuing the emergency merely perpetuates fear and keeps citizens on high alert while giving the governor excessive and unwarranted authority. It also sets precedent for the governor to declare a state of emergency under situations that might not be justified (e.g.other viral outbreaks), normalizing an overreach of power.
Not relaxing a state of emergency when the emergency has passed is egregious to both the people of North Carolina and the legislators who serve them. The undersigned citizens hereby request that you end the state of emergency NOW through a joint resolution of the General Assembly.
The governor has failed to lift the emergency in light of circumstances that warrant doing so: greatly improved health metrics, data showing there were zero counties with a high risk of strain on our healthcare system, and a declaration from the president’s chief medical advisor, Anthony Fauci, that we were out of the pandemic phase.
In times of war, disease or other extraordinary conditions, state governors are authorized to declare a state of emergency. Once an emergency has been declared, the governor’s executive powers expand until the emergency ends.
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