Judging Freedom - NJ Gov Murphy Ending Mask Mandates - Why?

Episode Date: February 8, 2022

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Hello there, my friends. Judge Andrew Napolitano here with Judging Freedom. Today is Tuesday, February 8th, 2022. It's about 1.20 in the afternoon here on the East Coast and here on the East Coast in New Jersey. Everyone's scratching their heads this morning because the most totalitarian governor who imposed mask requirements and social distancing requirements and shutting down of restaurants and bars, Governor Phil Murphy, who thought he would win re-election in a landslide but narrowly squeaked by against a moderate Republican, announced yesterday that the mask requirements in New Jersey public schools will be gone the first week in March. Now, this has produced a mixed reaction here for several reasons. Many people are overjoyed that the governor is finally reducing his draconian ways. Many are saying, well, he never had this authority in the first place, and it's about time he recognized that. And some are saying,

as do I, this is the governor's efforts to rehabilitate himself politically. I mean, not only did he almost just lose to a moderate Republican in this very, very liberal state, which he himself has called, and this is horrible, the California of the East Coast. east coast not only did he almost lose his uh his re-election bid but the legislature which was controlled by the democrats and still is controlled by them but not nearly uh with as many uh democratic members as it had last year legislature has basically said, whoa, wait a minute, governor. We're taking back that power that you exercised to impose these draconian restrictions upon us. So you have a Democrat legislature, both houses controlled by the Democrats. And they're saying to him, those powers that you exercised, we're taking back and we're even going to restrict your ability to declare an emergency. He declared a state of public health emergency in defiance of this democratic threat. Well, that's taunting the alligator before you cross the stream.

They have enough votes even over his veto to take away his emergency powers. So this whole thing that he announced yesterday about the kids don't have to wear masks in schools, the teachers and the staff don't have to wear masks, most people see this for what it is, a political stunt to mollify the Democrats. The Republicans are lockstep 100% against his imposition of regulations curtailing human freedom. But now there's enough Democrats to join the Republicans that there'd be enough votes to override his veto. This is just his effort to soften the anti-Murphy animosity in the legislature. And there's a lot of anti-Murphy animosity in the legislature. And there's a lot of anti-Murphy animosity in New Jersey. There's even an effort amongst the five New Jersey Roman Catholic bishops to prohibit his reception of the Blessed Sacrament in public because he signed into law

legislation which makes abortions in New Jersey legal up to, are you ready for this, the moment before birth. The moment before birth. This is the most radically pro-abortion state in the union. And even that did not pass the legislature with the huge majorities that the governor was expecting. Add to all of this the fact that the CDC, the Center for Disease Control, and the White House are continuing to say you got to wear masks in schools, you got to wear masks in school. So Governor Murphy is defying his own Democratic Party leadership in an effort to save his skin here in New Jersey. Nobody believes him. We'll see if it works.

Judge Napolitano, judging freedom.