However laudable the goal, the economic and social consequences of the governmental response to the COVID-19 crisis have been and are real, concrete, and harmful. Yesterday The Washington Post reported that 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment since President Trump declared a national emergency in March. Here at home, the impact on North Carolinians has been similarly catastrophic. The News and Observer reported that during a news conference on April 8, Governor Cooper himself acknowledged the “overwhelming crush” of new unemployment claims as the number of newly unemployed North Carolinians soared to near 500,000. Many of these unemployed members of our community are some of our State and Wake County’s most economically vulnerable citizens. Many include members of working families and single mothers. Many of these people do not have the luxury of working from home. At the same time, the employers of these workers are watching businesses some spent a lifetime to build slipping away. Working from home is not an option for them either.

The social consequences of the COVID-19 response have been and continue to be substantial. The preamble of the North Carolina Constitution acknowledges God and “our dependence upon Him for the continuance of” our liberty for “us and our posterity.” With our fellow citizens reeling, processing the grief and trying to pick up the pieces, your orders have caused houses of worship to shutter their physical doors. Again, the burden falls disproportionately upon the poorest and most vulnerable among us who lack the modern staples of high-speed internet and smart phones. ReOpenNc’s desire to raise its collective voice on behalf of those deprived of their right to participate in the corporate worship of God, the dignity that comes from work, and the businesses many spent a lifetime building is entirely understandable, reasonable, and laudable.

ReOpenNC self-organized around the idea that, in light of the above, your quarantines should be lifted in whole or in part to allow North Carolinians to return to work and life activities, while taking individual precautions. To that end, ReOpenNC organized a peaceful political protest at the Raleigh capitol on April 14, 2020. At the resulting protest, the Raleigh police department issued orders that all individuals in attendance were required to maintain six feet separation from each other, irrespective of whether they were members of the same household and irrespective of whether they were minor children. Reportedly, several mothers refused to force their young children in attendance to separate and departed the protest to avoid further confrontation with law enforcement. Thereafter, law enforcement personnel arrested Ms. Ussery for attending an illegal mass gathering. Ms. Ussery is charged with violating Governor Cooper’s executive order 121 pursuant to N.C.G.S. §14-288.20A, with a hearing in Wake County Criminal District Court scheduled for June 25, 2020.