At the very least, Rhode Islanders should take note of the treatment of Saje Kitchen, if only so we can trace our fate back to its beginning, when there is no one left to speak for us.

First, Democrat Governor Gina Raimondo took to issuing proclamations that floated ambiguously in status between hard rules and unenforceable guidance.  Then, she imposed daily fines trying to force a business to follow her proclamations, which received a rubber stamp from a Superior Court judge whom Raimondo elevated to the Supreme Court days later.  Now, Providence police and licensing board appear to be imposing a punitive closure, perhaps indefinitely, on a business for defying the governor’s imposed New Years Eve curfew.

Recall that her executive orders are now being issued some 11 months after she grabbed enhanced power through an emergency provision of state law that is supposed to have a 30-day limit.

One can agree or disagree with the governor’s strategy for handling COVID-19, just as one could agree or disagree with socialists and trade unionists when the Nazis came for them, but we shouldn’t give over our civil rights in the bargain.

 

Featured image: Saje Kitchen during COVID-19 from the restaurant’s Instagram.