Saturday, January 2, 2021

California Bar Owner Could Get 1 Year Sentence For Having Business Open

California bar owner could get 1 year behind bars for repeated openings during pandemic: report



The owner and an employee of a Southern California bar and restaurant could each face a year behind bars following a dispute at the business in mid-December, according to a report.

Authorities say the Costa Mesa bar’s manager, Luiza Mauro, is accused of physically trying to prevent a uniformed police officer from entering the Westend Bar on Dec. 12, FOX 11 of Los Angeles reported.

Meanwhile, Mauro’s boss – bar owner Roland Barrera – is accused of repeatedly opening the business in violation of coronavirus-related restrictions and curfews, the report said.

Barrera became the first Orange County business owner to face a criminal charge for operating during the pandemic, the Orange County Register reported.

But Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley said the days of "education" about the law are now over.

"We are at a juncture now where we are in a public health crisis, probably bordering on a disaster," Foley told the Register. "The days of continued education of what people already know and are defying intentionally are over. It was quite apparent that they were thumbing their noses at all the public health orders."






A New York state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow the government to detain people deemed a potential public health risk, amid concerns that the Covid-19 crisis is being allegedly used to usher in authoritarianism.

Authored by a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly N. Nick Perry, Bill A416 calls for the “removal and/or detention” of individuals who are identified as a “case, contact or carrier” of a contagious disease. 

Such person or group of persons shall be detained in a medical facility or other appropriate facility or premises.

The sweeping powers would be employed in the event of the state government declaring a health emergency due to an epidemic of any communicable disease, the bill proposes. The legislation states that the government must provide “clear and convincing evidence” that the health of others is in danger before ordering a person or group to be detained. People being “removed” will have the right to legal representation and are allowed to supply the telephone numbers of friends or family to receive notification of the individual’s detention. 

The law apparently allows the governor or health official to unilaterally approve such detentions but a court order is required within 60 days of confinement, and judicial review is also required if the individual is still in detention after 90 days. 

Citizens that are placed in detention will be released once health authorities determine that they are no longer contagious, the proposed law states. 

The bill also allows the governor or relevant health authorities to require people deemed potential health risks to submit to medical examinations as well as undergo a “prescribed course of treatment, preventative medication or vaccination.”


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