Today, the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in its civil rights lawsuit against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Commissioner of the New York Department of Health, challenging the Governor’s Executive Order 205, which requires all persons who travel to New York from certain “restricted” states to quarantine under onerous conditions for 14 days upon arrival in the State. A violation of the order could result in criminal and civil penalties, including a civil penalty of up to $10,000.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York on behalf of Cynthia Page, a resident of Arizona who had to cancel her travel plans to New York due to the Governor’s order.
As stated by the U.S. Supreme Court, “The right to travel is a virtually unconditional personal right, guaranteed by the Constitution to us all.” This fundamental right is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment and by the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Consequently, the enforcement of a law based upon where one resides (and thus travels from in this case) conflicts fundamentally with the constitutional purpose of maintaining a “Union” rather than a mere “league of States” and thus runs afoul of our Constitution’s pledge of equal protection and its guarantee of the “privileges and immunities” to all citizens.
Because the loss of constitutional rights creates irreparable harm and it is always in the public interest to prevent the violation of a party’s constitutional rights, the granting of AFLC’s request for an immediate injunction is appropriate.
Indeed, this latest restriction on a fundamental freedom is yet another example of a left-wing dictator (Cuomo) masquerading as a governor. These assaults on freedom must stop!
Page v. Cuomo OSC Memo.ECF