Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick confirmed Friday evening that he will not enforce county health orders related to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic starting on Monday.
Essick had written Thursday in a letter to county residents that he could “no longer in good conscience” enforce the public health orders that he said “criminalize otherwise lawful business and personal behavior.”
The sheriff said in the letter that he had asked the county’s public health officials “to explain why, with such a low infection rate, we have not moved to a less restrictive, risk based system,” saying that the county’s order is far more restrictive than the one statewide despite a low COVID-19 infection rate.
According to the sheriff’s office, Essick met earlier Friday with other county officials, including Board of Supervisors chair Susan Gorin, Supervisor Lynda Hopkins and public health officials about the county’s orders related to the pandemic, but the meeting apparently didn’t convince the sheriff to change his mind.
Other elected officials in the county criticized the sheriff’s decision, including Petaluma Mayor Teresa Barrett, who called Essick’s decision “reckless and clearly not well thought out.”
Barrett said, “That our county sheriff would issue his statement throwing up his hands and refusing to do the job he was elected to do has deep consequences. Whether unwittingly or knowingly stoking divisiveness he is contributing to divisions that are harming our community and nation.” She added, “He needs to go.”
As of Friday, Sonoma county had 548 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with four deaths. The county’s population is 494,336.
63 comments
Finally! Someone in a position of authority that makes sense. Thank you Sheriff for giving us hope.
I second that! can we get him to run for governor? please!
His decision is completely well thought out ! Thank god this sheriff is using common sense. He is absolutely correct. All these “health officers” state they are using data and science. If they really are , they wouldn’t be making any of these asinine decisions. The numbers equal 0.11 %. How does this number even remotely justify these draconian orders they are spewing ? It doesn’t ! The numbers have never added up from the start.
The DOJ just sent Newsom a letter to stop violating our constitutional rights and told him to allow religious services to resume and salons etc to open. They also stated there is no clause in the constitution for a pandemic. In other words he can not legally do what he is doing. There are numerous lawsuits filed against him right now from civil rights and constitutional attorneys. Newsom and his crony “health officers” are STILL trying to ignore our constitution like it doesnt’t exist. This is not about our “safety” from a virus , he does not care at all about the people . This is about control and pushing the democratic socialist agenda. Thank you sheriff for upholding our civil liberties and constitutional rights ! God bless you !
I understand that the pandemic was poorly handled. Taking action that put 40 million people out of work and not ensuring there was a cushion for them to land on was reckless. Not having a coordinated federal response was truly devastating as well. Saying that Covid is the states problem was equivalent to saying Pearl Harbor was Hawaii’s problem.
However, while the incompetence of the government isn’t surprising, the ignorance of the general public at this point is mind boggling. While the average is 3% fatality across all age groups, in Contra Costa, the fatality rate of people over 50 is 6%. A majority of the carriers are under 50 and they can be contagious and not even know it. It blows my mind that you’d think its a liberal plot while New York is filling refrigerator trucks with bodies. You think the death rate is the same as the flu? As if they fill trucks full of bodies every year from the Flu? Just apply some common sense.
Covid is very real, the effects are real. If it wasn’t for the swift action of the health officials here, you’d be filling a lot of body bags just like New York. They are right to be cautious. We are dense and diverse population where Covid can spread like wild fire and kill a whole lot of older people. Low rates don’t mean the virus is gone, just the opposite, its just waiting for people to get complacent the all of this hardship will be for nothing.
So if you are over 50, be glad people are wearing masks and making an effort to protect you, and if you are under 50, have some more consideration for you neighbors and put the mask on. Be understanding that is going to be hard for a while as we figure this all out, and we will figure it out.
Oh, and don’t go waving the Constitution around like you have any idea what you’re talking about. I doubt the founding fathers thought they’d ever have to spell out what needs to be done during a pandemic. Perhaps they had a vision for a united people who worked together for the common good of a nation…or something.
Covid doesn’t care about your political views, it will kill you or someone you care about just the same.
@America, agree 100%. This is no longer about a virus – which even the CDC admits is not that dangerous with a mortality rate of 0.26% – , it’s about control and the November election. Anyone who cannot see this is blind.
@Concerned
You’re numbers are way off. The death rate is .00003%. SIP has done nothing. The homeless are the canary in the coal mine and they are still here. They’re in the stores, they have poor nutrition, they’re addicts and are compromised, weak and vulnerable No masks, washing, distancing, nothing. Why didn’t they get wiped out? Because this isn’t what they’re telling us. Get over it.
Well said Concerned. It is disgusting a real health concern has become politicized. Now baloney statistics are being produced like it is only deadly to to .00026% of the entire population of the US. That is still 100,000 people dead. And the death count is rising. Trump wants the economy back up to help his reelection. That shows his priorities. This is after he completely blew controlling the spread. Who wants to play you bet your life?
I understand the sheriff needs to balance enforcing health recommendations with all of the other crimes. He did not need to make a public statement about his priorities that might encourage the less smart to do what is not best for themselves. .
Play this smart or play you bet your and your families’ lives.
@Concerned. It’s no surprise that Covid kills more seniors–if you are old and frail, and have underlying conditions you are also at higher risk of dying from pneumonia, heat stroke, drowning, falls, bee stings, bathtub gin. Maybe Contra Costa County should never reopen again.
But then again, not all bureaucrat entities operate in slow mode. CalTrans has decided to re-open Interstate 680’s toll lanes on June 1.
@Concerned
Human Nature Social Experiment at play here –
The over age 60 “disposables” need to take good care of THEMSELVES. There are, after all, inheritances on the line. Time now to implement those reverse mortgage plans. And – never know when the next pandemic will target the reverse demographic . . .
“Saying that Covid is the states problem was equivalent to saying Pearl Harbor was Hawaii’s problem.”😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
By the way, who said “COVID is the states(sic) problem”?
Wow, some of these replies really are truly insane.
The death rate is really 0.00003%? So 3.3 Billion Americans got Covid? SIP doesn’t work? Then why does New York, which was two weeks behind us on the SIP, have so many more deaths? 6% of people over 50 are old and frail, and that means they should die earlier? Why aren’t the homeless dead? Who left it to the states? I don’t know, maybe the great emperor did when he left it to the governors to manage the pandemic so he wouldn’t have to take responsibility? Part of a winning strategy I’m sure.
I understand a lot of people are facing hardships right now. Letting people die isn’t the answer. Calling the experts liars isn’t the answer. You should be asking what you can do to help get things back open without losing more lives. Real patriots stand up and help their neighbors, they don’t spend their time spreading ignorance.
I don’t really know what I think about this. I think he’s right on the merits of the situation. But it’s also his job to enforce the law. If he doesn’t see his way in good conscience to doing so, isn’t the right move to resign in protest? I know, easy for me to say. But it’s kind of wack when you see law enforcement deciding they can just nullify stuff by announcing non-enforcement.
It’s not a law, it is an executive order bases on a declared State of Emergency.
@Led- This great Sheriff knows the law. An unelected bureaucrat at the Health Dept has no authority to put us on house arrest or deny us the right to work.
Great job Sheriff! Thank you.
A proclamation/order from a health official is not the “laws”.
Led,
So, I suppose you also think Gavin Newsom should resign in protest since he’s decided to not enforce federal laws?
@Chicken Little, yes, actually. That’s part of what’s motivating my thought here. I think the sheriff is right that the order is unreasonable, but we’ve seen this before at higher levels: Gavin Newsom issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples when the law didn’t allow it, the state DA declining to defend propositions duly enacted by the people, etc. Obama using “prosecutorial discretion” to nullify and rewrite immigration law for Dreamers, etc. I thought that was lawless and awful, and yes, if Newsom had any principles (ha ha) he would have resigned rather than scoffing the laws.
This is different in that a health officer order is not the same a something enacted by the elected legislature, that’s true. So I’m not sure on this one. That’s part of why I’m conflicted on this one. I’m no constitutional lawyer. But it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, much as I agree with this guy’s view on the order itself.
Weil, I have to hand it to you. At least you’re consistent. For the most part, I agree with you. But I believe that the Police have a duty to not enforce unconstitutional laws. And, of course, “laws” that are not actually laws.
As a society, we seem to welcome (or at least tolerate) political activism from our elected officials, all the way up to the SCOTUS (where there is absolutely no place for bias or activism of any kind, IMO), so it’s hardly shocking to me when it comes from a Sheriff. That might not make it right, but it makes it somewhat normal.
YES!
I think what needs to happen is that all of these government officials who want businesses to remain closed need to stop getting paid and return all pay they have received since these SIP orders went into effect. Perhaps then they would understand why people are so frustrated. Good for that sheriff. I hope others follow his lead.
The latest SCOTUS decision does not help. The politicians and bureaucrats ( and now judges ) are all applying the ‘Rule OF Fear’ and not the Rule of Law.They are more concerned about scared about losing their jobs than the public welfare. Bravo Sheriff Essick.
You have to follow the data.. 548 cases and 4 deaths is .0007 chance of death. Not sure what their ICU usage is at this time but they seem to have wiggle room to keep testing and if ICU begin to fill up or test results show a significant up tick in positive results they can take a step back again for 2 weeks.
I agree, and that’s only 548 KNOWN cases. Who knows how many people have the virus that never even knew they were sick?
You can’t compute “chance of death” by just projecting the numbers so far. By that logic, since nobody died of Covid in the US before January, it was a sure thing that it was no threat at all. 100,000 deaths later…
Selectively enforcing the law is ideal. Why follow anything in which you disagree? Your personal belief is enough. It seems crazy that we have rules or any sort of commonality in an attempt to protect the public. It should be completely up to the whim of whomever is in charge at that point in time. I’m so glad this pointed out to us so that we would can all agree that this is a good thing. It almost seems as if we don’t need a sheriff.
Exactly. If you won’t perform your legal job duties, turn in your badge and pontificate, post claycord comments, whatever. But a law enforcement officer you are not.
As has been stated before, this is not a law. This is a dictate which the sheriff recognizes is unconstitutional. Democrats don’t seem to understand or care about the Constitution.
The people inherently have individual rights, the government does not give us our rights, they are ours. The government is subservient to the people, not the people subservient to the government. The schools should actually teach US government to students instead of filling their heads with leftest propaganda and identity politics. If patriots like this sheriff don’t stand up for the rights of Americans, they will be taken from you before you know it. It probably doesn’t bother you right now, but some day THEY will take away some right you care about and you will wonder how this happened in America. The government is not your friend. Be suspicious of their motives, pay attention, do the research, and don’t just get your news from one source, watch CNN, CBS, ABC, FOX, BBC, One America, Al Jezzera. Get out of your bubble.
It is NOT a “law.”
Read it again – it is NOT a law.
I don’t think it is so clear cut that it isn’t a law. The federal government has enumerated powers – if the power isn’t listed in the Constitution, they don’t have it. States are different; they have more wide-ranging powers – the “police power” is one of the technical terms, I think. This is part of the federalism in our system: the less limited and defined powers are located closer to the people.
Want to say good for that High-Sheriff, but….
First he says not gonna do it…
Then changes his mind and says will enforce…
Then flip flops again and says not gonna…
**All in about a weeks time**
Is he a Law Man at Heart or a Politician???
Sadly a Sheriff has to be both.
@concerned, You could not be more wrong. The yellow fever out break of 1793 forced Washington to leave Philadelphia. Our founders were constantly dealing with death from diseases. They were a fact of every day life until the 1920’s. If you ever tour colonial houses, their beds are short. Why? They slept sitting up because of constant congestion.
Actually, we had polio scares until 1955. My Aunt had in in 1951. But somehow life went on.
What we see now is government at its worst. I didn’t think that the U.S. Constitution could be ignored or discarded so easily.
Covid-19 proves we don’t need BAAQMD, if it’s bad for are health the Bay Area health directors have shown they will go above and beyond to protect us.
Boo. Your job is not to “act your conscience,” it’s to uphold the law. What a disgrace. Law enforcement already has mud on their face with recent actions and this is not helping.
I agree with Led’s comment. Essick should have resigned in protest. Another option would be for him to say that enforcing the shutdown order would be of lowest priority for his department.
We can’t have law enforcement deciding the laws. Where would he draw the line? In the other direction, if he gets to ignore laws, then does he have the freedom to make them up and arrest people at his whim? The whole thing is wrought with problems.
Again, it’s not a LAW that he’s refusing to enforce.
Get it through your heads!
You’ve got it backwards.
The only whimsical laws are those associated with the SIP. Face masks, 6 foot distancing, selective closures are all arbitrary measures extolled by politicians as if they were handed down on stone tablets.
Despite the ubiquity of these measures, they have no strong foundation in science. As it becomes more apparent that the measures are hurting society, the sheriff has done the rational thing by choosing to ignore them.
The job of sheriff is not that of a politician’s minion, but rather it is to “serve and protect”.
PH Susan, the US Supreme Court rejected challenges to the California shutdown order, the Pennsylvania shutdown order, and the Ohio order too. The status quo ruling is that a state “may establish quarantines against human beings, or animals, or plants’”. There is nothing illegal about the shutdown order. The sheriff may be opposed to the order, but it’s not illegal.
If a sheriff won’t recognize the governor, won’t recognize California courts, won’t recognize the US supreme court, then there’s a breakdown in how he fulfilling his role in law enforcement. It is not good for society to have law enforcement openly protesting. He can quit, or he can make enforcement of the order a low priority, but he can’t denounce the order and declare it to be illegal.
Yoyohop, the science behind masks is supported by the CDC, and various university studies across the world.
The job of a sheriff literally is to enforce the laws, ordinances and orders. If he no longer recognizes his role in government, then he’s just a vigilante.
@Natalie – You need to read the bill of rights. You are wrong. Doesn’t matter what the Supreme Court says, the ninth circuit says, or anyone else says. I have rights given to me by God. They may not be taken from me as they are in inalienable. Period
The Constitution matters. It does not get put on hold during an emergency. There are no provisions for violating my rights in the Constitution. All other laws must comply with the Constitution.
You are dead wrong.
@Natalie,
Medical News Today released a recent study finding that masks were not effective in stopping the spread of Covid. I’m sure you can cherry pick a study that says otherwise and I can retort with recent suggestions by the WHO or other organizations that have contradicted themselves several times over.
The only unambiguous finding is that virus is nowhere nearly as deadly as we were made to believe. And it’s deadliness was what the SIP was predicated on.
If every flu is considered a pandemic then we’ll either be in a constant state of emergency or the word “pandemic” will have no functional meaning.
To say the power to quarintine is a right of the state is a horrible overgeneralization. They can suspend civil liberties but only in a limited capacity towards specific goals.
For months now we have seen moving goal posts for lifting the SIP. As such the measures should be challenged.
And though some specific challenges have been lost in court, the legal battles are far from over.
Well Natalie I guess you might want to email Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux and Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims who are also not enforcing County Health Department SIP orders.
In addition, Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall is “urging” the county to reevaluate their SIP order and Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal flatly said he will not enforce beach closures or any order he feels is unconstitutional.
Perhaps you can explain to me why the Sheriff of a County cannot refuse to enforce a order, yet the cities of Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Oakland can refuse to enforce possession of psilocybin which is prohibited by California law, to wit, California Health and Safety Code 11350.
Counties and Cities have rights under the home rule provision of the California State Constitution.
Yet you have NO problem with illegal aliens being brought into “sanctuary“ cities and states, and not have to “worry” about being deported.
You cannot have it both ways.
Hypocrisy reigns in politics and liberalism.
Let the county officials go out for a few days and do the enforcement. Maybe they will change their view after the public chews them out.
I think we just found the new guy to straighten out BART.
We were on the Zoom meeting with the BOS and Health Director. The negative consequences of these extreme lockdown measures are not being accounted for. Church isn’t essential. Seating capacity isn’t treated the same as stores or restaurants.
Suicide and various mental health effects were brought up. So was lack of regular medical visits. In the last 10 weeks over 1,250 new cases of cancer should have been diagnosed in this county alone, as well as many cases of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, etc…And our County Health Director can’t tell you the numbers on these conditions. The only advise he has is a pandemic sex guide.
I can tell you that the Russian River was packed with people floating without masks, in groups not practicing social distancing last weekend. Parks throughout the country are packed. We saw at least 3 large parties on Mother’s Day when we walked around the block. People have simply had it! End the “cower-in-place” before riots break out here as well.
No one should be surprised. Picking and choosing which laws to obey and which laws to ignore is the official policy of the state of California and most of its counties and cities.
Well said Cowellian…I look forward to the same tender regard for following the rules of law concerning immigration, and death penalty enforcement, that some here apply to face mask daily decrees.
I don’t blame him at all. How could anyone continue to follow blindly when every other day we get conflicting orders from the health departments and other officials regarding wearing masks. But nice that they all have big fat paychecks, while everyone else is jobless…
It’s not like our law enforcement are citing people for violations in the county anyways.
I’m glad we’re debating whether we are over-reacting or not. The alternative is being sure that we under-reacted and wind up like NYC or Italy.
Using low infection/death numbers as an argument against the SIP doesn’t make sense. That is the goal of SIP. Low numbers also don’t necessarily mean the SIP is working either. Except when looking at the experience of other areas that didn’t react quickly enough.
Thank you Sheriff! Of course the only ones to object are those that still have 100% of their income and order on line.
I am so proud and thankful to Solano’s sheriff.
Thank you!!!!
Livingston – time to step up!
My hope is that individuals will begin to assess their own risks more realistically and make appropriate decisions regarding exposure. If you are diabetic, hypertensive, obese, African-American, elderly, Vitamin D deficient, asthmatic — any of these boosts your risk, more than one is worse. Who’s going to head for these protests? What’s going to happen to them? Everyone focuses on mortality, but morbidity needs serious consideration as well. Hospital bills are pages long, life-changing financial burdens, and ongoing medical conditions are ruinous. It won’t be a normal life afterward. It’s true that most people will escape serious consequences, but people who don’t escape will suffer horribly. Stay in if you need to do that!
I hope he applies this same logic to issuing CCW’s to those who apply. Statistically speaking, it makes sense to do so.
Yeah, don’t hold your breath.
You are advocating for a system of government in which law enforcement gets to make or break the laws, with a higher authority than any politician, or court, with no checks and balances.
Unfortunately in California, there are no check and balances in the legislative and executive branches and very little at the judicial level. We then need to rely on individuals with common sense and logic, which is waning nowadays. California is just plain doomed!!!
@Natalie Not enforcing draconian government edicts is a check on governmental powers. No one is saying that he should make laws, just not enforce ones that are so blatantly wrong.
Back before Milgram started his experiment, the idea of people not obeying unjust directives was considered credible.
I don’t think we’ll have CCW in Bay Area counties until we have universal shall-issue CCW at the federal level, But let’s hope. Judge Roger T. Benitez is making a great effort and he’s setting the stage for future pro-gun SCOTUS rulings that could shatter our “assault rifle” and “hi-cap” magazine bans. If Ginsburg “retires” soon, the time will be right.
@Natalie – It must be difficult to go through live with such ignorance.
In California, CCW permits are at the discretion of each county sheriff. He decides who may receive a permit. Some sheriffs are shall-issue, some are no-issue and some demand a quid pro quo.
More states are passing state-wide shall-issue CCW every year, so at some point the entire US will have shall-issue CCW other than a handful of high-crime democrat-controlled states like California and New York, where the people will have no right (or means) to defend themselves outside their home (if that.)
I wish our Governor (and those in his party) had this Sheriff’s sensibilities.
Here’s the difference between this guy and our Governor:
This guy is trying to negotiate the county health order into something less restrictive and the stats support that. He obviously understands that this could put his career in jeopardy.
Our Governor assured his voters that although he didn’t like the death penalty, that if elected, he would support it. That was a deliberate lie in order to get elected. There are no consequences for him.
There is your difference.
Natalie California is already a one party state what else do you want? Are you not happy with our dictator? Thank God for this reasonable sheriff that keeps are freedoms in check!
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