On August 3, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan issued an emergency order overriding the decision by Montgomery County to keep private schools closed until at least October 1. Yesterday, Montgomery County responded with a new order requiring private schools to remain closed until at least that date.
The County issued its new order pursuant to regulations that authorize local health officers to “take any action or measure necessary to prevent the spread of communicable disease” and “issue, when necessary, special instructions for control of a disease or condition.” The County believes that this language enables it to bypass Hogan’s emergency order that gives private schools authority to decide whether to reopen.
I haven’t formed an opinion on whether the County has found a lawful way to keep private schools closed in the face of the governor’s actions. Maybe there will be a court battle, maybe not.
The broader question is what a conflict like this means for the nation’s future. It’s normal for liberals and conservatives to disagree about taxation, government regulation of business, and foreign policy. They have been disagreeing about the first two matters for as long as I can remember.
But now the disagreements extend to whether parents can send their kids to school (if they are willing to pay); whether the religiously observant can attend religious services; whether people who express “politically incorrect” opinions can keep their jobs or remain in college; whether communities can have a police force (or a reasonably effective one); and whether violent felons can be held in jail or, instead, must be released without bail. This makes me wonder whether, or for how long, liberals and conservatives will be able to co-exist.
To be sure, the first two of these issues arise in the context of a pandemic. It’s understandable that serious disagreements have arisen over how best to balance public health considerations with other core values.
But the actions of some leftist governmental units suggest that they don’t regard the right to attend church or to educate one’s children privately as important values, at all. It’s also questionable whether, or to what degree, leftist governmental units will be less aggressive in asserting power once the pandemic is over.
The pandemic has exposed deep fissures that aren’t likely to disappear with the Wuhan coronavirus.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.