Law is order, and good law is good order. - Aristotle No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it. Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor. - Theodore Roosevelt

1. DANCE TO OUR MUSIC
We've been alive forever
We wrote the very frst song
We put the words and the melodies together
We are Music and We write the Songs
from I Write the Songs Barry Manilow
HAWAII LAWMAKERS ARE CONSIDERING CLAMPING DOWN ON
GOV'S EMERGENCY POWERS
Hawaii isn't the only state worried that a governor's emergency orders are in need of better oversight
By Blaze Lovell, Honolulu Civil Beat, February 16, 2021
<https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/02/hawaii-lawmakers-are-considering-clamping-down-on-govs-emergency-powers/>
Gov. David Ige on Friday issued his 18th [Supplemental] COVID-19 emergency
proclamation, which suspends a myriad of statutes and keeps in place rules for dealing with
the pandemic. [Clarifcation Supplied]
Like almost every other state in the U.S., Hawaii has been under emergency orders since
March 2020. But if some Hawaii lawmakers have it their way, Ige won’t be able to indefnitely
issue emergency proclamations for long. One proposal moving in the House, House Bill 103,
would limit emergency proclamations to 60 days and require two-thirds of the members of
the House and Senate to approve any extensions.
Some lawmakers and Hawaii residents believe such measures could lead to better checks and
balances on state government. Meanwhile, Ige's administration opposes the bill, saying it
could hamper the government's response to future emergencies.
Rep. Scott Nishimoto [University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law, 2002],
who sponsored HB 103, says he introduced the measure this year at the request of some of
his constituents and neighborhood board members, who were concerned that there was not
enough public input on the emergency orders. [Clarifcation Supplied]
Challenges to Ige's emergency powers have so far been unsuccessful in court.
This year, Hawaii's Legislature is among more than 30 in the country considering measures
that seek to rein in their governors' emergency powers. The proposals come a year after many
in the state, including key lawmakers, have criticized Ige’s administration for its response to
the pandemic.

2. HOIST THE YELLOW FLAG AND SPAM® UP
THE SEPARATION OF POWERS LIMITATION ON HAWAII'S EMERGENCY AUTHORITY
By Robert H. Thomas, Esq., Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert, LC, Honolulu, Hawaii
University of Hawaii Law Review, Vol. 43, No. 1, 2020
<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3632081>
The only systemic check on the governor's emergency authority is process-based and temporal. A
declared state of emergency automatically terminates no more than sixty days after proclamation:
A state of emergency and a local state of emergency shall terminate automatically sixty
days after the issuance of a proclamation of a state of emergency or local state of
emergency, respectively, or by a separate proclamation of the governor or mayor,
whichever occurs frst.
As the major legal limitation on the governor's power, the termination provision is arguably the
most important part of the statute. If the majority of other jurisdictions are any indication, the
time limitation is a critical feature of the delegation of emergency power. A handful of
jurisdictions such as Michigan, establish no time limit at all. But most others impose some time
limitation or a structural check on the emergency powers of the executive. Arizona and Oregon,
for example, have no express time limitations but vest in the governor or the legislature the power
to decide when an emergency has ended. Other states split authority between the governor and
the legislature, with the governor initially having discretion, with the statutes making clear that the
power then devolves from the governor to the legislature, an approach taken by some other
jurisdictions which make clear in their emergency management statutes the need for separation of
powers, and that the legislature has an essential role in emergency management and response,
particularly as a short-term crisis stretches on. What we can take from this is that—like Hawaii—
the overwhelming majority of other states have concluded that these rule-by-decree emergency
powers of executive ofcers should be granted only for a very limited time, and should not be
open ended. Thus, although process-based, Hawaii's time limit serves as an essential democratic
check on arrogation of executive power by emphasizing that the delegation to the governor from
the people via the legislature is muscular—but temporary. And that ONCE THE DELEGATION
AUTOMATICALLY TERMINATES, ABSENT A SEPARATE DECLARATION SETTING
FORTH SEPARATE REASONS, THE AUTHORITY TO DECLARE AND MANAGE
EMERGENCIES REVERTS TO THE LEGISLATURE.
[Emphasis Supplied]
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We cannot expect people to have respect for law and order until we teach respect to those we
have entrusted to enforce those laws.
Hunter S. Thompson