Texas sues Austin and Travis County over lockdown orders

 Washington Examiner:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton pressed charges against the city of Austin and its mayor, Steve Adler, over the city's strict lockdown orders.

"My team and I are preparing decisive action against @austintexasgov and @TravisCountyTX," the official Twitter account of the Texas attorney general's office wrote. "They issued their illegal shutdown orders late last night, right before a holiday in a shameless attempt to game the system and run the clock. We won’t let them."

...

"The City of Austin and Travis County orders enacting a four-day shutdown of dine-in food and beverage services violate @GovAbbott’s Exec Order GA-32," he said. "They must rescind or modify their local orders immediately."

...

Paxton's litigation is a direct response to the new limitations Adler implemented one day prior. In a statement released on Tuesday, the mayor announced a curfew prohibiting dine-in service between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. from Dec. 31 to Jan. 3. Officials said the move was an effort to counteract the anticipated rise in virus transmission associated with residents congregating to celebrate New Year's Eve.

“The situation is critical,” said Dr. Mark Escott, interim Austin-Travis County health authority. “We are asking the public to stay home as much as possible and not gather with people outside their households for New Year's Eve. ... We are now experiencing uncontrolled, widespread community transmission of COVID-19, particularly in circumstances where masking and distancing are not possible, making bars and similar establishments extremely concerning over this holiday weekend.”

Paxton isn't alone in his criticism of the order. Gov. Greg Abbott, whose executive order Paxton says Adler is violating, condemned the new restrictions on Twitter.

"This shutdown order by Austin isn't allowed. Period," Abbott said. "My executive order stops cities like Austin from arbitrarily shutting down businesses. The city has a responsibility to enforce existing orders, not make new ones."

...

Lockdowns have a poor record of stopping the spread of the disease.  The states with the toughest lockdown orders have the poorest results in stopping the spread.  It may have something to do with confine people in their homes.  California has the toughest lockdown orders and its results are significantly poorer than the states of Texas and Florida combined which have no lockdown orders.

About all lockdowns do is destroy small businesses.

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