Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) appeared on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle Wednesday night to explicitly say he will demand clemency for a gym-owning couple who had been charged with the evil crime of not enforcing a local mask ordinance last year.
As a clip Ingraham tweeted shows, De Santis appeared in a split-screen with gym owners Mike and Jillian Carnevale and stated he will place a reprieve order on their prosecution and demand clemency from all criminal penalties they're facing for not requiring visitors to wear masks at their business. Said DeSantis:
This is exactly what we ordered against last summer, many, many months ago…
And he added:
Effective tomorrow morning, I’m going to sign a reprieve under my constitutional authority, so that will delay the case for sixty days, against both of them, and then, when our clemency board meets in the coming weeks, we’ll issue pardons not only for Mike and Jillian, but for any Floridian that may have outstanding infractions for things like masks and social distancing.
This is important not only on a personal level for the Carnevale’s and their rights, but also for the rights of their clientele and every other person in the state.
And it reiterates the underlying precept that private property and voluntary association go hand-in-hand, that inviting someone into a business place is not an aggressive act, and the aggression comes from the state trying to force people to live as the politicians, bureaucrats, and police dictate.
The COVID-craziness that has inspired so many politically-connected people to attack peaceful residents, of any state, is merely the catalyst for a long-awaited ignition – the ignition of government engines that were build long ago, through licensing, and regulations, and all other infringements on the principle of private property.
Those who open their doors to customers, and those who enter the doors, do so freely and make their own decisions about benefit and risk. They are the innocent who threaten no one with aggression. Under a truly voluntary, private property foundation, anyone who visited an establishment that didn’t mandate masks would continue along further private property, free association lines, and all subsequent encounters with others – be they in stores, shopping area parking lots, or private homes – also would be voluntary for all participants.
Related: Oregon County COVID19 Mask Mandate Offers 'Special Exemption' – Based On Race, Of Course
But government claims land for itself and taxes people to pay for it, creating “public” property, and it also mistakenly claims that private property that is open to customers is “public” when it is private and should be operated according to the safety concerns of the owners and clients.
If clients want more safety, they can go elsewhere. If owners want more, they can stipulate those rules at the door.
It’s not up to me or anyone else to mandate how others freely associate. Such an assumption also is an assumption that I am free to engage in aggression through the state in order to punish those people for not complying with my commands.
That destroys human dignity and free will.
DeSantis just offered another signal that he understands this. He also could note that the Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution forbids local or state governments from infringing on the fulfillment of private contracts, so if a gym owner agrees to let people into his or her building, a politician cannot tell the owner to change the contract such that it demands the client enter the building wearing a mask.
This is our time to keep spreading this important information, and DeSantis' move gives us the chance to do so as we work towards setting people free of COVID crackdowns.
Related: NJ Gov. On National Mask Mandate: ‘Almost Not Even Debatable’