The Constitutional Republic of Oroville

 “Any executive orders issued by the State of California or by the United States federal government that are overreaching or clearly violate our constitutionally protected rights will not be enforced by the City of Oroville against its citizens.” 

November City Council ordinance declaring Oroville, California to be a “constitutional republic.” 

I am constantly amazed at Americans who truly believe that the US Constitution provides them with a personal right to refuse reasonable and effective disease prevention measures during a serious epidemic or pandemic. Like vaccine mandates, which is what the above declaration is all about. Going back to the 1905 Jacobson vs Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling, it clear that the Constitution contains no such right. Yet the mythology that such rights do exist appears to be deeply embedded in Trump-biased populist beliefs. 

COVID has killed almost 800 thousand Americans, but the notion of that “Constitutional right” has become a highly politicized statement of dire misinformation. These misdirected Americans seem to “know” that the Constitution affirms that right and ignore the reality that the Supreme Court, even their court, has ruled repeatedly to the contrary. Anything they do not like is one of those self-determined unenforceable efforts that “clearly violate our constitutionally protected rights.” The Constitution is not, however, a menu of individual choices.

Those who believe that a Trump-era reconfigured court would rule otherwise might be disappointed. The 6-3 conservative majority US Supreme Court, in an emergency application for a hearing in late October (the case: Jane Does 1–6, John Does 1–3, Jack Does 1–1000, Joan Does 1–1000 vs Mainehealth, Genesis Healthcare Of Maine, LLC, Genesis Healthcare, LLC, Northern Light Health Foundation, Mainegeneral Health), rejected a request made by nine unnamed plaintiffs who identified themselves as [Maine] healthcare workers who object to receiving the shots on religious grounds. The court previously rejected challenges to vaccine mandates in New York and Indiana, though those cases did not involve religious objections.” Reuters, October 29th. Back to the defying, self-interpreting constitutional deniers.

The seat of Butte County, Oroville is small town of about 20,000 residents who have their view of the world. Facts seldom interfere in the application of beliefs embraced by Trump voters. “For Oroville Vice Mayor Scott Thomson, the father of two young boys, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mandate requiring schoolchildren to be vaccinated against COVID-19 was the final straw… For some, the [above] declaration was a stand for freedom [and opening dialog]. But others in town saw it as a reckless tantrum amid a pandemic that has killed more than 73,000 Californians.

“Butte County, population about 220,000, has one of the state’s lowest vaccination rates. As of Saturday [11/27], 47% of its residents were fully vaccinated, compared with 64% of all Californians… Butte County’s largest hospital, the 298-bed Enloe Medical Center in Chico, has averaged 26 COVID-19 patients over the last week — more than all but one hospital in Los Angeles County, home to 10 million people.” Hailey Branson-Potts writing for the November 29th Los Angeles Times. Ah, if only Oroville and Butte County could confine themselves to that region and never interface with truckers or delivery personnel coming in and out of the area, the rest of us might not care. But they won’t, they don’t and they can’t.

Oroville “is one of a growing number of rural California communities in recent years to label itself a sanctuary or a place otherwise exempt from some liberal ideal… Two years ago, the desert town of Needles became a ‘sanctuary city’ for the 2nd Amendment in a rebuke of California’s strict gun control laws. And in defiance of pandemic shutdown orders, the Central Valley towns of Atwater and Coalinga last year declared themselves, respectively, a ‘sanctuary city for business’ and a town where all businesses are essential — with both losing emergency COVID-19 funding in the process.

“Designed to benefit from the buzz of California’s ‘sanctuary’ designations used in the context of protecting undocumented immigrants, the labels reflect tensions between rural towns and the Newsom administration — and the left in general… The town is the county seat of Butte County — a purple county where 36% of voters are registered Republicans, 35% are registered Democrats, and 20% are independents. By close margins, the county voted for President Trump in 2016 and President Biden last year. Voters here supported the attempted recall of Newsom.

“COVID-19 rates have remained relatively high here, even as they eased significantly in places like Los Angeles and San Francisco. The number of COVID-19-positive patients during the Delta variant surge, most of whom were unvaccinated, peaked at Enloe Medical Center on Sept. 23, when there were 95 people hospitalized with the virus. Now, the new Omicron variant looms as a potential threat.” LA Times. 

Oroville’s constitutional republic resolution is obviously a symbolic gesture – neither town nor county has authority over schools, which are regulated by the state. But this sweeping notion among the parallel universe of Trump’s America makes you wonder if local communities should be deemed judicial bodies with the power to overrule the Supreme Court. 

The above declaration does not sit well with all Oroville residents, however. “Oroville resident Celia Hirschman lost her father, former San Francisco poet laureate Jack Hirschman, to COVID-19 three months ago. She said the resolution insults people who have lost loved ones or who are immunocompromised, just to score political points… ‘It says we’re cowboys, and we’re not going to live by your rules,’ she said. ‘I don’t think it’s about open dialogue at all. I feel it’s a dangerous measure that they have no business adding to our charter.’” LA Times. But once the “law and order” party, the Trump-era GOP seems to have imbued its populist, conspiracy theory loving members with the right to ignore the law and use their own weapons to reinforce their resistance against any law they do not like.

I’m Peter Dekom, and as Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”