Based on the facts listed below, we respectfully insist that all Florida governmental authorities immediately rescind and cancel any and all unconstitutional measures they may have ordered in response to the spread of the Covid-19 virus, including all curfews, "stay at home," "safer at home," and business closure orders. We further insist that all Florida governmental authorities commit to carrying out their responsibilities in ways that do not further violate constitutional rights, close businesses, or destroy the lives and fortunes of individuals and families.

FACT 1 - Government-ordered lock downs are destroying Florida businesses and causing severe financial hardship.

In response to the spread of the Covid-19 virus, Florida governmental authorities (city, county, and state) are ordering thousands of businesses to either close or severely limit their business operations. Many of those businesses will not survive and hundreds of thousands of Floridians are being forced into long-term unemployment, severe financial hardship, bankruptcy, and potentially into homelessness.

FACT 2 - The Covid-19 virus is NOT a greater threat to public health than other seasonal flu viruses or causes of death.

The Covid-19 virus does not pose a greater threat to public heath than other causes of death or illness. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine - "the overall clinical consequences of Covid-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza (which has a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1%)." The source article can be found here - https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387

In the first three months of 2020, many more people have died from causes such as seasonal flu, malaria, or auto accidents than from Covid-19. And yet governments are not destroying the economy or depriving people of their rights as a result of these greater threats to public safety.

FACT 3 - Government-ordered lock downs are not constitutional.

The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land. All governmental bodies within the U.S. - federal, state, and local - are required to abide by the U.S. Constitution and cannot enact laws or decrees that violate it. The Constitution guarantees due process as a fundamental right to protect Americans from arbitrary government overreach and tyranny. Government authorities do not possess any legitimate power to suspend or violate due process rights on the basis of a real or perceived "emergency."

Sadly, Florida government authorities have instituted numerous "safer at home," "stay at home," and curfew orders without following due process, which is a clear violation of a fundamental right guaranteed to all U.S. citizens by the Constitution.

Additionally, law enforcement officials are now arresting or threatening the arrest of people exercising their right to religious freedom, which is a clear violation of the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

FACT 4 - Lock downs are not the best or the only policy options available to government leaders when responding to the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

Many legitimate and effective policy options that do not violate constitutional rights are available to government authorities when responding to the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Some examples include, but are not limited to:

• Providing practical assistance (meal delivery, in-home health care, etc.) to the elderly and those with other serious medical conditions who are most susceptible to serious complications or death from Covid-19.
• Provide free or low-cost face masks, personal hygiene, and sanitizing supplies to the population. These measures are proven to slow or prevent the spread of all viruses.
• Encourage the widespread use of face masks when in public or interacting with groups of people. Face mask use is proven to slow the spread of Covid-19.
• Increase access to rapid virus testing.
• Continue to encourage home-based education and work.
• Broadcast accurate educational messages that will help individuals take actions which are proven to slow the spread of viruses and promote personal health.
• Assign financial resources and personnel as needed to provide temporary, additional medical care capabilities.