Challenging our public school district’s obedience of county ‘health’ ‘orders’ of mask requirement or face fines and imprisonment (1 of ?)

Below is my email to our NorCal public school district’s designated contact for questions regarding “health” “orders.” Two weeks ago I wrote our teachers’ union leadership with similar questions, and followed-up yesterday as I received no response.

My plan is to politely seek an explanation. Without plausible explanation how masks are within limited government, the alternative explanation seems to be that mask requirement is workplace harassment. Importantly, if Governor Newsom and counties have no lawful authority to enforce dictates to We the People, and insist on orders that any reasonable person would conclude are OBVIOUSLY outside emergency conditions, they are violating Federal Article 18 Section 242: DEPRIVATION OF RIGHTS UNDER COLOR OF LAW:

TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.

My email to our district contact, teachers union, and school principal:

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“Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move.”
~ Dr. King’s 1967 speech that silence is betrayal

Hi (omitted),
As the designated HUSD contact, please explain as our employer how requiring masks is legal, and not a textbook example of unlimited government we teach all students to reject.

Because HUSD is supporting the county’s “Health Order,” HUSD has a burden of proof to demonstrate how threat of fine and/or imprisonment is within the limits of government power.

If after this reading you agree that masks are a lawful order, please explain the legal authority to me. I will then explain this to families, students, and colleagues. This is a chain of authority we teach to all our high school students.

If you find that masks are an unlawful order, then please work with me to change the unlawful order back to original county and state language of guidelines.

Please answer the following basic and obvious questions
What is the authority the county has to demand wearing masks or be fined and/or imprisoned?
If that authority comes from the governor’s emergency declaration in March, what is the definition of “emergency”?
How have emergency conditions been demonstrated as real?
If required emergency conditions of overrun hospitals never happened, nor need for military field hospitals that were built, nor need for military hospital ships, how do the required conditions for an emergency still exist?
Because hospitals have been and are operational (so empty that most laid-off staff), doesn’t that remove emergency dictatorial authority? If not, please explain.
I’m politely, humbly, and professionally asking for HUSD to fulfill their legal obligation to fully explain an extraordinary and unique demand on employees. As I cite below, I’m demonstrating what HUSD expects all of our children to learn and do.

This explanation is especially important and timely given apparent physical and psychological health risks to require everyone to fully cover their mouth and nose or risk removal from one’s family to be locked in a cage.

If I’m wrong, please talk me down.

If I’m right, you have a legal obligation to stand with me to remove this illegal act of dictatorial and unlimited government. With all respect, I remind everyone of our Oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

I ask because of what I see as a National Board Certified Teacher with a background of helping shape and deliver ~300 policy briefs for Congress for domestic and international policies to end poverty, along with networking among other legal experts. Please see abundant documentation here for what we see:
California law authorizes governors to declare “health emergencies” if, and only if, there is real or provable threat to overrun local response capabilities. This is exactly what we were told in March: “Flatten the curve to protect our hospitals.”
There was no emergency realized: hospitals here were near-empty, military field hospitals weren’t needed, military ship hospitals weren’t needed.
Therefore, no emergency exists, and no authority exists for state and local government “emergency orders.”
With all respect, unless you can cite the lawful authority to require masks, then the “order” is a textbook example of “unlimited government” we all teach to reject. Indeed, “unlimited government” “orders” was the foundation to begin the United States of America, and the main reason we all teach the curricular standard of limited government.

Definitions:

The Governor is hereby empowered to proclaim a state of emergency in an area affected or likely to be affected thereby when:
(a)?He finds that circumstances described in subdivision (b) of Section 8558 exist; ?and either
(b)?He is requested to do so (1) in the case of a city by the mayor or chief executive, (2) in the case of a county by the chairman of the board of supervisors or the county administrative officer; ?or
(c)?He finds that local authority is inadequate to cope with the emergency.
~ California Code 8625

“State of emergency” means the duly proclaimed existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the state caused by conditions such as … epidemic, … which, by reason of their magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single county, city and county, or city and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat … ~ California Code 8558 (b)

emergency: a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action.

WHEREAS I find that conditions of Government Code section 8558 (b), relating to the declaration of a State of Emergency, have been met;…
~ Proclamation of a state of emergency, Governor Gavin Newsom, March 4, 2020

I am literally asking you to do what California students are required in Grades 6-8 (page 81 of Common Core Standards): “Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.”

Supporting documentation to encourage your honest responses:

“Civics is not limited to the study of politics and society; it also encompasses participation in classrooms and schools, neighborhoods, groups, and organizations. . . . What defines civic virtue, which democratic principles apply in given situations, and when discussions are deliberative are not easy questions, but they are topics for inquiry and reflection. In civics, students learn to contribute appropriately to public processes and discussions of real issues. Their contributions to public discussions may take many forms, ranging from personal testimony to abstract arguments. They will also learn civic practices such as voting, volunteering, jury service, and joining with others to improve society. Civics enables students not only to study how others participate, but also to practice participating and taking informed action themselves.” ~ California History-Social Science Framework, pg. 9

From page 14:

“Teachers are encouraged to have students use the community to gather information regarding public issues and become familiar with individuals and organizations involved in public affairs… Whenever possible, opportunities should be available for participation and for reflection on the responsibilities of citizens in a free society… At each grade level, students can reflect on the individual responsibility and behavior that create a good society, consider the individual’s role in how a society governs itself, and examine the role of law in society.”

From page 15:

“Educators want students to perceive the complexity of social, economic, and political problems. They want them to be able to both comprehend and evaluate an argument and develop their own interpretations supported by relevant evidence. Educators want them to have the ability to differentiate between what is important and what is not. Students need to know their rights and responsibilities as American citizens and have both the capacity and willingness to participate in a democratic system of government. Educators want students to understand the meaning of the Constitution as a social contract that defines a democratic government and guarantees individual rights. Educators want them to respect the right of others to have different beliefs and ideas. Students need to take an active role as citizens and know how to work for change in a democratic society. The value, the importance, and the fragility of democratic institutions must be understood by all students. Only a small fraction of the world’s population now or in the past has been fortunate enough to live under a democratic form of government, and students need to understand the conditions that encourage democracy to prosper.”

From Appendix E on page 780:

“In today’s information age, informed citizens must be prepared to evaluate multiple and often contradictory sources to identify evidence for constructing claims, making arguments, or drawing conclusions about public issues, policy, and political candidates.”

In conclusion: I want everybody to win in my obvious and reasonable challenge to a “mask requirement.” A win will be our modeling professional responses to scholarly questions that are accurate. Please help everyone win with honest responses that you would be proud that I share with students, parents, colleagues, and our broader communities.

I am asking deliverance of HUSD’s Mission and Core Values:

MISSION STATEMENT
We draw from our community’s rich diversity in order to create an engaging and equitable educational experience, delivered in a safe and supportive environment.

CORE VALUES
Well-Supported Staff: We enhance the capacity of every employee to promote equity and model service excellence.
Collaborative Leadership: We develop leaders at all levels who creatively tackle our challenges and communicate with integrity and transparency.
Data-Informed Decisions: We use multiple types of data, including stakeholder voice, to inform decisions and monitor progress.

In all respect and support,

Carl Herman
National Board Certified Teacher
National Board Certified Teacher Coach
[email protected]