KREM 2 News reached out to local educators in the Inland Northwest, who specialize in the study of Constitutional law, to discuss the current stay-home orders. Dr. Cornell Clayton, professor of political science and director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute at Washington State University acknowledged that there is indeed a question of our own individual rights when it comes to these state-mandated restrictions.
“And as is often the case,” says Clayton, “we sometimes jump from a reasonable discussion about public policy to a constitutional argument.”
Implicating constitutional rights is not the same as violating them; and debating public policy is not the same as decrying unconstitutionality. Clayton agreed it is legal for state courts to enforce stay-at-home orders, and the federal government supports the state court systems in these restrictions.