Coyote writes (or forwards?):
> This Fla. EO places the Florida National Guard, a unit of the Federal U.S.
> Army, in control of all Florida law
> enforcement (State FDLE, County Sheriffs, and local PD's) and the Florida
> Emergency Management department (Florida's FEMA under federal FEMA
> control) Remember, this was 4 days before the WTC disaster.
That's a misstatement of the order you just quoted. The order allowed
the national guard to help train the local police. It didn't put them
"in control of all Florida law enforcement".
> Governor "Jeb" then signed Florida Executive Order No. 01-262 immediately
> after the second WTC tower fell. Florida was the first STATE to declare a
> "State of Emergency" and did so before New York State or the Federal
> Washington City leaders did, yet there were no "terroristic" incidents
> that had taken place in Florida.
>
> Florida EO 01-262 states, in part:
>
> "I hereby declare that a state of emergency exists in the State of
> Florida... The authority to suspend the effect of any statute or rule
> governing the conduct of state business, and the further authority to
> suspend the effect of any order or rule of any governmental entity... The
> authority to seize and utilize any and all real or personal property as
> needed to meet this emergency... The authority to order the evacuation of
> any or all persons from any location in the State of Florida, and the
> authority to regulate the movement of any or all persons to or from any
> location in the State; The authority to regulate the return of the
> evacuees to their home communities... I hereby order the Adjutant General to
> activate the Florida National Guard for the duration of this emergency."
Again you have taken much of this material out of context.
I believe the "conduct of state business" clause refers to the
government's conduct of its own functions, not to private enterprise
within the state. This allows the different state agencies to cooperate
more closely.
The property-seizing order continues, "subject always to the duty of
the State to compensate the owner". So property can be seized only with
just compensation. This is a well established principle.
Being able to evacuate people and control their return is a standard
police power.
In short while I agree that declarations of emergency must be watched
carefully, it is incorrect to characterize this as "martial law".
I wonder how many other states have had similar orders issued in the days
since the WTC attacks?
Hal
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Oct 12 2001 - 14:40:56 MDT