COMMUNITY
THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2020
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
Peddling presidential gear
Keegan
Masterson
receives $10,000
scholarship
■ Idaho man
selling Trump
merchandise in
Baker City
By Sam Anthony
santhony@bakercityherald.com
“Trump gear, hats, shirts,
fl ags,” reads a sign outside Ste-
ven Goodman’s colorful mer-
chandise booth along Campbell
Street in Baker City.
Goodman, of Emmett, Idaho,
said he “saw a vision” that
there was going to be a big
demand for presidential gear
in the months leading up to the
November election.
“This is how I’ve been able to
make a living since he’s been in
offi ce — getting behind him,”
Goodman said on Tuesday.
Goodman, who travels
around the region selling
Trump memorabilia, said he
landed in Baker County after
researching counties that were
heavily Republican.
Of Baker County’s 12,200
registered voters, the largest
share — 5,525, or 45.3% — are
registered Republicans.
Another 3,837 — 31.4%
— are nonaffi liated, and
2,072 — 17% — are registered
Democrats.
In the 2016 presidential
election, however, almost 71%
of Baker County voters cast
their ballots for Trump, while
his Democratic rival, Hillary
Clinton, received 20.5% of the
votes.
Andrew Davis of Baker City
said Tuesday he had never
seen a booth as big as Good-
man’s in town.
Davis said he stopped to
browse the booth because he
supports Trump, and thinks
“he’s been doing a great job for
LAWSUIT
Continued from Page 1A
Mannix fi led a 35-page
brief on Tuesday.
At issue is the prelimi-
nary injunction that Baker
County Circuit Court Judge
Matt Shirtcliff granted to
the plaintiffs on May 18. The
Supreme Court later that day
issued a temporary stay that
set aside the injunction and
allowed the state to continue
to enforce the governor’s
executive orders restricting
some businesses and limiting
the size of public gatherings,
including church services, to
25 people.
Many Oregon counties,
including Baker County,
could move into phase 2 of
the state’s reopening plan on
Friday. The limit on people
attending church services
will increase to 250, although
that’s allowed only if the
venue is large enough to al-
low social distancing.
On May 26 Shirtcliff
declined to withdraw his deci-
sion granting the preliminary
injunction.
The Supreme Court then
set deadlines for attorneys on
both sides to submit writ-
ten arguments for why the
injunction should or should
not stand.
The Supreme Court has
not given a timeline for oral
arguments on the matter, or
for when it will issue a deci-
sion.
Whether the Court rein-
states the preliminary injunc-
tion or vacates it, the lawsuit
itself could continue, poten-
tially leading to a trial in
Baker County Circuit Court.
Plaintiffs cite 28-day
limit in public health
emergency law
In his brief, Hacke address-
es two state laws Brown has
cited during the pandemic.
The fi rst is Oregon Revised
Statute (ORS) chapter 401.
That’s the general emergency
law Brown invoked when she
initially declared an emer-
gency due to the pandemic on
March 8. Chapter 401 does
not set a time limit on the
L OCAL
B RIEFING
Sam Anthony / Baker City Herald
Customers browse President Trump merchandise at a booth on Campbell Street in Baker City on Tuesday.
City was afraid she had
missed her chance to buy a
“Make America Great Again”
hat.
She didn’t stop at the booth
Monday and when she re-
— Steven Goodman, who
turned Tuesday it was gone.
sells Trump merchandise
“I saw it yesterday but they
this country as far as getting
were down the street and I
businesses back up and run-
was afraid they weren’t going
ning and getting people back
to be here today,” Brown said.
to work.”
“I was on my way to Bi-Mart
Goodman’s booth was set up and I thought ‘Oh, there they
Sunday at the corner of Grove are, they moved,’ so I stopped
and Campbell streets, across
here.”
Campbell from the Baker
Randy Blair, who moved to
Heritage Museum.
Baker City from Hillsboro a
He said he had a misunder- year ago, said he hasn’t seen
standing on Monday with the anything like Goodman’s
county and city over public
stand in either city.
land and a vending permit,
“I support Trump and I was
which is why he moved the
really intrigued by seeing this
booth to private land on the
stand here and was thinking
north side of Campbell near
about getting a banner and
the entrance to Baker Towne putting it in my yard,” Blair.
Square.
Goodman said that he’s
Goodman said he received a received a warm welcome in
permit from the city Tuesday Baker City and business has
morning.
been good, so he plans to stay
Patricia Brown of Baker
for at least a week.
“This is how I’ve been
able to make a living
since he’s been in offi ce —
getting behind him.”
“When wielding her emergency powers, the Governor
can and should — nay, must — respect individual
liberties to the greatest extent possible.”
— Ray Hacke, attorney representing plaintiffs in lawsuit
challenging Gov. Kate Brown’s executive orders restricting
businesses and church gatherings
emergency — it can continue
until either the governor or
the Legislature decides to
end it.
The Legislature has not
convened since the pan-
demic started, and Brown
has extended the emergency
declaration under chapter
401 until July 6.
The second law is ORS
chapter 433, which deals
specifi cally with public health
emergencies. Chapter 433,
which Brown cited in several
of the executive orders she
issued following the March 8
emergency declaration, has a
28-day limit.
Hacke, as he did dur-
ing a hearing before Judge
Shirtcliff in Baker County
Circuit Court on May 14,
contends that when two laws
are involved, the “newer and
more specifi c provision” is the
controlling statute.
Hacke writes in the brief
that Brown cannot “treat the
time limits imposed under
(chapter) 433 as optional”
simply because she invoked
chapter 401 in her initial
emergency declaration.
Hacke contends that chap-
ter 433, which has the 28-day
limit, is more specifi c because
it includes a time limit while
chapter 401 does not.
In addition, chapter 433 is
newer, passed by the Legis-
lature in 2003 and revised in
2007. Chapter 401 dates to
1949.
Shirtcliff agreed with that
reasoning in his decision
granting the preliminary
injunction.
Gutman disputes that in-
terpretation of the interplay
between the two laws. He
argued in his May 28 brief
that the laws are not in con-
fl ict but are instead comple-
mentary, and that Brown can
invoke an emergency under
chapter 401, without time
limits, but also use the spe-
cifi c powers granted under
chapter 433 without then
being limited to the 28 days
in that statute.
Hacke countered a conten-
tion in Gutman’s brief that
the plaintiffs “did not assert
a free-exercise claim in their
complaint.”
Hacke cited sections in the
amended lawsuit contending
that one of Brown’s executive
orders “at least implicitly
impinges on plaintiffs’ free
exercise of religion” under the
Oregon Constitution.
Hacke also argues in his
brief that Brown’s executive
orders “have consistently
shown hostility toward
religion.”
He cited executive order 20-
25, which limits “faith-based
gatherings” to 25 people,
regardless of the physical
dimensions of the church.
Hacke notes that dur-
ing phase one of the state’s
reopening plan, the governor
allows restaurants and bars
to determine maximum occu-
pancy while still maintaining
social distancing, but doesn’t
allow churches to use the
same guidelines.
Hacke acknowledged
that although Brown signed
executive order 20-25 after
the lawsuit was fi led, two
earlier orders also fail to treat
religious gatherings with
the same leniency as secular
gatherings.
Hacke concludes his brief
by asking the Supreme Court
to affi rm Shirtcliff’s decision
to grant the preliminary
injunction, which would block
the governor from enforcing
executive orders, including
those limiting the number
of people attending church
services.
The Supreme Court could
do so for either of two reasons,
Hacke argues.
The fi rst reason is the
governor’s failure to abide by
Baker High School
senior Keegan Mas-
terson has received a
$10,000 scholarship to
attend Cottey College
in Nevada, Missouri.
Keegan is an honor roll
student at BHS and a
member of the National
Honor Society and
the Future Business
Leaders of America.
She hopes to become an
obstetrician-gynecolo-
gist.
Keegan has worked
at the YMCA and in
elder care, as well as
volunteering for Heart
’N Home Hospice.
In 1927 the PEO
Sisterhood accepted the
college, founded in 1884
by Virginia Alice Cottey,
as a gift from Cottey,
making the college the
only sectarian college
owned and supported
by women. Chapter CJ
of the PEO Sisterhood,
organized in 1952 in
Baker City, sponsored
Keegan’s scholarship
application.
Lexie Flanagan,
Ty Morrison
receive Lion John
Leonard Memorial
Scholarships
Steven Goodman of Emmett, Idaho, said he chose Baker
City as a site for his Trump merchandise booth in part
because Baker County voters lean heavily Republican.
Lexie Flanagan and
Ty Morrison are recipi-
ents of the 2020 Lion
John Leonard Memorial
Scholarship.
The scholarship em-
phasizes the importance
of community service
involvement.
and wildfi res, and that the
Legislature’s decision to ap-
prove chapter 433, dealing
specifi cally with public health
emergencies, is compelling
evidence that chapter 401
wasn’t designed to deal with
pandemics.
“There is no indication
(in chapter 401) that it was
designed with a public health
emergency in mind other than
a reference to “disease,” Man-
nix wrote in his brief. “(Chap-
ter 401) has zero references
to public health emergencies.
(The law) does not refer to a
‘pandemic’ or ‘epidemic.’ ”
Mannix, a former state
legislator who ran for gover-
nor as a Republican in 2002,
also addresses the question of
whether the current executive
orders restricting business op-
erations and the size of public
gatherings are necessary to
deal with the pandemic.
He argues in his brief
that the governor and state
offi cials can respond to the
pandemic without continuing
to enforce those restrictions.
Mannix cites ORS chapter
431A, enacted in 2007, which
he contends “works in con-
junction with other Oregon
laws to provide a comprehen-
sive system to respond to a
pandemic without the need
to declare a public health
emergency and empower the
Governor to impose the dra-
conian restrictions of (chapter
433).”
Mannix notes that chapter
431A authorizes the Oregon
Health Authority and local
public health administrators
during a disease outbreak to,
among other things, “issue ad-
ministrative orders to enforce
compliance with public health
laws” and to “impose a civil
penalty not to exceed $500 a
day per violation.”
Chapter 431A also autho-
rizes the state’s public health
director to “issue guidelines
for private businesses regard-
ing appropriate work restric-
tions.”
The law does not, however,
authorize the governor to
close businesses or limit the
number of people attend-
ing church services or other
events.
Mannix argues that the
authorities granted under
chapter 431A are suffi cient to
manage the pandemic, even if
the Supreme Court reinstates
the preliminary injunction,
prohibiting the state from
continuing to enforce the gov-
ernor’s executive orders.
“The sky will not fall if the
preliminary injunction is
allowed to take effect and the
28-day time limit is honored
as to the extraordinary
powers conferred by ORS
Chapter 433,” Mannix writes
in his brief.
Sam Anthony / Baker City Herald
the 28-day limit that Hacke
contends she is bound by.
The second reason, Hacke
writes, is that “the severe cur-
tailment of core constitutional
freedoms even in areas of the
state that have experienced
few or no coronavirus cases
cannot be further sustained.”
“When wielding her emer-
gency powers, the Governor
can and should — nay, must
— respect individual liberties
to the greatest extent pos-
sible,” Hacke writes.
Baker County has had one
confi rmed case of COVID-19.
Brief on behalf of
intervenors
In his brief, Mannix argued
that the governor’s broad
powers authorized by chapter
401, the general emergency
law that has no time limit, do
not include the authority to
close businesses and church-
es, or to impose reopening
orders on counties. To take
those steps, Mannix contends,
the governor, as she did, must
invoke chapter 433, and her
orders based on that law are
limited to 28 days.
“Those unique, extraor-
dinary powers of the public
health emergency law expire
28 days after the public
health emergency is de-
clared,” Mannix wrote in his
brief. “The general emergency
law (chapter 401) ... does
not authorize restrictions
or closures as to churches,
businesses, or public gather-
ings during a public health
emergency.”
Mannix also addresses the
relationship between chapter
401, the general emergency
law, and chapter 433, the pub-
lic health emergency law.
“The general emergency
law may co-exist with a
public health emergency, but
the existence of the general
emergency does not cancel
the 28-day expiration provi-
sion for the unique, extraor-
dinary powers granted by
(chapter 433),” Mannix wrote
in his brief.
He also argues that chapter
401 was intended to help the
governor deal with emergen-
cies such as fl oods, storms
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