Appeals Court sets date for Newsom abuse of emergency powers case

The Recall Governor Newsom campaign has gathered over 2 million signatures which is more than it needed to qualify for the ballot. Meanwhile, the governor is still defending his COVID-19 lockdown measures, which limited Californians right to work and worship, in court.

State Sen. Kevin Kiley’s case against Gov. Gavin Newsom will be heard by the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento, Tuesday, April 20, at 9:30 a.m. Newsom is appealing the Superior Court’s ruling that he abused his emergency powers.

In November, Newsom had his first loss in court. The Superior Court ruled that his one-man rule violated the Constitution and restrained him from further unconstitutional orders.

Newsom’s lawyers filed an appeal, insisting the ruling “called into question vast swaths of the state’s emergency response” and threatened to invalidate “dozens of other executive actions.” Newsom called it a “profoundly important decision.”

The Court of Appeal declined Newsom’s wish for an immediate reversal, instead setting a rapid briefing schedule and teeing up the first precedent-setting decision in California history on the limits of a governor’s emergency powers.

Another California court has acknowledged this case could be a precedent for ending Newsom’s color/tier lockdown plan.

According to Kiley, “That’s crucial, as Newsom recently tried to declare that we are ‘not going back to normal.’ From the beginning, he hailed COVID-19 as the dawning of a ‘new progressive era’ and an ‘opportunity to reshape the way we do business and how we govern.’

“This case can lay to rest Newsom’s autocratic designs once and for all, along with those of any future governor who would exploit ‘emergency powers’ to shred our Constitution and destroy our way of life,” he said.

KEYWORDS: Regional, California, Recall Governor Newsom, COVID-19,