Over the last few weeks, coronavirus crackdown mandates, including mask wearing requirements, have been rolled back in several states. But, in Alaska, the state Senate is proceeding with a looney and pernicious crackdown on one of its own members because she has not fully complied with a list of coronavirus-related rules for the capitol. The rules, including required mask wearing, are supposedly purposed to counter coronavirus.
Andrew Kitchenman reported Wednesday at Alaska Public Media that the state Senate has voted to allow Senate leaders to enforce coronavirus-related rules against Sen. Lora Reinbold. The result is Reinbold, who has chosen neither to wear a mask nor to undergo — and report the results of — mandated repeated coronavirus-related medical testing, being prohibited from entering the capitol other than the Senate gallery from which she will be able to vote while the Senate is in session.
No more in person attendance at committee meetings, including of the Judiciary Committee of which she is chair, for Reinbold. No more joining in the debate on the Senate floor either. Reinbold is even being booted from her office in the capitol, relegated to using office space elsewhere.
Here’s to Reinbold standing up to the bullies. It sounds like that is just what Reinbold intends to do. Kitchenman shares in the article this quote from Reinbold’s Facebook page: “My actions are to protect my constitutional rights, including civil liberties and those who I represent, even under immense pressure and public scrutiny.”
