Curfew restrictions: Is it legal to leave your house?

Tyler Ruiz502 said:Just look at the logic here—everything is supposedly open, right? Almost everything. Except for enclosed spaces. And local shops.
But the real issue is trying to visit your relatives or elderly parents you haven't seen in six months—since most people only travel during holidays or big family gatherings to see their grandkids and all that.
To actually make that happen, you’re forced to lie. It’s honestly ridiculous.

And even if you play along and claim you're heading out for agricultural work to get a permit—say, two permits for a married couple—what about the kids? Are they just stuck here?
It’s an absolute joke.

Shouldn't we be questioning why children are being subjected to such unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles? It seems fundamentally absurd to demand a pass for them.
I personally reached out regarding my request for May 1st, and I was surprised to find the response sitting in my inbox within a mere thirty minutes. Is it not curious, then, that others have been left waiting for an entire month?
I fail to see the point of it all if they are handed over so readily, especially when there isn't a single checkpoint or bit of oversight between here and my destination. What is the purpose of such a process if there is absolutely no way to verify where one is actually headed?

So, you were asking about May Day? Like, taking it as part of your annual vacation time? Well, look—you can't just pick any random reason. You have to frame it as something absolutely essential. Something mission-critical, if you will.
Maybe say it's for grocery deliveries or some other errand that just can't wait.

Tyler Ruiz502 said:So, you were asking about May Day? Like, taking it as part of your annual vacation time? Well, look—you can't just pick any random reason. You have to frame it as something absolutely essential. Something mission-critical, if you will.
Maybe say it's for grocery deliveries or some other errand that just can't wait.

No, I actually wrote that I was heading to the cabin to clear out weeds and clean the house.
Which happens to be the truth.
And yet, I was approved.
I know plenty of others who used that exact same excuse.

Just download the document, fill it out with your SSN, and you don't even need a handwritten signature. They just email the permit directly to whatever address you provide. It is frankly absurd how simple the whole process is—and quite unnecessary if nobody is actually bothering to verify anything, wouldn't you agree?

The whole idea of managing things by state lines would actually make sense if we let life unfold with a bit more regional dynamic. For instance—just as a thought experiment—you could fully reopen everything in a major hub like Chicago or the surrounding suburbs, keeping the power on for businesses, schools, and everything else, while essentially keeping the rest of the states under lock and key like they’ve been the last few weeks. Then, you just sit back and watch what happens over the next two or three weeks. If the hospital capacities and staffing levels aren't getting overwhelmed by the influx from the city, then you slowly start opening up the other regional centers... maybe in three or four gradual phases.
Only then would it actually be logical to restrict travel between states.

But this current approach? Total nonsense.

Tyler Ruiz502 said:The whole idea of managing things by state lines would actually make sense if we let life unfold with a bit more regional dynamic. For instance—just as a thought experiment—you could fully reopen everything in a major hub like Chicago or the surrounding suburbs, keeping the power on for businesses, schools, and everything else, while essentially keeping the rest of the states under lock and key like they’ve been the last few weeks. Then, you just sit back and watch what happens over the next two or three weeks. If the hospital capacities and staffing levels aren't getting overwhelmed by the influx from the city, then you slowly start opening up the other regional centers... maybe in three or four gradual phases.
Only then would it actually be logical to restrict travel between states.

But this current approach? Total nonsense.

In these applications, you’re essentially "signing" your name under oath, yet you aren't actually signing anything; they don't even bother to ask if you've been ordered into self-isolation or what date that might have been.
And that's the extent of it. 🤦
Then, based solely on your word—your "trust me, I'm telling the truth"—and your Social Security number, they issue you a permit that absolutely nobody bothers to verify.
My mother has already traveled there twice, and not a single soul asked her for a thing.

I honestly thought I was right when I argued that kids shouldn't be allowed to travel with their parents—because, at the very start of all this madness, the whole point was that things like grocery deliveries were supposed to let everyone help out their elderly parents. But by making it about these strict permits, they’ve basically ensured that traveling outside your immediate area won't turn into a family outing or even just a chance to catch up; instead, you just show up, do your errand, and leave.

Since when did it suddenly become a given that children can tag along?

Sent from my Mi 9T via Reddit

It’s not a given when it comes to children.
They really need to be explicit about why kids are being allowed in. They shouldn't just lump everyone together under one rule; they should make a specific call if they decide that children are permitted to attend.
Maybe they’ve loosened up recently, but in the past, they were absolutely suffocating us with restrictions.

The email I received three days ago after inquiring about getting permits for myself and my child for May 1st

__________________________________
To whom it may concern,
Your permit is currently being processed; please note that a separate permit is not required for a minor traveling under parental supervision.
Sincerely,

CITY OF WASHINGTON, D.C.
DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

___________________________________

🙂

Morgan Peterson said:The email I received three days ago after inquiring about getting permits for myself and my child for May 1st

__________________________________
To whom it may concern,
Your permit is currently being processed; please note that a separate permit is not required for a minor traveling under parental supervision.
Sincerely,

CITY OF WASHINGTON, D.C.
DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

___________________________________

🙂

Oh, please...
Back then, they actually had to explain why kids needed to go with their parents; it wasn't just some automatic assumption.
Whether they're using different criteria now or if things have just changed over time, who knows. I'm looking at these "new" guidelines right now, and apparently, visiting property is considered a vital family reason. It’s either something brand new, or they've just decided from the start that real estate matters fall under "vital"... give me a break.

I haven't really been crunching the numbers on all this—mostly because I'm terrified of what the total will look like once I finally do... plus, with my kid missing soccer practice and school, the math just gets uglier.

Edward Fisher86 said:Oh, please...
Back then, they actually had to explain why kids needed to go with their parents; it wasn't just some automatic assumption.
Whether they're using different criteria now or if things have just changed over time, who knows. I'm looking at these "new" guidelines right now, and apparently, visiting property is considered a vital family reason. It’s either something brand new, or they've just decided from the start that real estate matters fall under "vital"... give me a break.

I read that too. I'm assuming it *is* new, because when this first started, they turned me down for that exact reason (my property was in the same County).
Now, I can basically drive there without even needing a pass.

So, if they could have allowed it from the very start, 🤔 what was all that back-and-forth for? 🙄

☕

Joseph Taylor11 said:I read that too. I'm assuming it *is* new, because when this first started, they turned me down for that exact reason (my property was in the same County).
Now, I can basically drive there without even needing a pass.

So, if they could have allowed it from the very start, 🤔 what was all that back-and-forth for? 🙄

☕

Ah, nah, they definitely couldn't do that at the start. They’re just squeezing us and playing it however they feel like. Like, the formal rules don't even matter at this point—they just change them whenever they want.

Joseph Taylor11 said:I read that too. I'm assuming it *is* new, because when this first started, they turned me down for that exact reason (my property was in the same County).
Now, I can basically drive there without even needing a pass.

So, if they could have allowed it from the very start, 🤔 what was all that back-and-forth for? 🙄

☕

It really depends on how everyone interpreted it...
I was granted permission right at the start.
The reason I got it, though, was because I was dealing with a completely different issue.

Which, by the way, this government still hasn't fixed, since the Department of Homeland Security refuses to process residency changes—likely because they're just being lazy and shady.

I’ve been sitting here reading through all these comments, and honestly, I can’t wrap my head around how you guys are letting them mess with your heads like this, stripping away your basic constitutional right to move around freely. Seriously, when are you people going to actually stand up for yourselves? What the hell are you waiting for? They’re out there hosting massive events without any masks or restrictions, yet they try to play cop and tell you that you can't even drive from the Hudson Valley over to Appalachia

Look at what’s happening in Germany—nobody is stopping you there. Sure, you might need a mask on a bus or while you're grabbing groceries, and maybe there's a limit of two people in one spot, but beyond that? You go wherever you want and do whatever the hell you want...

Between Canada and the US, things have become more restrictive than North Korea...

There is absolutely no way tourists are going to want to visit the US under these conditions...

nimbleranger52 said:I’ve been sitting here reading through all these comments, and honestly, I can’t wrap my head around how you guys are letting them mess with your heads like this, stripping away your basic constitutional right to move around freely. Seriously, when are you people going to actually stand up for yourselves? What the hell are you waiting for? They’re out there hosting massive events without any masks or restrictions, yet they try to play cop and tell you that you can't even drive from the Hudson Valley over to Appalachia

Look at what’s happening in Germany—nobody is stopping you there. Sure, you might need a mask on a bus or while you're grabbing groceries, and maybe there's a limit of two people in one spot, but beyond that? You go wherever you want and do whatever the hell you want...

Between Canada and the US, things have become more restrictive than North Korea...

There is absolutely no way tourists are going to want to visit the US under these conditions...

Driving from Appalachia to the Hudson Valley is easy... personally, until recently, I wasn't even allowed to go to the next township just a few dozen yards from my house. ☕

By the way, lifting those local travel restrictions clearly didn't cause a spike in cases. We haven't seen more than 15 new infections in eight days now...

Oh, give me a break. It’s actually wild when you think about it—the US has more counties than all of Germany combined, and Germany has like 80 million people. Meanwhile, our entire country is barely bigger than Berlin. We're talking maybe 4 million people tops...

It's just absolutely fascinating how they choose to structure the administration in this beautiful land of ours.

nimbleranger52 said:I’ve been sitting here reading through all these comments, and honestly, I can’t wrap my head around how you guys are letting them mess with your heads like this, stripping away your basic constitutional right to move around freely. Seriously, when are you people going to actually stand up for yourselves? What the hell are you waiting for? They’re out there hosting massive events without any masks or restrictions, yet they try to play cop and tell you that you can't even drive from the Hudson Valley over to Appalachia

Look at what’s happening in Germany—nobody is stopping you there. Sure, you might need a mask on a bus or while you're grabbing groceries, and maybe there's a limit of two people in one spot, but beyond that? You go wherever you want and do whatever the hell you want...

Between Canada and the US, things have become more restrictive than North Korea...

There is absolutely no way tourists are going to want to visit the US under these conditions...

Over in Germany, they also had stay-at-home orders in certain areas, at least for a while.

Robert Reyes4 said:Over in Germany, they also had stay-at-home orders in certain areas, at least for a while.

Only in certain areas (probably). Most of Germany was fine.
Then again, their definition of "residence" might have been a little different than ours—it wasn't just being stuck within the limits of a tiny town 🤷 (where even the smallest ones have at least 137 people and cover about 2 square miles).

Joseph Taylor11 said:I read that too. I'm assuming it *is* new, because when this first started, they turned me down for that exact reason (my property was in the same County).
Now, I can basically drive there without even needing a pass.

So, if they could have allowed it from the very start, 🤔 what was all that back-and-forth for? 🙄

☕

You really should’ve been a bit more creative (like finding someone you could "help out" on your way there, for example). And mentioning your own house as your destination? That probably would have helped immensely.

Robert Reyes4 said:Over in Germany, they also had stay-at-home orders in certain areas, at least for a while.

Wait, where exactly? Like, can you actually drop a link to some official government or federal website or something? I need to see if this is legit!