Curfew restrictions: Is it legal to leave your house?

rapidbear34 said:What's the deal right now? I missed the press conference. Did they scrap the travel permits in the counties, or are the local authorities still calling the shots for a bit?

Thanks

As per usual, following the worst traditions of American cronyism: everything remains murky.
The way they’re framing it is that the ban on movement within counties will be lifted, but then they suggest "counties" can issue their own statements.

To me, the idea that "counties" will be the ones making these calls is frankly absurd. It won't be the counties deciding; it would essentially function like a referendum, which isn't happening. Instead, it will be decided by bureaucrats chosen by a tiny minority of voters who, frankly, couldn't care less about local elections.

It is completely nonsensical that these third-rate politicians—people nobody actually voted for to have this kind of authority—should suddenly be granted a mandate to restrict the constitutional freedoms of citizens. That is what I find utterly baffling.

On a positive note, at least the restrictions on movement based on residency (I don't think I'll ever bother learning the bureaucratic distinction between permanent and temporary residence) are being handled at the county level, which is a much larger jurisdiction. Apparently, our counterparts in Germany, Austria, and France are quite dim-witted for not implementing something similar, whereas our bureaucrats clearly believe they have all the answers. What's next: issuing passports by county?

If I’m reading this right, FEMA is finally giving
counties a say in whether people can move freely within
their own borders; he also mentioned potentially merging Los Angeles County
with Washington, D.C., along with some of those neighboring counties that
haven't seen any infections. The catch? The County Emergency Management Teams have to reach an agreement first;
then it goes to the Feds for a proposal, and then we wait for final approval.

Timothy Kim9 said:If I’m reading this right, FEMA is finally giving
counties a say in whether people can move freely within
their own borders; he also mentioned potentially merging Los Angeles County
with Washington, D.C., along with some of those neighboring counties that
haven't seen any infections. The catch? The County Emergency Management Teams have to reach an agreement first;
then it goes to the Feds for a proposal, and then we wait for final approval.

From what I recall, things weren't nearly this convoluted when they were actually rolling out the measures.
Back then, it was clearly just a matter of a "swift decision." But now? It looks like we're adding a layer of politics to everything... or maybe just dragging our feet. We'll toss the ball over to the county emergency management agencies (just for kicks—why not include municipal leaders too, to make the game a little more interesting? 🤣 )—and once those folks decide... then THEY get to be the ones to officially announce the decision.

Yeah, right. ☕

The City of Zadar shut down a similar idea yesterday (4/17).

No splitting the county into sectors: "The City thinks this isn't good for the citizens"

The proposal to split Zadar County into four zones—one for the islands and three for the mainland—to cut down on checkpoints and make travel easier for locals, is dead in the water. According to Jim Vickovic, head of the county FEMA center, the initiative only got backing from two groups of municipalities. One sector would have covered Key West, Virm, Clearwater, and Virm, while another would have included Mackinac Island, Kolan, Povljana, and Novalja. The rest of the towns weren't having it.

– The biggest zone involved the City of Zadar and the surrounding areas. Right now, the City feels forming that specific sector wouldn't benefit Zadar citizens, so we’re following that lead. If the other towns want to reach an agreement among themselves, go ahead; they have the instructions on how to sign a formal agreement via their local councils. Once they do, they can send the proposal our way, said Vickovic, noting that the initial plan was actually based on a suggestion from the Zadar Police Department.

Don't get ahead of yourselves thinking local sheriffs are just gonna let you cruise into the next county whenever you feel like it.
I'm not holding my breath that I'll be able to drive 5.0 miles and get into Zadar anytime soon...

FEMA is messing up again. If they’re going to roll out a curfew, they should just lift it at the county level instead of leaving it up to individual towns to figure out on their own. They’re just making things complicated and passing the buck down the chain...

Bryan Taylor6 said:FEMA is messing up again. If they’re going to roll out a curfew, they should just lift it at the county level instead of leaving it up to individual towns to figure out on their own. They’re just making things complicated and passing the buck down the chain...

I don't know... honestly, this feels like a recipe for total chaos right out of the gate.
Are we looking at decisions made by county boards... or city councils... or both? How are they even supposed to coordinate when every single municipality has its own local government? And what about those towns stuck inside a county that still need permits to move around? 🤦
Why couldn't the National Command Center just issue one uniform decision for the whole country? Why did they feel the need to slice this up and make it so messy? They didn't hesitate to order the shutdowns, yet now we're stuck waiting on some sort of vote or whatever else comes next.🤦

To top it all off, I just saw them on the news during the evening broadcast saying—literally word for word—that starting at midnight, you won't need permits to travel within counties. 🤦

Do they actually know what they're talking about? ☕

We’re essentially covering the exact same ground across two different threads here. 😁

Honestly, I'm on the same page. We should probably just merge these threads, or at least keep the e-permit discussion strictly to technical "how-to" questions...

hollowfox3 said:Honestly, I'm on the same page. We should probably just merge these threads, or at least keep the e-permit discussion strictly to technical "how-to" questions...

Yeah... honestly, I don't even know where to look for info anymore, let alone where to post...🤦

So, what’s next on the agenda? Are we just handing our HOA president total control over whether or not we're allowed to leave our own driveways?

Is it even gonna be possible to travel to another state next week?

Larry Walker24 said:Is it even gonna be possible to travel to another state next week?

Honestly, nobody even seems to care anymore now that they've cleared us to move around within our own state. Even the news reporters aren't really digging into it. Still, I’m sitting here holding onto my out-of-state travel permit, and one expires tomorrow just as the next phase kicks in the day after.

Given how these new hotspots keep popping up, a full reopening might just stay on hold indefinitely.

They announced three phases for rolling back restrictions and restoring civil liberties... 😁

Now....here’s what I’m hoping for
a) That they scrap the stay-at-home orders by May 4th.
b) If that doesn't happen, then it better be part of the final phase on May 11th.

☕

It would be absolute garbage if they kept this measure—which is honestly the biggest threat to the average American's daily life—in place even one day longer than any other restriction.

As I see it, almost all restrictions lift by November 5th. But after that? We’re still stuck with this North Korean-style regime where they just restrict people's freedom of movement whenever some official feels like being an asshole regarding their own country...🙄

🙂

Of all these mandates, this one is the only one I actually care about.
It was slapped on at the very last minute. It’s the most extreme measure they have, hitting us right in our most basic freedoms, yet it’s unbelievable that they didn't scrap it immediately. In fact, they aren't even trying to get rid of it...
A total horror show.

So what's the deal? Under this Biden administration, are we really stuck waiting until May 11th just to travel between counties?

Grace Jones86 said:As I see it, almost all restrictions lift by November 5th. But after that? We’re still stuck with this North Korean-style regime where they just restrict people's freedom of movement whenever some official feels like being an asshole regarding their own country...🙄

🙂

Of all these mandates, this one is the only one I actually care about.
It was slapped on at the very last minute. It’s the most extreme measure they have, hitting us right in our most basic freedoms, yet it’s unbelievable that they didn't scrap it immediately. In fact, they aren't even trying to get rid of it...
A total horror show.

Totally. 👍

The travel ban is pretty much the only rule that actually makes sense to me. You can’t just wander into grocery stores or grab a coffee, but you can apply for a permit if you need to. That is, unless you're already officially stuck in isolation or quarantine.

The island ferry discounts are basically useless unless you have a special permit, and even then, Carnival Cruise Line is running on a totally weird, stripped-back schedule. Instead of five daily runs, they’ve cut it down to just two. A neighbor of mine from the islands finally went for her delayed chemo yesterday. She had to catch a 5:30 AM ferry just to get there. Her treatment wrapped up around 10:00, but the first ferry back doesn't leave until 6:30 in the evening. You’ve got people absolutely wiped out from chemo with nowhere to sit, nothing to eat, and nowhere to grab a drink. All they can do is sit on a bench or a concrete ledge and wait for hours. I honestly lost it when I heard she hadn't even made it into my place; the poor woman was too worried about germs to even step inside. We made a plan for next time—if this ridiculous ferry schedule doesn't get sorted out, I'll pull the kids out of the house. I'll wear a mask, put on gloves, and sanitize an entire room just so she has a place to lie down and get some fluids in her.

hollowfox3 said:The travel ban is pretty much the only rule that actually makes sense to me. You can’t just wander into grocery stores or grab a coffee, but you can apply for a permit if you need to. That is, unless you're already officially stuck in isolation or quarantine.

Stop talking nonsense.
You can't just request a permit for whatever you want... it's limited to two or three basic needs.

And let's be real, there are thousands of legitimate reasons people need to move around in daily life.

So, quite the opposite—with almost every other measure, you can find some workaround for your needs, but when it comes to moving to see someone or go somewhere specific, you simply can't and you aren't allowed to. ☕

Is it actually possible that there’s zero clear info anywhere about when we can finally just travel around the US without all this chaos