Preserve Freedom of Choice in New Hampshire: Manchester Mask Mandate Puts Residents at Risk

by Derrick Horton | Sep 2, 2020 | 21 comments

Yesterday scores of people gathered outside of City Hall in Manchester, New Hampshire to voice their support for retaining freedom of choice with regard to masks. Some city alderman were scheduled to vote on a mandate that would require residents and visitors to wear face coverings at all times, regardless of their efficacy, or pay $1,000.00 for non-compliance. Allegedly, the decision was a split vote 7-7, with the mayor being the deciding vote, so the council decided to postpone the vote until next month.

The event, titled “Mask Mandates: Absurd, Slavish, and Destructive to Mankind” was organized on Facebook by State Senate candidate Carla Gericke with only 24 hours notice. The name is a nod to New Hampshire’s Tenth Amendment. Attendees held signs, distributed literature to passers-by, and addressed the crowd with a megaphone. The overall theme of the event was that health and medical decisions are a personal choice and should not be mandated by government agents. Similar events have taken place in Plymouth and Portsmouth, where local bureaucrats are considering similar mandates and fines.

Yesterday, agents in Concord, NH mandated that face coverings be worn by all people in most businesses or face fines — a move that the Liberty Defense Fund of New Hampshire says it will challenge in court. As more well-intentioned bureaucrats jump on the mask mandate bandwagon, they recklessly invite endless lawsuits and legal challenges for which their residents must pay. It is not enough to infringe on the people’s rights. To add insult to injury, they also make residents and business owners pay for the lawsuits to defend the infringement, win or lose.