State Pols Hungry For Martial Law Or At Least Federal Nanny State-ing
Nothing like a crisis to bring out the tiny little authoritarians and those who long for authoritarian control. It's especially disgusting when people elected to be in charge wilt like lilies and beg for the Feds to come in with an iron fist.

Jonathan Turley writes at The Hill:

It is the legal version of panic shopping. Politicians and commentators seem to long for federal takeovers, if not martial law.

For example:

Mayor Bill de Blasio has demanded federal troops be deployed to New York City and wants the nationalization of whole industries. Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois has demanded that President Trump take charge and lamented that "precious months" were wasted waiting for federal action. Internet critics are even more direct in demanding a federal takeover, including a national quarantine.

...They are buying into far more than they need while not doing as much as they could with what they have. For decades, governors fought to retain principal authority over public emergencies but did little with that authority. While many are doing impressive work now, some governors and mayors seem as eager to contain the blame as the virus. Call it "political distancing."

Even if Trump were inclined to fully nationalize the crisis -- deploy troops, force manufacturers to produce ventilators, impose price controls -- our Constitution expressly leaves most police powers and public health protection to the states in our system of federalism. The Framers believed liberties and powers were safest when held closest to citizens in local and state governments. Locally elected officials are more readily held accountable than unknown Washington bureaucrats. Of course, with authority comes responsibility -- and the latter is not always as welcomed as the former.

Despite all the hyperbole of the last few days, the president's authority to act is far more limited than many seem to think. Trump can't -- and shouldn't -- just "take over." For example, while he may want to "open for business" by Easter, he has no clear authority to lift state orders for citizens to stay at home. His greatest authority is supplying assistance for states in the production and delivery of needed resources like ventilators. While he can put conditions on some assistance, he cannot commandeer states' authority in their responses to the pandemic.

...States remain in the best position to address emergencies, and these earlier laws gave governors ample authority to act. They simply did relatively little in the intervening two decades to prepare for public health emergencies. A report from a New York Department of Health task force in 2015 has resurfaced, warning that New York could face a ventilator shortage of roughly 15,000 in any new pandemic. While the report did not call for stockpiling, states clearly have not done enough, individually or collectively, to set aside such resources.

Media coverage has referred to the National Emergency Act and other impressive statutory titles to suggest that the president can order national quarantines and take over management of this crisis. In fact, these laws follow the same model laid out by the Constitution's Framers in leaving the responses to state control. For example, the oft-referenced Stafford Act merely heightens the authority of federal technical, financial, logistical and other assistance to state and local governments.

Likewise, the Defense Production Act is meant to help advance priorities, not establish a nationalized industrial base. If companies already agree to expand production, or to retool for new products, there is no need to impose mandates under the act; that process will not likely go any faster. Nationalization can slow rather than speed relief in an emergency by replacing existing personnel and systems. With large purchase orders and indemnifications, executives have ample incentive to expand production. After General Motors failed to meet expectations on price and production, Trump triggered the act, and that is precisely how it should be handled.