Janice in NJ Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 News from New Jersey: TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today signed an executive order to postpone Halloween until Monday because of unsafe conditions throughout New Jersey in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. “In too many communities in our state, the damage and losses from this storm are still being sorted out, and dangerous conditions abound even as our emergency management and response officials continue their work," Christie said in a statement. The governor has said for a few days he would probably issue the order, even joking that he might reschedule it for Election Day. Christie said Tuesday he hoped local officials would abide by it to prevent any injuries from downed trees, utility poles, power lines and flooding. Is this the role of government? Should government make these kinds of decisions? What does this decision by the governor even mean? Should be a lively discussion at our house as we get first dibs at the candy bowl..... Peace, Janice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nscribe Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 The Federal Government establishes the dates of recognition of federal holidays. Many may remember the great debates that occured when the presidential birthdays were removed from the officially recognized days to make room for MLK day. When such federal holidays are established they can have implications for federally regulated businesses and employment contracts. It can be very interesting to look at and compare those holidays recognized at the federal level (Mother's Day, Father's Day compared to MLK Day, Labor Day...) You could turn on C-Span and see months or weeks declared as recognized (Black History Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Week-later month) just about any last/first week of the month. Some holidays do not receive federal recognition/designation. Halloween is one of them. I would guess no state officially recognizes Halloween and yet it is entirely common for there to be candy handouts at Governor's mansions. Is that official recognition? Governors can make all sorts of proclamations and do have considerable discretion over health and safety within their states (see their powers over the National Guard). Assuming NJ's governor was challenged for trying to change the day of recognition of a non-federal holiday, he could certainly skin that cat via powers over safety concerns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nscribe Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 One other note: If not the Governor, then who? Who else could speak for the entire state in this situation. Should an emergency session of the legislature be called (with all the cost attendant doing so, assuming the legislature is not in session) for the purpose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 From the 14 year old, It isn't a Federal or State sanctioned (at least not in Michigan) holiday. Therefore, technically, the governor does not have the power to authorize the cancelation or time change under normal circumstances. Since Halloween is a religious holiday for some, the action could be considered a violation of "church and state" depending on how you read that amendment. The reality is that because Pagan religions such as Wicca are in a very small cultural minority, the action is not likely to be denounced. Since it does not preclude Pagans from the free exercise of their religion (trick or treating not being a religious act claimed by any Pagan religion at least as far as I could find on the web), it will not draw much attention. The governor did however act in good faith. While the governor cannot technically "move" a religious holiday and force its observance on a different date, he can in fact use his executive pen when a national disaster has occured or in time of war, to institute directives. It is sad that he felt it was necessary to do so since common sense should dictate that it is stupid for children to be trick or treating in hurricane ravaged areas. However, since common sense is not Common this annoncementwas necessary because there would be parents nusty cuckoo enough to take their children trick or treating. Even worse, there would some nut that would actually be angry if he/she knocked on neighbor X's door and neighbor X wasn't ready to hand out candy. Very sad, but unfortunately, true. Ds also says that for those residents with power, they would be wise to keep their lights off tonight because he just knows some lunatic will NOT have heard the proclamation and will in fact take their kids trick or treating! (I hope he is not correct. He has recently had reason to take a dim view of the average person's logical thinking skills. :lol:) Oh, and he wanted me to tack this on - "Authority not expressly given to the federal government is expressly that of the state except where the state constitution expressly gives it to local authorities. In this case, local villages and townships that have already passed their own ordinances/resolutions and moved their trick or treating do a different day than the governor decreed would need a bevy of attorneys to work out the whether or not he has the authority to preempt their own resolution in the matter." (He spent about an hour outlining what he wanted to say. I typed it and fixed most of the spelling errors as this child, like his father, can't spell a thing and never will be able to!!!!! :glare:) I told him that if I post it, he has to be willing to accept heaps of criticism because this is, "The board I go to in order to find out how to academically torture you and your brothers even more than I can dream up on my own!" :D Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 News from New Jersey: TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today signed an executive order to postpone Halloween until Monday because of unsafe conditions throughout New Jersey in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. “In too many communities in our state, the damage and losses from this storm are still being sorted out, and dangerous conditions abound even as our emergency management and response officials continue their work," Christie said in a statement. The governor has said for a few days he would probably issue the order, even joking that he might reschedule it for Election Day. Christie said Tuesday he hoped local officials would abide by it to prevent any injuries from downed trees, utility poles, power lines and flooding. Is this the role of government? Should government make these kinds of decisions? What does this decision by the governor even mean? Should be a lively discussion at our house as we get first dibs at the candy bowl..... Peace, Janice Janice, it is an interesting situation for the teens to debate. I am finding in my son's group of friends that once they get rid of political jargon they have heard from their parents, myself included, they make some very considered points. Oddly, then the sides seem much closer together.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 News from New Jersey: TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today signed an executive order to postpone Halloween until Monday because of unsafe conditions throughout New Jersey in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. “In too many communities in our state, the damage and losses from this storm are still being sorted out, and dangerous conditions abound even as our emergency management and response officials continue their work," Christie said in a statement. The governor has said for a few days he would probably issue the order, even joking that he might reschedule it for Election Day. Christie said Tuesday he hoped local officials would abide by it to prevent any injuries from downed trees, utility poles, power lines and flooding. Is this the role of government? Should government make these kinds of decisions? What does this decision by the governor even mean? Should be a lively discussion at our house as we get first dibs at the candy bowl..... Peace, Janice I think the announcement should be considered in light of the fact that many cities and other entities do regulate by local ordinance the hours of Halloween Trick or Treating. We live in unincorporated county area. They did not stipulate hours, but gave guidelines of dusk until 830-9 pm as typical. (We only had one group after 815pm, but it was chilly.) So if you lived in an area where the government set official trick or treating times, an official announcement suspending it would make more sense. That doesn't really address the question of if it is appropriate for the government to make that decision in the first place. The other question would be if there was a health/safety issue in having young children out after dark in areas with power outages. Or if there had been a nightime curfew established in hurricane hit areas. (A quick scan suggests that several counties do have or had curfews in effect for evening hours.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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