It is my belief that your ordinance O-20-018 is illegal. Ordering citizens and visitors in Nashua to wear face masks, including options such as bandanas and scarves and making it punishable for not complying by fines up to $1,000 is, on its face, illegal.

Also, it has a deleterious effect on the citizens, leads to the loss of business and may violate many state and federal laws.

Of the many various state and federal laws you may be in violation of the following:

OSHA: Your plan is not OSHA-compliant, there has been no OSHA training by state and city retailers and employers in regard to wearing masks, with the exception of our local hospitals. Enforcing this plan means you are purposefully and willfully violating OSHA. The Respiratory Protection Standard (1910.134) is usually one of the Top 10 most frequently cited standards following inspections of workplaces by OSHA. YOUR VIOLATION OF OSHA IS A FEDERAL CRIME YOU ARE WILLFULLY COMMITTING. See: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/respiratoryprotection/enforcement.html.

ADA: You are forcing a discrimination scenario against Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Each of you may be fined up to $75,000 for your first action that violates ADA. This is your first action. Second actions are $150,000 fines. THIS IS A FEDERAL CRIME YOU ARE WILLFULLY COMMITTING. See: https://www.ada.gov/index.html.

FIRST AMENDMENT, U.S. CONSTITUTION: Freedom of expression cannot be suppressed or limited in any way. Muffling a voice, forcing the covering against the will of a citizen for freedom of their facial expression, even reducing their ability to breath and speak properly is a hindrance and violation. See: https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1169/anti-mask-laws.

FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT: Our Founding Fathers believed this so sacrosanct a right, yet you are creating restrictions against it, including across state lines. Businesses will continue to close due to lack of restricted visitors and tourism, many will avoid Nashua like the plague you will make it – unemployment, homelessness, business foreclosure – all lost American dreams created by restrictions of movement. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_under_United_States_law.

DEPRIVATION OF RIGHTS UNDER COLOR OF LAW: The U.S. Department of Justice, Section 242 of Title 18 makes it a crime for a person acting under color of any law to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. For the purpose of Section 242, acts under “color of law” include acts not only done by federal, state or local officials within their lawful authority, but also acts done beyond the bounds of that official’s lawful authority, if the acts are done while the official is purporting to or pretending to act in the performance of his/her official duties. Persons acting under color of law within the meaning of this statute include police officers, prisons guards and other law enforcement officials, as well as judges, care providers in public health facilities, and others who are acting as public officials. It is not necessary that the crime be motivated by animus toward the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin of the victim.

The offense is punishable by a range of imprisonment up to a life term, or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime, and the resulting injury, if any. See: https://www.justice.gov/crt/deprivation-rights-under-color-law.

You may very well become the litmus test for the “new normal,” where government officials, city and town mayors begin to realize that an oath must be taken seriously, that our laws are sacrosanct and that we may politely ask the sick to self-quarantine or consider new guidelines, i.e. polite suggestions not ordinances and related fines; that you may never violate the U.S. Constitution or the Bill of Rights for any reason – a cold, a flu, a pandemic or otherwise.

If, in fact, you elect not to rescind your ordinance by Thursday, June 4, 2020, I will refer this matter to Attorney Timothy Goulden of Nashua to look into for any legal recourse, on both a state and federal level.

Delivered without a mask, while I continue to Live Free or Die. I swore an oath to the U.S. Constitution, and I shall continue to honor it. Did you and will you?

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