Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small

One of the frustrations for a Classical Liberal is that authoritarians in public positions can abuse those positions by enacting edicts or interpretations of law which are manifestly unconstitutional but which cannot be resisted until resolved in the Courts.  The Courts deem what is lawful or not and with all our checks and balances the wheels of justice grind slowly but they do grind exceedingly fine.  [A variation of a couple of lines from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow‘s translation of a French 17th century poem, ‘Retribution,’ by Friedrich Von Logau:

Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small;

Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all.

Through the pandemic we have had gross overreaches of authority all up and down the federal system, by Local, State and Federal bodies and by the Executive and Legislative branches.  But the cases are slowly grinding their way through the legal system and beginning to get decided.  And they are being decided in accordance with common sense and Constitutional law.

This past week a court in Missouri decided such a case with clarity and succinctness.  From Shannon Robinson, et al vs. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.  

This case is about whether Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services regulations can abolish representative government in the creation of public health laws, and whether it can authorize closure of a school or assembly based on the unfettered opinion of an unelected official. This Court finds it cannot. 

 

And to add icing to the cake, plaintiff's attorney fees are awarded, to be paid by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.  

It is an 18 page decision covering the complaint, findings, interpretation and decision, all rendered in admirably accessible language.  

The decision will almost certainly be challenged and there will be more weeks of obfuscation and debate but for the time being the Department's decisions are rolled back.  And almost certainly will eventually be confirmed as unconstitutional.  

Spring does not come in a flash with snow melt in a day and rivers freed from ice in an afternoon.  There are ebbs and flows.  But Spring does come.  The ice does melt.  Freedom will return from this unfortunate episode of unbridled authoritarianism and bureaucratic tyranny.