“Read ’em the Riot Act!”
This figure of speech refers to an Act of Parliament from 1714 prohibiting “tumults and riotous assemblies.” The sheriff, or similar officer, was required to read the act aloud, word for word, when commanding the crowd to disperse:
Our Sovereign Lord the King chargeth and commandeth all persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habitations, or to their lawful business, upon the pains contained in the act made in the first year of King George, for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies. God Save the King!
The Latest Riot Acts
Like the Riot Act of old, an ever-growing collection of executive orders from the governors of nearly all 50 states currently prohibits public assemblies during the COVID 19 pandemic. These “Stay at Home” and “Shelter in Place” orders vary from state to state, and even within the same state they may change from one week to the next.
Unfortunately, news reports, social media posts, and gossip among friends seldom summarize these twenty-first century riot acts accurately. Consequently, many people are confused as to whether they must stay home, whether they may go to church, or whether they ought to be ratting on their neighbor who’s out walking the dog past sunset.
Stay Informed: Read the Latest Riot Act for Yourself
Before your neighbor threatens to report you, or your sheriff finds you in violation, why not read the latest riot act for yourself so that you’ll understand what’s lawful and what’s not?
The Council of State Governments has compiled a list of web links to executive orders in various states as well as four U.S. territories, sorted both by jurisdiction and by topic.
If you have concerns that an executive order in your state exceeds the governor’s constitutional authority, consult this list of web links to state constitutions to confirm your intuition. Then, contact us for a legal referral.
Dr. Ryan MacPherson holds a PhD in history and philosophy of science from the University of Notre Dame. After serving for twenty years as a professor at Bethany Lutheran College, he served as the founding academic dean of Luther Classical College for three years. He is author of Rediscovering the American Republic, a two-volume anthology of primary sources in American history, as well as several other books on topics ranging from theology to politics to bioethics. Dr. MacPherson has testified in court in defense of a homeschool father and for the protection of traditional American civics curricula, contributed to legal briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of marriage and the rule of law, appeared regularly on a variety of radio shows, and taught seminars for pastors and educators in Canada, Denmark, and Ecuador. The MacPherson homeschool family offers online enrichment courses through Lifelong Lyceum.
