Saturday, April 2, 2011

ND Senate defeats mandatory evacuation measure; senator calls it virtual martial law

ND Senate defeats mandatory evacuation measure; senator calls it virtual martial law
A victory against tyranny in North Dakota

BISMARCK, N.D. — Giving local officials power to order people from their homes in emergencies proved too much for the North Dakota Senate on Friday, with one lawmaker calling the idea "virtually the same as imposing martial law."

North Dakota's homeland security director has been advocating the measure, which he said would be used only in circumstances where it was deemed necessary to save lives.

It would give a local "incident commander" who was in charge of directing emergency response to a flood, chemical spill or other incident the authority to order mandatory evacuations. Violators could be fined up to $500.

North Dakota law now gives the governor power to order evacuations. City mayors may issue similar orders, but Sen. Connie Triplett, D-Grand Forks, who is an attorney and former Grand Forks County commissioner, said she believed those declarations are made to protect local governments from lawsuits in case government services are lost, such as water supplies or fire protection.

"Some incident commander may think something is a matter of life and death. An individual may choose to think it's not a matter of life and death, and it's not for us in any particular sense, here, to decide who is right," Triplett said. "People have a right to make choices for themselves."

Senators voted 29-18 on Friday to defeat the measure. A supporter, Sen. Carolyn Nelson, D-Fargo, said she was confident the mandatory evacuation power would be used judiciously if put into state law.

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