Report on State Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

From the earliest days of the pandemic, the executive branch fostered an adversarial atmosphere,  framing the public response as a battle between compliance and defiance.  Rather than empowering Louisianans to take responsibility for their own health, the administration promoted an exclusionary narrative—branding skeptics and dissenters as enemies of the common good.

Governor Edwards himself reinforced this divisive stance, stating that “rights under the Constitution are not an absolute,” and urging citizens to “stop worrying about their rights and do the right thing.” Such rhetoric undermined civil liberties and eroded the very principles that should guide leadership in times of crisis.

Article I Section 1 of the state’s constitution should have been the guiding principle in every decision made during the emergency declaration. 

“All government, of right, originates with the people, is founded on their will alone, and is instituted to protect the rights of the individual and for the good of the whole. Its only legitimate ends are to secure justice for all, preserve peace, protect the rights, and promote the happiness and general welfare of the people. The rights enumerated in this Article are inalienable by the state and shall be preserved inviolate by the state.”

Instead, this foundational principle was ignored as viral mitigation became the priority. The executive branch leveraged press conferences and health department messaging to manipulate public perception—exaggerating the threat of SARS-CoV-2, justifying sweeping business closures, enforcing mask mandates, and ultimately driving vaccine uptake. At one point, the state used cellular data to monitor the movement of Louisiana residents.

The State Fire Marshal was weaponized against small business owners who refused to comply, and restaurants were threatened with the loss of their licenses for standing their ground. 

Governor Edwards resorted to unethical tactics to push vaccination, including using federal funds to finance a $1 million vaccine lottery that shamefully targeted minors.

The executive branch consistently denied the reality of COVID vaccine injuries and deaths. Despite the vaccines being distributed under Emergency Use Authorization, the administration dismissed concerns that they were experimental. At no point did the Governor’s Office launch a public awareness campaign to educate the public about vaccine injury reporting procedures or acknowledge the growing number of adverse events.

While COVID deaths were routinely memorialized, the executive branch deliberately withheld data showing the vaccines were not performing as promised. Key statistics were seemingly removed from the Louisiana Department of Health’s dashboard, possibly concealing evidence of significant harm associated with COVID vaccination.

It should be noted that under current law, the Louisiana Legislature had the power to end the COVID emergency at any time a majority of one of the houses of the legislature would petition the governor to do so. On one occasion, the House of Representatives offered up a petition, but the governor summarily refused to follow the order and the case became tangled up in court. 

Leadership in the House of Representatives refused to follow through on the legal process and the governor’s power remain unchecked and virtually unchallenged. 

Going forward, constitutional protections must not be suspended in times of crisis—they should be the standard by which all emergency policies and executive orders are measured and constrained.