(Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

(Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Capitol’s shoe mandate tramples individual liberties

Does the barefoot rights movement have Gov. Dunleavy shaking in his boots?

I’ve been a member of this community some 37 years now. There’s something inspiring about treading the halls of our state Capitol building and knowing of the perseverance of so many to make this great state a marvelous balance of natural wonder, ancient tradition, and economic growth. And yet an insidious threat looms over this sacred communion with the polis: mandatory shoe policies. Despite my clean bill of health, a complete lack of evidence of pedestrian disease transmission, and frankly, my self-evidently clean feet; I find myself time and time again rebuffed in my attempts to walk the hallways that our state’s great minds once walked. We’re a nation in crisis when our distrust has turned to that very appendage that joins us to this earth, the very means by which we may walk hand in hand, a 10-toe salute to our freedoms proudly waggling. Will Gov. Mike Dunleavy hear our call? Or does the barefoot rights movement have him shaking in his boots?

Mutt Kneddiker,

St. Nagnes Bay

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