“Musk’s complaint about other American automotive factories being given the green light to reopen is not incorrect. However, these factories are in other states… The Trump administration has made it clear that decisions about reopening local business are up to the state and local governments. [And] As public officials have repeatedly made clear, reopening the country will not be a uniform process…

“How local officials, who maintain they’re still negotiating with Tesla on how to reopen safely, ultimately respond will reveal how much power they really have in enforcing social distancing and stay-at-home measures… Tesla is not the only company eager to push back against local officials and return to work, though it’s the most high-profile company to do so. At least two meatpacking facilities have been pushed to reopen, despite the concerns and warnings of local officials. But that should be very, very concerning when we’re relying on our local government officials to set the benchmarks — and enforce public health rules — for returning to work safely.”
Rebecca Heilweil, Vox

“It should go without saying that it would create a truly terrible precedent if corporations could just ignore laws that they consider to be in violation of their corporate interests…

“Corporations aren’t supposed to engage in unlawful disobedience… The idea isn’t just that corporations, like everybody else, should be held to account for violating the law. It’s that corporations are themselves creatures of the law, created by legal norms and existing only at the sufferance of the legal system. Corporations aren’t natural persons. They’re legal persons. It’s wrong for a corporation created by law to be empowered to break the law intentionally and consciously and with no credible claim that the law or the legal system is inherently unjust.”
Noah Feldman, Bloomberg

“Even if law enforcement were to make an example out of Musk, it would be smaller than a small slap on the wrist. The billionaire can easily afford a $1,000-a-day fine, and given his wealth and access to lawyers, is unlikely to go to jail…

“When I saw Musk's tweets, I thought of the thousands of small businesses who don't have the privilege of defying the law — like the San Francisco restaurateur who emptied her 401(k) and life insurance to keep her business afloat while waiting for the Paycheck Protection Program to come to her rescue. I thought of the small Asian businesses around the country who are suffering due to a newfound xenophobia among Americans… Much ink has been spilled considering how the post-coronavirus world might be different from pre-pandemic existence… But what seems clear is that billionaires will still think they're above the law.”
Nicole Karlis, Salon

“Getting back to the pre-coronavirus status quo won’t be easy, given the risk that the pandemic will flare up again and force more lockdowns. That’s why the decisions on which businesses and activities resume when need to be made by people who are accountable to the public, not billionaire CEOs who threaten to pull up stakes when they don’t get their way. Or any business owners who, like Musk, consider themselves better judges of the public good than the government.”
Editorial Board, Los Angeles Times

“This, of course, is the same guy whose rocket company is due to send astronauts into space from the Kennedy Space Center at the end of this month. If Florida authorities have a specific health or safety request that he doesn’t like, will he throw another fit and take his astronauts elsewhere — to a place that bows down to his business demands over the guidance of public health or safety experts?”
David R. Wheeler, NBC News Think