The CDC ’s Eviction Moratorium Is Unconstitutional

Josh Blackman andIlya ShapiroDuring the pandemic, many states halted residential evictions. Texas did not. The Lone Star State allowed landlords to use the legal eviction process to remove nonpaying tenants —until the federal government intervened. The Trump administration, and now the Biden administration, criminalized eviction. Yes, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made it a federal offense for a landlord to use the legal eviction process in state court.That unprecedented executive action was premised on an inferential house of cards: if people are evicted, they will live in closer quarters, potentially spreading COVID-19. To avoid that speculative problem, the government banned landlords nationwide from using legal processes to remove tenants. The government literally made it a crime to file a petition in state court.Lauren Terkel, a landlord in East Texas, challenged the CDC ’s edict. And a federal judge declared that this action went beyond the scope of Congress ’s enumerated powers. Cato agrees. We filedan amicus brief supporting Terkel before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, joined by Professor Randy Barnett and the Reason Foundation, Individual Rights Foundation, and Independence Institute.This case involves constitutional structures of vital importance to individual liberty: federalism and the separation of powers. The federal government simply lacks the power to regulate the process of evict...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs