On January 20—the day he was sworn in to office—President Biden signed an executive order mandating masks for federal employees, in federal buildings, and on federal land. But even as the Biden administration signals its support for more expansive mask guidelines, debate over the necessity of mask ordinances rages on—as of April 28, 2021, only […]
Governmental Powers
Coronavirus and the Takings Clause: An Uneasy Coupling
It’s been more than a year since the first Covid-19 cases were identified, and almost as long since much of the United States locked down its economy in an attempt to slow the progress of the virus and save the lives of the vulnerable. Fortunately, the end now appears to be in sight: as vaccination […]
Vaccine Requirements, Passports, and the “New Normal”
As vaccination programs slowly ramp up across the United States, a burgeoning idea has slowly gained more traction: immunity “passports” as a way to separate the vaccinated from the unvaccinated, the immune from the vulnerable. The concept is simple enough: once a person is fully vaccinated, they would be given some sort of physical or […]
COVID-19 in a Federal System: Challenges and Opportunities
Federalism sits at the very core of American government. Yet, the coronavirus pandemic has pushed federalism under the microscope, exposing its strengths and weaknesses in turn. While a number of other countries also have federal systems,[1] federalism has been uniquely important in the United States’ response to COVID-19. Since the Trump administration largely abdicated responsibility […]
Mask Mandates, Unmasked
On his first day in office, President Biden instituted a mask mandate for airports, on many forms of transportation, and on all federal property. Over the last year, mask wearing has become politicized, making swaths of the country “stubbornly resistant to the practice,” despite its clear public health benefits. President Biden’s swift action was a […]
Government Authority to Respond to COVID-19, the Nondelegation Doctrine, and Legislatures vs. Governors
The most common response to the pandemic has been quick and decisive action from state governors to reduce the spread of COVID-19 through executive orders and state programs. At first, the orders were accepted and seen as necessary responses to the public health emergency. As time went on, however, and these orders continued to be […]
Unprecedented Expulsion of Immigrants at the Southern Border: The Title 42 Process
In March, President Trump relied on a little-used public health rule to drastically restrict immigration at the United States’ land borders. President Trump determined that, because COVID-19 was present in Mexico and Canada, there was a serious danger that migrants might further introduce coronavirus into the United States. Although it applies to both borders equally, […]
Stay-at-Home Orders and Religious Freedom: How Courts Balance the Free Exercise Clause and State Emergency Powers
In the wake of the initial impact of COVID-19, state governments rushed to respond to breakouts. The resulting executive orders led to widespread shutdowns that attempted to balance the reduction of contact between people and the institutions needed to sustain the population . While at first many accepted the necessary shutdowns, it didn’t take long […]
The Constitutionality of Technology-Assisted Contact Tracing
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an impossible set of choices for governments, forcing them to weigh the competing interests of protecting public health, ending social isolation, and safeguarding privacy and civil rights. Each of these ends offer distinct societal benefits, but without a vaccine or effective COVID treatment, governments can only accomplish two of the […]
Police Should Not Be Enforcing Emergency Public Health Orders
On a weekend when police officers were handing masks to white residents in parks around New York City, NYPD Officer Francisco Garcia forced Donni Wright, a 33-year-old Black man, to the ground and knelt on his neck. Officer Garcia was one of 1,000 NYPD officers dispatched to enforce social distancing and mask-wearing. He had been […]
Travel Restrictions During Coronavirus
Why is traveling during COVID-19 a problem? Whether by airplane, bus, train, or car, traveling increases a person’s chances of contracting and spreading COVID-19. Travelling inevitably puts people in close contact, often for prolonged periods of time, and exposes them to more and different pathogens. Imagine three different situations. First, a woman takes the train […]