US District Judge John Barker in Texas has ruled that an eviction moratorium put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year and then extended until March is unconstitutional. The ruling does not affect states’ eviction moratoriums.
The judge did not issue a preliminary injunction.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the federal government does not have the authority to order property owners not to evict specific tenants; rather the decision whether to enact an eviction moratorium rests with a given state.
Congress does not have the authority to grant CDC this power, Barker found, who also said the moratorium could encroach on landlords’ rights under state law.
“Although the COVID-19 pandemic persists, so does the Constitution,” he wrote.
The Hill, which first reported the news, said that legal experts expect the case to be appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
The Southeastern Legal Foundation, one of the groups that represented the plaintiffs in the CDC case, expects the ruling to be upheld.
“We are preparing cases across the constitutional spectrum to defend against unrestrained government action,” said Kimberly Hermann, a lawyer with Southeastern Legal Foundation.
Southeastern Legal Foundation and Texas Public Policy Foundation jointly represented a coalition of residential landlords and property managers in the case.
https://www.globest.com/2021/02/26/federal-judge-finds-cdcs-eviction-moratorium-unconstitutional/
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