Supreme Court strikes down CDC eviction moratorium despite delta’s rise
A divided Supreme Court has ended a national moratorium on evictions in parts of the country ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, removing protections for millions of Americans who have not been able to make rent payments.
A coalition of landlords and real estate trade groups in Alabama and Georgia challenged the latest extension of a moratorium imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued Aug. 3 and intended to run through Oct. 3.
In an unsigned opinion released Thursday night, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority agreed that the federal agency did not have the power to order such a ban.
“It is indisputable that the public has a strong interest in combating the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant,” the majority’s eight-page
opinion said. “But our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends. . . . It is up to Congress, not the CDC, to decide whether the public interest merits further action here.”
The court’s three liberal justices dissented and said the majority’s rush to end the moratorium was inappropriate and untimely.
“The public interest strongly favors respecting the CDC’s judgment at this moment, when over 90% of counties are experiencing high transmission rates,” wrote Justice Stephen G. Breyer, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
The national eviction moratorium is officially dead. In some parts of the country, it has been for a while.
It was the second loss of the week for the Biden administration at the Supreme Court. Earlier, the conservative majority said the administration had to comply with a court ruling ordering it to reinstate a Trump-era policy that requires asylum seekers to wait outside the country before making their pleas.
In a statement Thursday night, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the eviction opinion meant “families will face the painful impact of evictions, and communities across the country will face greater risk of exposure to COVID-19.”
The National Association of Realtors said the court’s action was correct “from both a legal standpoint and a matter of fairness. It brings to an end an unlawful policy that places financial hardship solely on the shoulders of mom-and-pop housing providers, who provide nearly half of all rental housing in America, and it restores property rights in America.”
The moratorium had already been considered once by the high court. A district judge in D.C., and several other courts around the country, said in a series of rulings that powers granted to the CDC to protect public health during a pandemic did not include a ban on evictions for those who fell behind on their payments.
But U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich stayed her most recent order so that the administration could appeal.
With tenants who won’t pay or leave, small landlords face struggles of their own
Although the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to preserve what it called a “lawful and urgently needed response to an unprecedented public emergency,” a majority of justices already had signaled agreement with Friedrich.
Supreme Court strikes down CDC eviction moratorium despite delta’s rise - The Washington Post
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