[Red State] A federal judge (a Trump judge, if you are keeping score, even though Chief Justice John Robers tells us that there is no such thing as Trump or Obama judges) has issued a nationwide injunction against the enforcement of a ban on evictions that was imposed, allegedly, as a means to contain the spread of the Wuhan virus.The CDC, citing public health grounds, had implemented the temporary halt on evictions, extending protections for millions of tenants who have fallen behind on their rent during the pandemic. But a series of conflicting lower court rulings has called into question the legality of the moratorium, creating uncertainty for landlords and tenants alike.
Wednesday’s ruling from Judge Dabney Friedrich, from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is the first to set aside the moratorium on a nationwide basis. The Justice Department had requested that any ruling only apply narrowly to the housing providers and Realtors associations who brought the case.
Judge Friedrich, a Trump appointee, said that while it was the role of the political branches of government to address the pandemic, current federal law on public health didn’t give the CDC broad authority to impose the moratorium.
When the first whiff of the China virus hit the United States, the first reaction reminded me of the old Army tradition of dealing with an emergency: