Democracy and Delegation in a Public Health Emergency: Statutory Interpretation and Separation of Powers

In an effort to combat COVID-19, state and local governments have used executive powers to order citizens to stay at home, to close schools and businesses, to require the wearing of masks, and to limit the size of gatherings. These orders have been challenged throughout the country on the grounds that they infringe upon constitutionally protected individual rights and violate the separation of powers. A new ACS Issue Brief by Lindsay Wiley, Professor of Law and Director of the Health Law and Policy Program at Washington College of Law, explains that, although the vast majority of these individual rights claims have been unsuccessful in overturning government orders, “as the pandemic continues to wear on…the courts may be losing patience, particularly as legislatures begin to assert their authority to shape the pandemic response.”

Read the Issue Brief.