When Attorney General William Barr this week directed U.S. prosecutors to safeguard civil liberties amid state-level pandemic orders, he signaled Justice Department support for lockdown protesters by highlighting religious and economic rights.
In a two-page memo, the nation’s top cop gave the clearest indication yet of the kind of battles federal prosecutors are likely to focus on. In doing so, Barr suggested the Department of Justice (DOJ) might back church groups and those seeking a swifter economic reopening while staying on the sidelines of fights over new limits on abortion and voting access.
“It’s extremely likely that the DOJ will play favorites,” said Lindsay Wiley, a law professor at American University. “I think it’s accurate to assume that DOJ will not intervene in a neutral way, but will instead intervene on behalf of plaintiffs asserting rights the administration favors.”
Barr on Monday directed the nation’s 93 U.S. attorneys to “be on the lookout” for health restrictions that could be running afoul of constitutional rights and “if necessary, take action to correct them.”
“We do not want to unduly interfere with the important efforts of state and local officials to protect the public,” Barr wrote. “But the Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis.”
The Supreme Court has long held that constitutional rights can be lawfully restricted to some degree when emergency health orders are in place. But the line demarcating where one begins and the other ends is something of a legal gray area.
The attorney general’s memo specifically mentioned constitutional bars on discrimination against “religious institutions and religious believers” and “disfavored speech,” as well as prohibitions against “undue interference with the national economy.”
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Barr signals Justice Department support for lockdown protesters https://t.co/joxiAP1lcO pic.twitter.com/eCf9bMqtFH
— The Hill (@thehill) May 1, 2020
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