SCOTUS Justice Gorsuch criticizes US gov’t abuse of power during pandemic

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has raised concerns about the abuse of power by the federal government during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement attached to the court’s decision to dismiss the Title 42 case, Gorsuch alleges that the pandemic was exploited as an excuse to infringe upon Americans’ rights.

“Since March 2020, we may have experienced the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country,” Gorsuch wrote. “Executive officials across the country issued emergency decrees on a breathtaking scale.”

Gorsuch utilized the opportunity presented by the Title 42 ruling to shed light on what he perceives as the misuse of emergency powers by the federal government. Title 42, established over three years ago in March 2020, granted the government the authority to promptly expel migrants based on COVID-19 concerns.

However, Gorsuch contends that Title 42 is merely one aspect of a broader pattern where the government capitalized on the pandemic as justification for an unprecedented level of authority.

“Fear and the desire for safety are powerful forces,” stated Gorsuch. “They can lead to a clamor for action—almost any action—as long as someone does something to address a perceived threat.”

The justice cited extensive lockdowns that confined individuals to their homes, mandated closures of churches, a federal ban on landlord evictions and the dilemma faced by some Americans who had to choose between vaccination and their livelihood. These measures, Gorsuch argues, would not have been permissible in the United States prior to the pandemic but were enforced as a result of the perceived urgency and concentration of power during the crisis.

“The history of this case illustrates the disruption we have experienced over the last three years in how our laws are made and our freedoms observed,” wrote Gorsuch. “Rule by indefinite emergency edict risks leaving all of us with a shell of a democracy and civil liberties just as hollow.”

The justice highlighted the repeated extensions of these measures, including the recent expiration of Title 42 and the conclusion of the national public health emergency, which granted the government broad powers to bypass Congress for spending and legislation.

While Gorsuch acknowledged the intentions behind pandemic-related policies may have been rooted in public safety, when examining the weekly COVID-19 death rates over the past three years, the data suggests a significant decline since January 2022, indicating a diminished threat from the virus.

“Make no mistake – decisive executive action is sometimes necessary and appropriate, but if emergency decrees promise to solve some problems, they threaten to generate others,” wrote Gorsuch. “I do not discount the states’ concerns about what is happening at the border, but the current border crisis is not a COVID crisis.”