Open Letter: Public Health Measures Must Still Protect Constitutional Rights of Americans

March 24, 2020
Washington, DC

Conservatives are troubled by reports that the Department of Justice is seeking additional authorities during the coronavirus pandemic, including the right to detain individuals without trial.

The public health crisis facing the country is unprecedented, and a whole of government approach is underway. However, using this crisis as a justification to violate the basic civil liberties of Americans is unconscionable, and in no way justified.

This is also true at the state level, where unprecedented shelter-in-place orders threaten civil liberties as well. We urge governors to make any movement limitations temporary and tailored. A federal shelter-in-place order should be avoided at all costs. Public health must be protected, but so, too, should the rights of Americans under the Constitution.

Americans have mobilized with extraordinary speed and cooperation. The Trump administration has lifted regulations and expedited actions to begin vaccine testing, facilitate production of necessary medical equipment, and restricted foreign access to the country as appropriate.

These actions are justified. A dramatic expansion of the police state is not, and we emphatically oppose it.

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