District of Columbia v. Towers (2021)

Citation: District of Columbia v. Towers (2021)
Parent Document: District of Columbia v. Towers (2021)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 2021-05-13
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4882760/district-of-columbia-v-towers/ ↗

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The filing moratorium is one component of the Council’s comprehensive
response to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its financial fallout. While
the courts have an important role to play in ensuring that the District does not wield
its police powers in an unconstitutional or illegal manner, we are not legislators
elected to make difficult policy decisions with potentially life or death consequences.
See S. Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, 140 S. Ct. 1613, 1613–14 (2020)
(Roberts, C.J., concurring) (“When [elected] officials undertake to act in areas
fraught with medical and scientific uncertainties, their latitude must be especially
broad . . . [and] should not be subject to second-guessing by an unelected federal
judiciary, which lacks the background, competence, and expertise to assess public
health and is not accountable to the people.” (internal quotation marks, citation, and
brackets omitted)). Proper understanding of our role, coupled with the fact that we
are unaware of any other court anywhere in the country which has ruled that a
moratorium on filing suit for eviction during a public health emergency violates the
right of access to the courts, strongly weighs in favor of caution and a stay.

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