Justice to appeal eviction decision
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department said Saturday that it will appeal a judge’s ruling that found the federal government’s eviction moratorium was unconstitutional.
Prosecutors filed a notice in the case late Saturday, saying the government was appealing the matter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The appeal comes days after U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had overstepped its authority.
“Although the COVID-19 pandemic persists, so does the Constitution,” the judge wrote in the decision Thursday.
In a statement, Brian Boynton, the acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s civil division, said prosecutors respectfully disagreed with the ruling.
“The CDC’S eviction moratorium, which Congress extended last December, protects many renters who cannot make their monthly payments due to job loss or health care expenses,” he said. “By preventing people from becoming homeless or having to move into more-crowded housing, the moratorium helps to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
The CDC eviction moratorium was signed in September by President Donald Trump and extended by President Joe Biden until March 31.