“Reports of your recent public statements indicate that you suggested the possibility of long-term lockdown of the residents in the City and County of Los Angeles, regardless of the legal justification for such restrictions,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband wrote. “Any such approach may be both arbitrary and unlawful.”
“We remain concerned about what may be an arbitrary and heavy-handed approach to continuing stay-at-home requirements,” Dreiband added.
The Justice Department acknowledges that Garcetti has “broad authority” to protect residents during the pandemic, Dreiband wrote.
“Temporary emergency measures may restrict our constitutional rights, but they must also have some ’real or substantial relation' to the emergency,” he added, noting a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court some 115 years ago.
The Justice Department is “charged with protecting the federal statutory and constitutional rights of all persons in our country, and ensuring that governmental restrictions are not unconstitutionally burdensome,” Dreiband wrote.
“Even in times of emergency, when governments may impose reasonable and temporary restrictions, the Constitution and federal statutory law prohibit arbitrary, unreasonable actions,” he added. “Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights.”
Garcetti’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the contents of the letter.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in an emailed statement that the quote from Ferrer cited by the Justice Department was “taken out of context.”
“Public Health is modifying Health Officer Orders on a regular basis to support reopening sectors and relaxing restrictions,” the public health department noted.
Garcetti said the city would be guided by science and data rather than politics. He said the city’s seven-day average of deaths is holding and he feels confident about measures the city is taking.
“There’s no city in the world that right now doesn’t have some sort of orders and restrictions because we know this virus kills,” Garcetti added.
As such, business reopenings may look different there than in the rest of California.
