Yesterday, the so-called eviction moratorium for renters put in place by the CDC expired, leading to much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Now, you may be asking yourself how the CDC, an ostensibly scientific institution, had the power to literally steal the property of Americans without any restitution.
The answer is that they didn’t have that power. Yet, when the issue came up before the Supreme Court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who every Republican and conservative went to bat for when he was unfairly accused of being a gang rapist, decided to keep his seat at the cocktail parties instead of doing his job
In a tortured decision in June, Kavanaugh admitted that the CDC had overstepped its authority, but he ruled with the liberals anyway, allowing the previous eviction moratorium to run its course. His reasoning was purely administrative instead of based on the law, i.e. to allow rental assistance payments to finish being doled out.
With that moratorium ending yesterday, we are back to square one, with Democrats pushing the CDC to re-up its clearly illegal order.
In fact, the FHA has already extended its moratorium on foreclosures, which ensures the housing market will continue to be an inflated mess due to the lack of inventory. That means people who do things right get to pay exorbitant prices, while those who refuse to pay their bills get a free ride. Sound fair, right?
It’s just a matter of time before the CDC follows suit and extends their eviction moratorium as well, meaning that all the litigation to stop it will have to happen again in order to protect the rights of property owners. The government, whether it’s the CDC or Congress, does not have the constitutional authority to steal the homes of citizens under the guise of an emergency. That’s been clear from the beginning.
Yet, when Kavanaugh had the chance to join his conservative colleagues to strike this nonsense down and put in place a precedent to protect people from government tyranny, he didn’t have the spine to do it. Instead, he took the easy way out by letting the moratorium continue and expire, green-lighting the same gambit to be tried again. Yes, Kavanaugh indicated he’d rule against the CDC the next time this issue came up, but that could take months if another moratorium is put in place. By that point, the damage will have already been done, and you can bet the government won’t be writing checks to make those landlords whole.
This is insanity, and it’s a failure of the conservative judicial project. “But the Supreme Court” is going to be much less of an effective rallying cry — if Kavanaugh, and possibly others, continues to lack the fortitude to make the tough decisions they were put on the court to make. When the huge Second Amendment case comes up during this next term, I suppose we’ll find out once and for all if he’s gone full John Roberts.