Health Equity

On Tuesday night, the Supreme Court narrowly upheld a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ban on evictions. The American Medical Association and MSDC had filed an amicus brief in the case arguing the eviction ban should be upheld for public health reasons. 

The case was brought by state realtor associations and landowners arguing the CDC overstepped its authority in extending Congress' ban on evictions during the public health emergency. The agency has recently declared the most recent extension through July 31 was the final extension. CDC first extended the Congressional moratorium in September 2020 by arguing its authority as a public health agency necessitated the action to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

The Court sided 5-4 with the government. Chief Justice John Roberts joined Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan in upholding the moratorium. Justice Brett Kavanagh joined in a concurrent opinion stating he joined the majority due to the short timeline remaining in the moratorium. The remaining four justices dissenting without issuing a written opinion.

MSDC joined the AMA Litigation Center and numerous other national healthcare associations on an amicus brief siding with the government. In the brief, the organizations argued:

Protecting public health during the pandemic requires protecting those most likely to contract, spread, and die from COVID-19. The people most at risk of eviction are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 and are likely to live in the ZIP codes with the lowest vaccination rates. Low-income populations are often exposed to social determinants of poor health and often have chronic illness or disability. As such, they are at enhanced risk of serious complications or death as a result of COVID-19.

You can read the entire brief here.