Justice
These States Are Sowing Confusion About Cities’ Power to Fight Covid-19
Mixed messages on the legal concept of preemption are confusing cities that want to pass stronger Covid-19 actions, like closed beaches and shelter in place.
As coronavirus took hold across the U.S. in mid-March, images of beaches packed with spring breakers became a symbol of government inaction. Some cities closed their own beaches and issued stay-at-home orders, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at first declined to take similar steps statewide. On April 1, he relented in the face of criticism and issued an order that asked people to limit movement outside their homes to “essential trips.”
But an amended version of that order also did something else: It called into question several stricter stay-at-home orders already passed at the local level.