Symposium: Pandemics and the Constitution: Why the Special Needs Doctrine Is the Most Appropriate Fourth Amendment Theory for Justifying Police Stops to Enforce COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders

Authors

Henry F. Fradella

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Despite the fact that the steps the federal and state governments take to curtail the spread of the viral infection are presumably taken in the best interest of public health, governmental actions and actors must comply with the U.S. Constitution even during a pandemic. Some public health measures, such as stay-at-home orders, restrict the exercise of personal freedoms ranging from the rights to travel and freely associate to the ability to gather in places of worship for religious services. This Essay explores several completing doctrines that might justify the authority of law enforcement to stop people who are out of their homes when a public health order has directed people to shelter-in-place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recommended Citation

Henry F. Fradella, Why the Special Needs Doctrine Is the Most Appropriate Fourth Amendment Theory for Justifying Police Stops to Enforce COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders, 12 ConLawNOW 1 (2020)