Balancing Public Safety with the Preservation of Civil Rights – AG Barr

Public Memorandum From: THE ATTORNEY GENERAL WP BARR
SUBJECT: Balancing Public Safety with the Preservation of Civil Rights

Attorney General William Barr
Attorney General William Barr

USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- The current national crisis related to COVID-19 has required the imposition of extraordinary restrictions on all of our daily lives.

Millions of Americans across the nation have been ordered to stay in their homes, leaving only for essential and necessary reasons, while countless businesses and other gathering places have been ordered to close their doors indefinitely. These kinds of restrictions have been necessary in order to stop the spread of a deadly disease ­but there is no denying that they have imposed tremendous burdens on the daily lives of all Americans.

In prior Memoranda, I directed our prosecutors to prioritize cases against those seeking to illicitly profit from the pandemic, either by hoarding scarce medical resources to sell them for extortionate prices, or by defrauding people who are already in dire circumstances due to the severe problems the pandemic has caused. We have pursued those efforts vigorously and will continue to do so.

Now, I am directing each of our United States Attorneys to also be on the lookout for state and local directives that could be violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of individual citizens.

As the Department of Justice explained recently in guidance to states and localities taking steps to battle the pandemic, even in times of emergency, when reasonable and temporary restrictions are placed on rights, the First Amendment and federal statutory law prohibit discrimination against religious institutions and religious believers. The legal restrictions on state and local authority are not limited to discrimination against religious institutions and religious believers. For example, the Constitution also forbids, in certain circumstances, discrimination against disfavored speech and undue interference with the national economy. If a state or local ordinance crosses the line from an appropriate exercise of authority to stop the spread of COVID-19 into an overbearing infringement of constitutional and statutory protections, the Department of Justice may have an obligation to address that overreach in federal court.

I am therefore directing the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Eric Dreiband, and Matthew Schneider; the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, to oversee and coordinate our efforts to monitor state and local policies and, if necessary, take action to correct them. They should work not only with all Department of Justice offices and other federal agencies, but with state and local officials as well.

Many policies that would be unthinkable in regular times have become commonplace in recent weeks, and we do not want to unduly interfere with the important efforts of state and local officials to protect the public. But the Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis. We must therefore be vigilant to ensure its protections are preserved, at the same time that the public is protected.

I thank you for your attention to this important initiative and for your service to our country.

The MEMORANDUM is here.

Balancing Public Safety with the Preservation of Civil Rights – Memorandum from AG Barr

 

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Nanashi

“Balancing Public Safety with the Preservation of Civil Rights”
So that’s what he calls letting feds get away with murder.

Knute

Its the way petty burrocrats are… all over planet blue marble. This is from Australia, but note how familiar it all seems. Also note that the citizens of the world are getting fed up with elite oppression. Good tips to win a confrontation too!
https://vimeo.com/411499182?outro=1&ref=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR3gOAzAndUN8yIjbChFKEoIkg3tlPjOhFXoYsBHeHmS9GpBxJglYUuAVVI

Knute

Handled it pretty well, didn’t he? Avoided all the traps they set for him. Over and over again, but just the same trap! Typical burrocrat. A one trick pony. 🙂

SEMPAI

@Knute Knute
Bugger off

nrringlee

“The current national crisis related to COVID-19 has required the imposition of extraordinary restrictions on all of our daily lives” False premise. No, actually it has not “required” the extreme segregation and containment measures on the majority of the population. It was simply the latest crisis to be used as a test run for martial law. When the history is written, if it ever is, we shall see that Trump was snookered by a bunch of bureaucrats with a hidden agenda. They got that agenda from their globalist masters. It is now obvious. They did their dress rehearsal in October… Read more »

Chuck

There is no balance. The Constitution and Bill of Rights is the Supreme Law of the Land. Asking the citizens to implement reasonable and proven actions to limit the spread of a nosocomial disease through common sense behavioral changes is legal. Ordering and mandating actions which violate the Bill of Rights is Tyranny, plain and simple. The Constitution and it’s guarantees are not abrogated for a pandemic, or any other threat for that matter. The citizens of any State, in which the Governor has violated the Bill of Rights (regardless of their State’s Constitutions), should be impeached and removed from… Read more »

Heed the Call-up

Good use of the word nosocomial. I actually had to look that one up. I am not in the medical profession.

Clark Craft

Exactly Chuck! It bothers me greatly that Barr simply notes that people “have been ordered to stay in there homes” and states that “these kinds of restrictions have been necessary…” as though that is acceptable in itself as a prelude to his describing how the DOJ will be watching for violations of constitutional rights. These restrictions ARE violations of constitutional rights. If ever there was a case of not seeing the forest for the trees…

RoyD

Mr. Barr should, respectfully, take his memorandum and shove it up his ass. Lying commie bitch!

Stag

The scumbag who defended the tyrants at Ruby Ridge and Waco claims to care about constitutional rights and civil liberties.

RoyD

Stag: If I could give you a Trillion “thumbs ups” I would. I can’t, so you just get one, but know it represents many more.

nrringlee

Mass civil disobedience will soon overwhelm the cops and the oppressors in office.

gregs

this, maybe should have come much sooner. now after thousands of people have protested, the doj wants to jump on the bandwagon. the doj didn’t think to check on the constitutionality of the shutdown of basically the entire American economy, and who gets to decide which business is essential or not? I consider that a lack of forethought, or were they even thinking at all? this is a national crisis because the government has made it so. they acted without thinking, used and believed flawed models and now won’t admit they made mistakes. fauchi is an administrator, and hasn’t practiced… Read more »

MICHAEL J

The brazen AGs of leftist run state’s are the henchmen of their govenors. When this occurs, this gives lower county and city governments leeway to impose their draconian measures without any legal authority except title. Who’s going to reel them in?

RJL

Shades of 1936 Germany on the global scale…