This Monday, Attorney General Bill Barr issued a memorandum titled, “Balancing Public Safety with the Preservation of Civil Rights,” where he directed the Justice Department to take legal action against coronavirus lockdown rules it deems to be “an overbearing infringement of constitutional and statutory protections.”
“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,” Barr wrote. “The Constitution also forbids, in certain circumstances, discrimination against disfavored speech and undue interference with the national economy.”
But according to some of his critics on Twitter, Barr is the last person who should be talking about the Constitution and civil rights.