Wenstrup to Hold Hearing on Civil Liberty Violations During COVID-19 Pandemic - United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability

WASHINGTON — Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) will hold a hearing titled “Churches vs. Casinos: The Constitution is not Suspended in Times of Crisis” to examine the constitutionality of federal, state, and local actions during the COVID-19 pandemic that infringed on the civil liberties of Americans. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Neil Gorsuch’s recent opinion in Arizona v. Mayorkas condemns the voluminous emergency decrees as perhaps “the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country.” Notably in the statement, Justice Gorsuch also recognizes that there is no substitute for the legislative process to form sound government and policies.

This hearing will delve into the unconstitutional lockdowns, egregious violations of free speech, suspension of religious freedoms, harmful school closures, and unscientific masking and vaccine mandates that stripped the American citizenry of their liberties. The Select Subcommittee continues to uncover further evidence of pandemic-era, public health failures and will continue to investigate the public policy missteps and deficiencies to help prepare America for a future pandemic. As Justice Gorsuch noted, “But if emergency decrees promise to solve some problems, they threaten to generate others. And rule by indefinite emergency edict risks leaving all of us with a shell of a democracy and civil liberties just as hollow.”

“The United States government had a constitutional responsibility to protect civil liberties and defend personal freedoms during the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, they failed. Churchgoers were threatened with criminal penalties while gamblers were free to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights. The unequal applications of lockdowns, mandates, and closures were a clear violation of our protected freedoms and must be fully investigated. After years of civil liberty encroachments and freedom infringements, Americans deserve answers. The Select Subcommittee is committed to investigating the constitutionality of COVID-19 mitigation strategies, and we look forward to hearing from our esteemed witnesses on this topic next week,” said Chairman Wenstrup.

WHAT: Hearing titled “Churches vs. Casinos: The Constitution is not Suspended in Times of Crisis”

DATE: Wednesday, June 21, 2023

TIME: 10:00 AM ET

LOCATION: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building

WITNESSES:

The Honorable Andrew Bailey, Attorney General, State of Missouri

The Honorable Elizabeth Murrill, Solicitor General, State of Louisiana

Mr. Misha Tseytlin, Partner, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, Former Solicitor General, State of Wisconsin

*More witnesses to be announced*

The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed online at https://oversight.house.gov/.