In a closely divided decision, the Washington Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the governor’s use of executive powers during the COVID-19 pandemic to implement a moratorium on evictions. The decision came in a 5-4 split, indicating a far-from-consensus agreement among the justices on the subject.
Highlighting the circumstances during the early stages of the pandemic, the majority of the court noted that Washington state experienced an early and vast impact from COVID-19. At the close of March 2020, the state reported hundreds of new cases, with the likelihood of thousands unrecorded. This gave the state the highest number of cases per capita, as stated in the majority’s opinion.
Notwithstanding, the dissenting viewpoint argued that this situation did not authorize the suspension of normal legislative processes. Justice Charles W. Johnson, in his dissent, argued that the case was a test of the governor’s emergency powers under the statute RCW 43.06.220. According to Justice Johnson, the governor’s decision to issue the eviction moratorium was a crossing of statutory boundaries, an overreach of his authorities, and hence, impermissible.
This case presents a critical judicial examination of executive power during an unprecedented global health crisis. Even as it may reassure some renters in Washington that they can keep their homes for now, from a legal perspective, the extent of the governor’s emergency powers during a crisis remains contentious, as eloquently illustrated by this 5-4 decision of the Washington Supreme Court.
Read the original text of the Supreme Court’s opinion here.