Case: 20-11401 Date Filed: 04/20/2020 Page: 1 of 28 No. 20-11401 ════════════════════════════════════════ UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT STEVEN MARSHALL, in his official capacity as Attorney General of the State of Alabama, et al., Defendants Appellants, v. YASHICA ROBINSON, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees. On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama Case No. 2:19-cv-00365-MHT-JTA ════════════════════════════════════════ BRIEF OF 18 STATES AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANTS’ EMERGENCY MOTION FOR STAY AND APPEAL ════════════════════════════════════════ JEFF LANDRY Attorney General ELIZABETH MURRILL Solicitor General Counsel of Record J. SCOTT ST. JOHN Deputy Solicitor General Louisiana Department of Justice 1885 N. Third St. Baton Rouge, LA 70802 (225) 456-7544 (cell) [email protected] [email protected] Counsel for Amici Curiae Case: 20-11401 Date Filed: 04/20/2020 Page: 2 of 28 CERTIFICATE OF INTERESTED PERSONS As governmental parties, amici are not required to file a certificate of interested persons. ii Case: 20-11401 Date Filed: 04/20/2020 Page: 3 of 28 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ........................................................................ iv INTEREST OF AMICI ................................................................................. 1 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ...................................................................... 2 ARGUMENT ................................................................................................. 5 I. A STAY AND REVERSAL IS PROPER BECAUSE THE DISTRICT COURT FAILED TO APPLY THE CORRECT STANDARD FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION. .................. 5 II. THE COURT’S RULING GRAVELY THREATENS STATE AUTHORITY TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH. ....................... 12 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 17 iii Case: 20-11401 Date Filed: 04/20/2020 Page: 4 of 28 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Abbott v. Perez, 138 S. Ct. 2305 (2018) .............................................................................. 13 Amos v. Taylor, No. 4:20-cv-00007-DMB-JMV Doc #: 59 (Mar. 16, 2020) ....................... 15 Banzhaf v. F.C.C., 405 F.2d 1082 (D.C. Cir. 1968) .................................................................. 9 Bowditch v. City of Boston, 101 U.S. 16 (1879) ...................................................................................... 7 Cf. Trump v. Hawaii, 138 S. Ct. 2392 (2018) .............................................................................. 15 Cf. Viterbo v. Dow Chem. Co., 826 F.2d 420 (5th Cir. 1987) .................................................................... 11 Citrus Soap Company v. Peet Bros., 194 P. 715 (Cal. Ct. App. 1920) ................................................................. 5 Compagnie Francaise de Navigation a Vapeur v. State Board of Health, 186 U.S. 380 (1902) .................................................................................... 7 Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1 (1824) .......................................................................................... 7 Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124 (2007) .............................................................................. 9, 16 Gumns v. Edwards, NO. 3:20-cv-00231-SDD-RLB (M.D. La.), filed 4/14/20) ......................... 15 Harper v. Dotson, 187 P. 270 (Idaho 1920) ............................................................................. 5 In Re Abbott, No. 20-50264, 2020 WL 1685929, at *8 (5th Cir. April 7, 2020) .............. 9 iv Case: 20-11401 Date Filed: 04/20/2020 Page: 5 of 28 In re Juan C., 28 Cal.App.4th 1093, 33 Cal.Rptr.2d 919 (1994) .................................... 12 In re Viagra Prod. Liab. Litig., 658 F. Supp. 2d 950 (D. Minn. 2009) ...................................................... 10 Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905) ............................................................................ 7, 9, 10 Kirk v. Bd. of Health, 65 S.E. 387, 389 (S.C. 1909) .................................................................. 5, 6 Lawton v. Steele, 152 U.S. 133 (1894) ................................................................................ 7, 9 McKillop v. Bd. of Supervisors, 74 N.W. 1050 (Mich. 1898) ........................................................................ 5 Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526 (1985) .......................................................................... 17 Morgan’s Louisiana & T. R. & S. S. Co. v. Bd. of Health of State of Louisiana, 118 U.S. 455, 459 (1886) ......................................................... 7 People ex rel. Hill v. Bd. of Educ., 195 N.W. 95 (Mich. 1923) .......................................................................... 6 Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1993) .................................................................................... 9 Ralston v. Smith & Nephew Richards, Inc., 275 F.3d 965, 970 (10th Cir.2001) ........................................................... 10 Robinson v. Marshall, No. 2:19CV365-MHT, 2020 WL 1847128, at *2 (M.D. Ala. Apr. 12, 2020) ........................................................................................................... 3, 7, 11 Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) ............................................................. 8, 9 Smith v. Avino, 91 F.3d 105 (11th Cir.1996) ........................................................... 6, 11, 12 v Case: 20-11401 Date Filed: 04/20/2020 Page: 6 of 28 Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 523 U.S. 83, 118 S. Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998) .............................. 6 United States v. Caltex, 349 U.S. 149 (1953) .................................................................................... 7 United States v. Chalk, 441 F.2d 1277 (4th Cir.1971) ................................................................... 12 United States v. Ferguson, 2007 WL 4146319, at 5 (E.D. Tex. Nov. 16, 2007) .................................... 6 Whidden v. Cheever, 44 A. 908 (N.H. 1897) ................................................................................. 5 Rules Court. Fed. R. App. P. 29(a)(2) ..................................................................... 1 Other Authorities Clinical Questions about Covid-19: Questions and Answers, CDC (updated April 16, 2020), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- ncov/hcp/faq.html#Transmission ............................................................ 16 Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd4 0299423467b48e9ecf6 (last visited Apr. 16, 2020). .................................. 3 Felice Batlan, Law in the Time of Cholera: Disease, State Power, and Quarantines Past and Future, 80 TEMP. L. REV. 53, 62–63 (2007) .......... 7 Joseph Gusman, More than 1,400 New York police officer test positive for coronavirus, The Hill, https://thehill.com/changing-america/well- being/prevention-cures/490615-more-than-1000-new-york-city-police- officers ....................................................................................................... 13 Louisiana Proclamation Number 33 JBE 20 ............................................... 5 M. Nacoti et al., At the Epicenter of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Humanitarian Crises in Italy, NEJM CATALYST (Mar. 21, 2020) .......... 11 vi Case: 20-11401 Date Filed: 04/20/2020 Page: 7 of 28 Sam Whitehead & Carrie Feibel, CDC Director on Models for the Months to Come: ‘This virus is going to be with us’, NPR, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/31/824155179/cdc- director-on-models-for-the-months-to-come-this-virus-is-going-to-be- with-us ...................................................................................................... 16 State Health Order (as amended April 3, 2020), ¶ 14.a. .......................... 11 State Health Order of March 27, 2020 at 6 ¶ 7 ........................................... 3 T. Pearce, Emergency Field Hospitals Popping Up Across the Country for Corona Virus Patients, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/emergency-field-hospitals- popping-up-around-the-country-for-coronavirus-patients ....................... 4 vii Case: 20-11401 Date Filed: 04/20/2020 Page: 8 of 28 INTEREST OF AMICI1 The amici States of Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia are engaged in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. With some state-by-state variation, they review, defend, and enforce a wide variety of matters during a state-declared emergency. The rare emergency underlying this case—the pandemic spread of COVID-19—is a dangerous situation affecting virtually every aspect of American life. The amici States have a strong interest in this case because its outcome profoundly and immediately affects States’ ability to enforce gubernatorial executive orders and public health orders during this rapidly developing pandemic. States are taking unprecedented action to protect people from the COVID-19 threat. Amici have an interest in defending these good-faith and non-arbitrary actions designed to save American lives. 1 As chief legal officers of their respective States, amici may file this brief without the consent of the parties or leave of the Court.