This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Friday, September 18th, 2020.

I'm Caleb Brown.

The police power is generally reserved to the states, and even there, state and local officials are limited in the degree to which they may restrict individuals activities.

In his contribution to the Kito Institute's new pandemics and policy,

Ilia Shapiro provides details about what state and local officials ought to be doing

to respect liberty as they work to stem the spread of COVID-19.

When we tally up what governments, state and local governments, and to a lesser extent, the federal

government, the actions that they've taken in response to this pandemic, what comes to mind when you think of the most egregious examples of violating

Americans' rights?

Again, understanding that this is a very extraordinary time in America.

Right, well, first you have to recognize that this is a very extraordinary time in America.

Right, well, first you have to recognize that this is all under the rubric of state police

powers, which doesn't have anything to do with the men and women in blue, it's kind of the

authority to make law for public health and safety.

And some of the egregious things are delineating essential and non-essential services and

products.

You can buy plants or vegetables but not seeds or roping off

certain lines in the grocery stores and not others rather than maintaining the flow of people in them kind of these

you know if we're trying to maintain physical distancing or these other kinds of

restrictions that we've all been used to, then allowing a drive-through liquor store, but not a drive-through

outdoor church service makes no sense whatsoever.

So if these delineations are improper,

...