Federal judge leaves CDC evictions moratorium in place

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is refusing landlords’ request to put the Biden administration’s new eviction moratorium on hold, though she made clear she thinks it’s illegal.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich on Friday said her “hands are tied” by an appellate ruling the last time courts considered the evictions moratorium in the spring.

Alabama landlords who are challenging the moratorium are likely to appeal.

Friedrich wrote that the new temporary ban on evictions the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed last week is substantially similar to the version she ruled was illegal in May.

According to the Associated Press, Judge Friedrich put her ruling on hold at that time to all the appeals of the administration.

But this time, she wanted to follow a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the AP reported.

According to the AP, the landlords are expected to seek the involvement of the Supreme Court if the D.C. Circuit doesn’t give them what they want.

On June 29, the Supreme Court ruled to leave the ban on evictions in place, over the votes of four objecting conservative justice.

According to the Associated Press, Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas voted to end it.