US warns Los Angeles stay-at-home extension could be illegal

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday warned the mayor of Los Angeles and the county's top health officer that an extension of the coronavirus stay-at-home order may be unlawful.

The vague letter sent to Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer did not spell out any specific violations, but noted concern about statements both had made publicly that restrictions may be prolonged without a vaccine.

“Reports of your recent public statements indicate that you suggested the possibility of long-term lockdown of the residents in the city and county of Los Angeles, regardless of the legal justification for such restrictions,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband wrote. “We remain concerned about what may be an arbitrary and heavy-handed approach to continuing stay-at-home requirements."

Dreiband acknowledged that Garcetti had broad authority to protect residents during the pandemic.

Garcetti said the city would be guided by science and data rather than politics. He said the city's 7-day average of deaths is holding and he feels confident about measures the city is taking.

“We are not guided by politics," Garcetti said at a briefing. “There’s no games, there’s nothing else going on, and that’s the way we’re going to continue to safely open.”

“There’s no city in the world that right now doesn’t have some sort of orders and restrictions because we know this virus kills,” Garcetti added.

Even as more of California reopens restaurants and shops, Los Angeles is among a small number of California’s 58 counties that either have not sufficiently contained the virus to reopen more activities and commerce or, in the case of several San Francisco Bay Area counties, have chosen to move more slowly.

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