Covid and the Regulatory State

March 2021 marks the one-year anniversary of the widespread lockdowns implemented across the United States in a concerted effort to slow the spread of the novel (SARS-CoV-2) corona virus.  Across the Atlantic, Ireland is marking the same anniversary while the United Kingdom initiated its lockdown measures a couple of months earlier, in January 2020. As the world finally moves out of the pandemic, many questions remain surrounding the aggregation of regulatory power in the hands of local government officials.  Besides the substantive debate over the efficacy or necessity of certain measures, procedurally many covid-related measures were passed on an emergency powers basis without the typical process required for the passage of public health measures. 

Noted administrative law scholars and professors Catherine Donnelly of Trinity College Dublin and Adam White of Scalia Law School join us to discuss the effects of covid on the administrative state, the pros and cons of increased regulation, and the differences between the U.S.’s legal response and responses in Ireland and the UK.