(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Some two centuries ago, Alexis de Tocqueville observed: “Scarcely any question arises in the United States which does not become, sooner or later, a subject of judicial debate.” Covid-19 may prove this observation as appropriate in 2020 as it was in 1835.
Some 1,155 coronavirus-related legal complaints have been filed across the U.S. during the lockdown, according to data compiled by law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.
The most common complaints relate to prison confinement, civil rights and insurance, although other clusters include consumer law, labor and employment, and health care. Intriguingly, there have been eight complaints relating to “challenges against foreign sovereigns” — which may indicate an attempt to hold (or be seen to hold) other countries accountable for the spread of Covid-19.
As businesses and schools explore reopening against a background of rising infection rates, it seems likely that this steady flow of legal action will turn into a flood, even as courts struggle to reopen and settle a backlog of cases.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Ben Schott is a Bloomberg Opinion visual columnist. He created the Schott’s Original Miscellany and Schott’s Almanac series, and writes for newspapers and magazines around the world.
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