Attorney General William Barr said Friday it's time to end some of the coronavirus-related restrictions put on Americans because the rate of infection is leveling off.
"The Bill of Rights doesn't go away during a crisis like this, but what it does do is it requires the government to justify any restrictions as truly necessary and ensure there are not other ways of addressing the government's interests that are less burdensome on our rights," Barr said in a Twitter video posted to the Department of Justice account.
"Now that the curve has been flattened, the rate of spread has been slowed, our system has not been overwhelmed and has time to adjust to the situation, it's time to start rolling back some of these restrictions in an orderly and sensible way and the president has provided his Opening the United States Again plan that provides a sensible approach to doing that. A framework for doing that."
Barr has made clear that he would like to see parts of the U.S. start to reopen so Americans can get back to work after weeks of closures put in place to control the spread of COVID-19. He said last week that stay-at-home orders implemented across the country are "disturbingly close to house arrest." He added, "I'm not saying it wasn't justified."
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