During a public health threat like the COVID-19 pandemic, it's hard to win litigation claiming that civil rights are being curtailed by government safety restrictions.

But litigators are trying.

In places including Texas, New York, Georgia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., lawyers are filing cases arguing that governments are violating Americans' constitutional rights to vote, practice religion, obtain an abortion, purchase firearms and gain release from pretrial imprisonment.

However, New York litigators Norman Siegel and Steven Hyman told the National Law Journal that courts are likely to uphold government safety restrictions as long as they follow public health guidelines.

"The balance is between public health, public safety and individual rights to liberty," said Siegel, the former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union who now works with Siegel Teitelbaum & Evans. "It makes it more difficult to challenge the restrictions or limitations on the individual right to liberty that are accruing all over the country today."

Related story: What the Legal Cases Over Ebola Quarantines Mean for Coronavirus

In some cases, though, lawsuits may have pressured governments to dial back COVID-19 restrictions. In others, even if they lose, perhaps litigators can succeed in sparking discussion about the line between public safety and individual liberties.

Here's a collection of the civil rights lawsuits that ALM publications have been covering during the pandemic.

Voting Rights

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Civil rights litigators across the nation reacted with dismay to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Tuesday in a Wisconsin election lawsuit. The high court blocked an order that would have allowed more time for absentee voting in the state's primary election. It was too close to the election date to change election rules, the court found. Because of the ruling, Wisconsin voters had to go to the polls in person during the pandemic.

Georgia, on the other hand, postponed its primary election from May 19 to June 9. In that state, a federal lawsuit has alleged that postage on absentee ballots was an unconstitutional poll tax and that mail-in ballots should come with postage-paid envelopes.

Search and Seizure

A closed cocktail and lounge restaurant. Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM)

Litigation in Pennsylvania alleged that Gov. Tom Wolf, in shuttering many businesses, committed an uncompensated seizure in violation of the Fifth Amendment and violated other constitutional rights.

"The question we've raised is, who pays for it? You cannot idle a business, you cannot idle workers, taking a right to earn a living away from the workers, and expect those costs to be borne privately," said Goldstein Law Partners attorney Jonathan Goldstein, who filed the lawsuit and is chairman of the plaintiff business. "If the public wants businesses closed for a public purpose, then the public must pay."

Release from detention

jail-door-with-keys

Public defenders in Georgia are winning the release of criminal-defendants in pretrial incarceration who are too poor to pay money bonds after filing an emergency habeas petition for 183 inmates. Lawyers in New York have also won release for a pretrial detainee, while attorneys in Pennsylvania convinced a judge to allow a convicted defendant to gain "compassionate release" from prison.

Litigation in Washington, D.C., is seeking the release of migrants kept in immigration detention centers. Similarly, a Boston federal judge granted class certification to 148 detained immigrants and began releasing them from detention in groups.

Religious liberty

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Texas pastors have alleged that their county governments violated their religious freedom rights with stay-home orders that stop churches from holding in-person services. Plaintiffs counsel Jared Woodfill dismissed a mandamus action before the Texas Supreme Court, but said that he's still pursuing trial court lawsuits in multiple counties.

Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statewide order that labeled religious institutions as "essential," which omits them from stay-home restrictions.

Abortion rights

Demonstrators outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington during oral arguments in a Louisiana abortion clinic case on March 4. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Multiple states are restricting abortions during the virus scare, which has prompted a wave of litigation.

For example, in Texas, the governor ordered hospitals to stop nonessential surgeries and procedures temporarily to clear up bed space for COVID-19 patients. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton then issued a legal opinion saying Abbott's order applied to abortion procedures.

Litigation ensued and the plaintiffs initially won a temporary restraining order, only to see the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reverse the order. Reconsidering it, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel of Austin on Thursday again issued a temporary restraining order, although it's more narrow than his first. Paxton has promised to appeal again.

Gun rights

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The National Rifle Association has sued New York over its coronavirus restrictions that required firearm stores to close. The lawsuit argues that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's order is overbroad and a pretextual attack on New York residents' Second Amendment rights.

In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy on March 30 changed an order to designated firearms retailers as "essential" and remain open. Before that, on March 25, the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs sued the government over gun-store closures. The association claimed victory in its lawsuit when the governor amended his order to enable gun dealers to reopen.