By Rob Natelson

On March 23, the City of Denver issued a “stay at home” order designed to check the spread of COVID-19. The order prohibits travel and most business and recreational activities, subject to a long list of exceptions. It suffers from serious constitutional defects and should be challenged in court.

As a preliminary matter, I should say that, like many bureaucratic pronouncements, this decree seems to have been thrown together by people with inadequate understanding of the complexities of life and under political pressure.

For example, it defines as “essential activities,...