Commentary When a public emergency strikes, officials respond in panic. They often don’t remember what they learned from previous emergencies. When a public emergency ends, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Eager to move ahead with their lives, decision makers neglect to change the law to embody what they have just learned. During World War II, federal authorities herded 70,000 American citizens of Japanese descent into concentration camps—without charges and without trial. After it was over, we vowed it would never happen again. But when COVID-19 arrived, officials issued “stay at home” orders that unconstitutionally detained millions of citizens. Both actions violated constitutional rights and accomplished little. In World War II, we didn’t need to detain tens of thousands; we could have used loyalty hearings to screen citizens, as the British did. Similarly, we didn’t need COVID-19 lockdowns. They didn’t stem the pandemic and imposed incalculable psychological and economic damage. …