What Good Are Constitutional Rights if They Are Violated When Americans Get Sick?

The Washington Times ^ | March 25, 2020 | Andrew Napolitano

[LateBoomer]

The heavy handedness of those insisting that everyone deemed non-essential must be quarantined is more concerning than the virus.

Indeed, it sounds like a top ten Twilight Zone episode akin to “The Shelter” or “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”.

If nothing else, COVID-19 has been a fascinating case study of the human psyche across the spectrum of reactions. And I say that understanding that we don’t fully know every aspect and nuance of the virus.

[Varsity Flight]

Yep, more feudal BodyMortgagers at it.

[Twink]

Indeed.

[wardaddy]

You are right....precisely

[joma89]

Agreed! This whole scenario is proof of how totalitarian all governments of the world have become. Why do I have to stay home just because an old person may get sick and die? Old people have been dying since the beginning of time.I

This scenario is the nanny state on steriods.

Buy weapons and ammo, folks.

JoMa

[Twink]

Not with your wife from communist china.

You have an agenda.

So do I. My agenda is American lives. My son in law is half chinese half irish and all American.

You mention you chinese wife. Chinese wife. Not Chinese-American wife. Chinese wife.

You claim not to know the Bill of Rights. The First Ten Amendments to our Constitution is our Bill of Rights.

There IS our Bill of Rights. You can’t be that stupid. So I guess you ain’t an American.

[Varsity Flight]

Lt.Gov here (Republican), talked up businesses ratting on business, for shutdown mandate. True, and Republican governor here. And we’re supposed to “get used to seeing” NatGuard now.

[familyop]

"What Good Are Constitutional Rights if They Are Violated When Americans Get Sick?"

So Napolitano is blind to the U.S. right to life as written and implied in our founding documents (written in the Declaration, implied in the Constitution, stated in Code and decided in many cases). The right to life will also be important, when something like Flubola eventually arrives, just as the right to life of the people of a nation is important during a foreign attack and invasion.

No one has a right to intentionally present a bio-threat to others. Remember that Ebola is no doubt being studied by foreign, evil empires, to attack us. It's highly likely, that those heartless entities are trying to develop some kind of Flubola. Who will be complaining about their lack of mingling with strangers for entertainment then?

As for the current threat, no one knows exactly how it's going to turn out if completely turned loose, and it's not over, yet. Oh...and down with globalism! Up with the U.S.A.! Let's starve the disease and win this November!

[wastoute]

If we can “sterilize” our country with a highly efficient period of isolation, as brief as possible, the benefit of all this testing is we can move all that capability to the US’s ingress points. You don’t get in until you pass a “Quick test” we can “open up again, even to travel” at a time when no other country can. If we all “become Army” and follow orders for a brief while we can do this. If we insist on our Liberties The Grim Reaper will just keep on swinging.

[wastoute]

The thing that blows my mind is “conservatives” DEMANDING the government give them pills. Never in my life did I ever...

[wastoute]

Protect your property but stay on it. Done. No problem. I am. We have a loaded shotgun at every door and I’m strapped in the damn house.

[wastoute]

People are gonna write books for a century. The Spanish Flu so impressed the Profession of Medicine there have been epidemiology questions on every Medical Exam for a damn century.

[ReaganGeneration2]

Some of us believe Constitutional Rights protect us only against the Feds.

It is shocking each state governor has been granted so much tyrannical power without reference to a legislature. Now we know.

[familyop]

I see the same. Most of us are getting along with each other as usual without complaining about the restrictions in the more conservative states. The restrictions are mutually agreed. I have neighbors who were quarantined and tested. They’re not complaining, even though they’re young.

I’m also sorry for those who’ve lost revenues as a result of the epidemic. We’ll see some changes in business, production and social interests as a result of the lessons from it. Hopefully, we’ll do better afterwards. Because of economic globalization, a future epidemic could be far worse.

[Ymani Cricket]

George Carlin was almost prophetic. Needed a laugh and this cracked me up. The comments are even more profound. Strong language warning. You know, it's George and he's not PC.

George Carlin on Germs, Immune system.

[Twink]

As I sit here with my guaranteed government paycheck as I do close to nothing to earn it,I agree. As my children, take pay cuts and are reduced to hourly employees and see their pay decrease, yes I see it.

This shut down, as necessary as it may be, is devastating and a $1200 check isn’t going to alleviate that.

People don’t understand or get it yet. I sit here with my guaranteed paycheck and medical benefits, for now, and consider myself very lucky. And I see my college educated kids taking pay cuts, the nurse who is dealing with this daily and exposed to these health risks, taking a pay cut, but it’s all ok for some reason.

People don’t understand the devastating ramifications of this. They think we’re only concerned about ski vacations and what not.

This is a catastrophe. I have no doubt with Trump we will get out of it sooner but it’s a catastrophe. We can’t pretend it’s not.

[Twink]

Do you just cut and paste?

[joma89]

Righttackle44,

Unfortunately, the ad hominem attack calling us spoiled brats shows how you use shaming as a way to silence others to get your way instead of building a logical argument in favor of current government actions. I, for one, will not fold in the face of you obvious written shaming.

The entire purpose of the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution was to enshrine individual rights that the collective of individuals (people like you) can not take away especially during times of crisis. Freedom of association, among many others, is one of them. Stay at home “orders” is an executive order by state Governors that takes that freedom away.

By the way, I argue decisions like Jacobson in 1905 was a bad decision and should be relooked in light of modern advances as well as the weighing between individual rights and group rights (or really state rights).

Here is a well written article from the Heritage Foundation that puts many pieces together to include Jacobson and others in light of today’s scenario. It argues, logically, in favor of your position:

https://www.heritage.org/the-constitution/commentary/constitutional-guide-emergency-powers

However, while judicial review has agreed that governments in the US (federal, state and local) have the ‘right’ to do what they are doing right now, I personally disagree with these actions due to advances in technology that did not exist in 1905. (I will not expound on those advances here.)

In my opinion, current decisions are akin to Lincoln suspending the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War and Roosevelt imprisoning Japanese Americans during WWII, both of which are black marks on American history.

I believe future generations will realize that giving government such wide powers during times of temporary crisis eroded the underlying fabric of freedoms enshrined in the US Constitution. It is also why Orwell in his book 1984 had Oceania ‘always at war with Eastasia’ because the ‘emergency’ of war gave the government of Oceania the ‘right’ to curtail all God given rights of the people of Oceania and as we found out, Oceania was not actually at war with Eastasia anymore but Oceania’s government was using propaganda to make people believe they were still at war.

I welcome your response as long as it is not a personal attack.

JoMa

[Vendome]

Zactly

[Twink]

Done and done and this house will use them.