If the worst Ebola outbreak in recorded history reaches the United States, federal law permits the apprehension and examination of any individual reasonably believed to be infected with a communicable disease. These individuals can be detained for such time and in such manner as may be reasonably necessary. In other words, the federal government already has the authority to round people up against their will, take them to detention facilities and hold them there for as long as they feel it is reasonably necessary. In addition, as you will read about below, the federal government has the authority to separate and restrict the movement of well persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease to see if they become ill. If you want to look at these laws in the broadest sense, they pretty much give the federal government the power to do almost anything that they want with us in the event of a major pandemic. Of course such a scenario probably would not be called marital law, but it would probably feel a lot like it. If Ebola comes to America and starts spreading, one of the first things that would happen would be for the CDC to issue a federal isolation or quarantine order. The following is what the CDC website says about what could happen under such an order... Isolation and quarantine are public health practices used to stop or limit the spread of disease. Isolation is used to separate ill persons who have a communicable disease from those who are healthy. Isolation restricts the movement of ill persons to help stop the spread of certain diseases. For example, hospitals use isolation for patients with infectious tuberculosis. Quarantine is used to separate and restrict the movement of well persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease to see if they become ill. These people may have been exposed to a disease and do not know it, or they may have the disease but do not show symptoms. Quarantine can also help limit the spread of communicable disease. Isolation and quarantine are used to protect the public by preventing exposure to infected persons or to persons who may be infected. In addition to serving as medical functions, isolation and quarantine also are “police power” functions, derived from the right of the state to take action affecting individuals for the benefit of society. Isolation would not be a voluntary thing. The federal government would start hunting down anyone that they reasonably believed to be infected with a communicable disease and taking them to the facilities where other patients were being held. It wouldnt matter if you were entirely convinced that you were 100% healthy. If the government wanted to take you in, you would have no rights in that situation. In fact, federal law would allow the government to detain you for such time and in such manner as may be reasonably necessary. And once you got locked up with all of the other Ebola patients, there would be a pretty good chance that you would end up getting the disease and dying anyway. The current Ebola outbreak has a 55 percent percent mortality rate, and experts tell us that the mortality rate for Ebola can be as high as 90 percent.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 02:36:05 +0000
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