Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Massachusetts Senate Bill S.2028

A few days ago, The New America ran an article that caught my attention - in a BIG way.

Mass. Health Bill Would Allow Warrantless Arrests, Quarantines

I took the time to go and read the entire bill on the official Massachusetts website and became truly alarmed. Even though the bill is kicking around in the House of Representatives in Mass., the very fact that such a thing exists is cause for all of us to look at the on-going hysteria over the H1N1 flu, referred to as Swine Flu.

For quite awhile, I've been very uneasy about the constant talk about this flu, and the possibility that this could be another convenient "crisis" the White House would not allow to go to waste.

In an email, Rep. Frank Smizik (D-MA), made these statements in an effort to mitigate the fears of opponents of this bill:

Laws currently exist in Massachusetts (and all other states) which give very broad powers to various officials during a time of emergency. All states have had emergency powers laws for many years, which are crucial during times of emergency to provide for the safety, health, and welfare of residents. These laws have been used responsibly over the last several decades.
S. 2028 provides more specificity and detail to the ways in which emergency powers may be exercised only during a time of emergency.
The bill provides that during a declared public health emergency or state of emergency, warrantless arrest is allowed only when a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a person has violated a health order.

This bill does not allow for mandatory vaccinations. Individuals may refuse vaccination, but should not be allowed to infect others if he or she has or may have a condition that poses a serious danger to public health, and therefore may be isolated or quarantined. In this situation, the health of the population temporarily takes precedence over the freedom of the individual. This provision has been upheld by the Supreme Court on multiple occasions.

Section 95 (a) of the bill allows the commissioner of DPH to issue an order for entry onto property where there is reasonable cause to believe that a disease or condition dangerous to the public health exists or may exist or that there is an immediate risk of an outbreak of such a disease or condition, and that certain measures are necessary to decrease or eliminate the risk to public health. The order may be a verbal order in exigent circumstances, and shall be followed by a written order as soon as reasonably possible, which shall specify the reasons for the order.
source


Nothing I read in that email made me feel any better. How about you? If we already have laws in place, why do we need "more specific laws", particularly since much of what is being specified looks fairly unconstitutional to me.

Another part of the bill states that:
law-enforcement authorities shall assist medical personnel in the involuntary transportation of people to treatment centers;

to restrict or prohibit assemblages of persons;

to control ingress to and egress from any stricken or threatened public area, and the movement of persons and materials within the area;
One of the most effective ways to control people is to limit their movement by placing compulsory restrictions on them, or in the more direct approach of declaring an emergency and locking them up for "the good of society."

The section in the bill concerning quarantines, forced or voluntary, is fairly fuzzy as to how the determination of the necessity of isolation of an individual is to be made. Exempt from the possibility of quarantine is anyone with AID's or who is HIV positive.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is "preparing for the worse" and I'm not even sure what that means. Regular garden-variety flu kills way more folks than the H1N1 ever has. From the research I've done, it appears that the symptoms of H1N1 are milder than regular flu.


The Massachusetts Liberty Preservation Association has a thread on their fine site just for this bill.


Here is the complete bill from the Massachusetts official website:

AN ACT RELATIVE TO PANDEMIC AND DISASTER PREPARATION AND RESPONSE IN THE COMMONWEALTH.