By Site Staff
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donkeyrock shared this story from  Police State USA.
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(Source: Participant Media)
The powers currently claimed by the federal government conceivably allow for situations where any communicable disease — even influenza — can become the basis for a large-scale military-enforced federal quarantine in which civil rights are suspended, civilian movement is restricted, and citizens are involuntarily detained — perhaps indefinitely.
On July 31st, 2014, President Obama expanded the list of communicable diseases for which the federal government is prepared to institute a quarantine. Together, with the expansions made by previous presidents, the list includes the widest set of potential triggers for suspending American rights that the country has yet seen.
It wasn’t always this way. The federal government’s first role in disease control was to modestly provide assistance to state-managed efforts, limited to port entry situations. Foreigners entering the USA could be checked for disease and temporarily held for a time, if necessary. This was arguably a function of border security and a valid role of the federal government under the U.S. Constitution.
However, like most government programs, it was followed by considerable “mission creep.” After decades of centralizing power, checks at the border evolved into the potential for mass-suspension of Americans’ rights anywhere inside the USA. The U.S. Surgeon General now has the broad and vague ability to invent regulations that “in his judgement are necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases.” He can enforce a quarantine in a manner he sees fit, up to and including the “apprehension and detention” of individuals — whether they are suspected of being sick or not.
The powers of the federal government really began to amass following the New Deal. In 1944, Congress passed the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, granting the extra-constitutional ability of the Executive Branch to decide, at its discretion, which health threats were worthy of issuing a large-scale quarantine of Americans, and what measures would be used in enforcing the quarantine. From that point forward, presidents and their appointees had at their disposal a potential loophole for bypassing the constitution and detaining people without proof or due process. While seldom utilized, the threat posed to civil liberties continues to loom, especially with the hysteria over communicable diseases. An excerpt of the PHS Act is listed below:
The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S. Code § 264 (a-b)) (link)
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 1, 1944
(a) Promulgation and enforcement …read more
Source: Donkeyrock_BlurBlog
