Your sick till you prove yourself well

[planosteve]

Also last week, a nurse who returned to the U.S. from western Africa, where she had been caring for Ebola patients, was arrested at Newark Airport on orders from the governor of New Jersey and held in a tent in a parking lot in downtown Newark until she could prove she was not symptomatic with Ebola. This, too, violated the presumption of liberty. It is not she who must prove that she is not contagious in order for her to be set free; it is the government that must prove that she is symptomatic in order to restrain her. When she quite properly threatened to sue those who arrested her, they acknowledged that they had no evidence of her contagion and released her.

What’s going on here?

What’s going on is the systematic governmental destruction of the presumption of liberty in the name of public safety. Politicians who want to appear bold and strong often ride a popular wave and ignore the rights of their targets. And those responsible for public safety — all of whom have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution — have forgotten that chief among their duties is the safekeeping of our freedoms.

Would it be easier for the government to keep us safe from money laundering and Ebola if it could disregard the Constitution and trample personal freedoms? Yes, it would. But who would want to live in such a society? If the government can reverse the presumption of liberty over appearances, what is the value of constitutional guarantees? Whose freedom in America is safe today?

Read the whole article by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/10/andrew-p-napolitano/government-claims-to-keep-us-safe/

[Ric]

You really believe that she should have the right to go out and even MAYBE endanger other people because she wants to prove a point? Pfft.

ANd YOU'RE gonna get YOUR point across, at least to me, a whole lot better when you pay more attention to the details of the presentation. Just saying...

[Sangersteve]

The presumption that this nurse's rights trump the rights of the general public is absurd.

She was treating people with a deadly disease, no one shows symptoms till they show symptoms.Our government is quarantining our troops who have not treated people with ebola, yet this special snowflake thinks she deserves to be allowed to infect others.

Now when you dig a little deeper you find that she scrubbed her social media account of her left leaning positions and her deep disregard of the governor of Maine(a republican up for re-election).

She is being used as a pawn to try to engage the governor in a battle over her rights, with the hope of swinging a few votes to the other candidate.

Not only does she have no respect for her fellow townfolk, she is allowing herself to be the poster child for being stupid.

[LibraryLady]

Not only does she have no respect for her fellow townfolk, she is allowing herself to be the poster child for being stupid.

+1

She is not finding a lot of support from her neighbors.

I wonder what hospital/dr. will want to hire someone who has trouble following the guidelines given to her.

[RedEye]

Even the astronauts returning from the moon were quarantined for three weeks in a modified Airstream trailer.

[planosteve]

I'll go with the judge when he argues: "It is not she who must prove that she is not contagious in order for her to be set free; it is the government that must prove that she is symptomatic in order to restrain her."\

If each governor can arbitrarily decide to impose quaranteen times and the governor of Vermont decides it should be 3 months and the gov. of New York decides it should be 6 months are you going to support them too? After all 6 months is twice as safe is 3 months.

[Ric]

She is getting on my last nerve....

[planosteve]

Get a grip people. I don't remember anything that was ever as overhyped as this Ebola. There has been no deaths from Ebola in the US except for Duncan who had it when he arrived. None of the family members in the apartment with him contracted it. The two nurses who did contract it are fine after some bed rest and keeping their fluid levels up. That's all it took.

[GFB]

I'll go with the judge when he argues: "It is not she who must prove that she is not contagious in order for her to be set free; it is the government that must prove that she is symptomatic in order to restrain her."\

If each governor can arbitrarily decide to impose quaranteen times and the governor of Vermont decides it should be 3 months and the gov. of New York decides it should be 6 months are you going to support them too? After all 6 months is twice as safe is 3 months.

So much for that..the court has ordered her to obey the governor.

[scarlett~nc]

her roommate in Africa had Ebola ..

Sheila Pinette of the Maine CDC has released information that the roommate of Kaci Hickox, while in West Africa has displayed signs of ebola. Pinette says “The respondents roommate in Africa became infected without knowing how she became infected with Ebola. This is one of 35 points Pinette made while filing a verified petition for public health order yesterday with the state.

[planosteve]

her roommate in Africa had Ebola ..

Sheila Pinette of the Maine CDC has released information that the roommate of Kaci Hickox, while in West Africa has displayed signs of ebola. Pinette says “The respondents roommate in Africa became infected without knowing how she became infected with Ebola. This is one of 35 points Pinette made while filing a verified petition for public health order yesterday with the state.

That statement makes no sense. It is one thing to say she "displayed signs of ebola" and another to say she "became infected". Was she diagnoced?

[planosteve]

A judge’s ruling Friday dealt a setback to Maine health officials’ efforts to restrict the nurse’s movements because she had recently treated Ebola patients in West Africa.

Chief District Court Judge Charles C. LaVerdiere rejected the state’s argument that Hickox posed a public health threat and should be prevented from leaving her house in Fort Kent or interacting with the public.

“The court is fully aware of the misconceptions, misinformation, bad science and bad information being spread from shore to shore in our country with respect to Ebola,” he said in his decision. He ruled that some restrictions are “necessary to protect other individuals from the dangers of infection” and instructed Hickox that even though her movements are largely unrestricted, she should be mindful of the public’s concern.

Gov. Paul LePage, who had been outspoken about the need to quarantine Hickox, said he was disappointed with the judge’s ruling, but would abide by it.

“We don’t know what we don’t know about Ebola,” LePage said during a campaign stop in Yarmouth, where he also took a jab at Hickox. “I don’t trust her. And I don’t trust that we know enough about this disease to be so callous.”

...Maine health officials had been trying to require Hickox to abide by an in-home quarantine since Tuesday, but relaxed the proposed restrictions slightly in the petition, which does not reference quarantine.

The temporary ruling is in place until a formal hearing on the state’s petition, which is scheduled for Tuesday – Election Day – at 8:30 a.m. at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor.

The judge’s order Friday does impose some restrictions: direct active monitoring of her health by a state official at least once a day, coordination of travel with public officials to ensure uninterrupted monitoring, and a requirement that she alert health officials immediately if she develops symptoms. It does not prevent her from leaving her house or being in contact with other people.

A health worker has gone to the house each afternoon for the last three days, including Friday, to take Hickox’s temperature. The worker has not worn protective gear.

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/10/31/state-files-petition-to-force-nurse-to-follow-cdc-guidelines/

[truep]

As far as I'm concerned, If she comes down with Ebola, She should be last on the list from transfusion products
from past ebola patients (or any other scarce medicTIONS UNTIL EVERYONE SHE HAS BEEN IN CONTACT WITH
gets it. She's a selfish publicity grabber.

[planosteve]

I don't think there is any indication she is seeking publicity. She is willing to accept restrictions that make sense. She stood up for her rights and she won. I like that.