Previously at MRCTV, we have noted how state COVID19 lockdowns of businesses and churches, and governor-enacted “stay-at-home” orders stand as stark violations of the Bill of Rights and the Contract Clause of the US Constitution. And now, not only are those violations visible, another immense question about individual rights comes to the fore, thanks to shocking reports that a Kentucky couple has been put in ankle monitors and shut in their home by the government.
As Chris Bradford, of The Sun reports, after the state discovered that Elizabeth and Isaiah Linscott had tested positive for COVID19 antibodies, the Department of Health demanded that they sign a “self-quarantine” agreement.
Elizabeth refused. And so the Hardin County Sheriff’s department and the Department of Health have placed the husband and wife under “house arrest” and locked them in electronic ankle monitors.
Elizabeth and Isaiah Linscott said personnel from the health department and sheriff's office showed up at their Kentucky home after she declined to sign a self-quarantine order, according to reports.
The full story is that Elizabeth got tested prior to embarking on a trip to visit her parents in Michigan, and she showed positive on an antibody test – which means she could have the virus now, or might have HAD the virus and is over it, and no longer at risk of infecting anyone, or could mean that Elizabeth – like hundreds of thousands of other people around the world – saw a false positive on the test. And, of course, since her husband is in the same home, he, too, is now suspect.
The health bureaucracy demanded that she sign a “Self-Isolation and Controlled Movement Agreed Order” stating that she would not leave her home unless she called the department and got permission first.
She told WAVE-TV why she would not agree to the county demands:
My part was if I have to go to the ER, if I have to go to the hospital, I’m not going to wait to get the approval to go.
And that kind of wisdom is a no-no.
A couple of days after she denied signing the Self-isolation and Controlled Movement Agreed Order, Linscott said the Hardin County Sheriff’s Department arrived at her home without warning. Her husband, Isaiah, was home.
And, thank goodness, the agents of the state – against whom privacy-seeking individuals cannot stand when said government agents really, really want to invade private property, possibly spreading disease – showed their numbers and strength.
I open up the door and there’s like eight different people,” he said. “Five different cars and I’m like what the heck’s going on? This guy’s in a suit with a mask, it’s the health department guy and he has three different papers for us. For me, her and my daughter.
And now, the couple, and their young child are stuck in their home, dependent on others to provide them with food and other essentials.
The couple was ordered to wear ankle monitors. If they travel more than 200 feet, law enforcement will be notified.
And this is not an isolated example of such an authoritarian, anti-constitutional government action. Hidalgo County, Texas just told residents that if they test “positive” (to stress, that’s not necessarily a sign that the test subject is at risk of communicating the virus) they must stay home, or face prosecution.
On July 19, the Hildalgo Department of Public Affairs Tweeted:
HEALTH AUTHORITY ORDER: If you or someone in your house have tested positive for COVID-19, you are hereby ordered to comply with the following requirements. Failure to comply may result in criminal prosecution.
Which inspires reiteration of important points at this moment in US history.
First, all such orders are violations of the First Amendment protection of free assembly and freedom of religion. They also are violations of the Fifth Amendment assurance of due process before the state punishes someone. This principle is also enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment. The orders also violate the Sixth Amendment assurance of a fair and speedy trial before a jury, as well as the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment (if there has been no trial and finding of guilt, how can there be punishment?). Likewise, these state edicts also breach the Contract Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits state governments from interfering with the fulfillment of private contracts – and this is easy to see, because if the state stops a person from going to work, or stops a business from opening, it is wiping away standing private contracts.
And, of course, the state is taking property away from private use. This includes private homes, since the owners are forbidden from welcoming guests, and it includes automobiles, since the owners are forbidden from using them, and includes any property that the owners might want to create or sell from their homes. The Constitution mandates that takings of property (which should include prevention of use) must be compensated by the state.
America and the concepts of individual rights and voluntary association are in dire trouble. Now.
It might be worthwhile to spread the word before politicians call truth a virus, as well.