State Quarantine Laws Unconstitutional

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution states, "No State shall ... pass any ... Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts."  That includes employment contracts.

The Fourteenth Amendment reads, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

On top of the U.S. Constitution, State constitutions also prohibit "shelter in place laws," and other quarantine laws being put into place.

California Constitutional-Election Law Attorney Attorney Mark Meuser, in explaining California's State Constitution, while indicating that the State government authorities include broad powers during emergencies, none of the language in the State Constitution allows for a "community lock-down."

Lastly, when I explain these constitutional principles, and that the principles of the Constitution are there to secure our natural rights, even during times of war or pestilence, my political opposition has responded, "The Founding Fathers could not have possibly seen the COVID-19 pandemic in the future, and in such desperate times we must remember that they said the Constitution must not be a suicide pact."

First, they did not say anything of the sort regarding "suicide pact," those were the words of a progressive judge, Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson who noted in 1949 in his dissenting opinion in Terminiello v. Chicago, the Constitution is not a “suicide pact.”  Second, yes, they did see the possibility of the coronavirus in the future.  The Black Plague was recent history.

Liberty is under attack, and I don't care what the excuse is; anytime we allow tyranny to gain any kind of foothold, it is dangerous, unconstitutional, and unacceptable.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary