A version of this article first appeared in American Thinker on 6/7/22: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/06/stopping_quarantine_camps_in_new_york_state.html
Imagine a land where the government has the power to lock people up because the unelected bureaucrats in the Health Department think that you might, possibly have a communicable disease. They don’t have to prove you are sick. They don’t have to prove you are a health threat to others. They just need to think maybe you were possibly exposed to a disease. And when we say “lock people up”, I mean lock you in your home, or force you from your home into a facility, detention center, camp (pick your noun), that they get to choose, and for however long they want. No time limit; so it could be for days, weeks, months…
Now imagine that there is no age restriction, so the government can do this to you personally, or to your child, or to your elderly parent, or to your elderly grandparent. The nightmare continues, because you have no recourse. No chance to prove that you aren’t infected with the disease. No chance to confront your jailers, see their supposed evidence against you, or challenge their quarantine order in a court of law before getting locked up. And they can use law enforcement to help them carry out their forced quarantine or isolation orders, so the knock on your door could very well be the sheriff or police coming to remove you from your home, or to ensure you are locked down in your home, isolated, as the Health Department ordered you to be.
The notion sounds unbelievable to an American… the government having the ability to control your every move. Literally having unbridled power to tell you where you can and cannot go, what you can and cannot do, who you can and cannot see. It is the very antithesis of what our Country stands for.
And yet, the Governor of New York and her Department of Health have promulgated a regulation that does all of that, and more. The regulation is called “Isolation and Quarantine Procedures” and can be found at 10 NYCRR §2.13. It is a clear violation of Separation of Powers because the Governor cannot make law, and nor can an agency. Only the legislature can make law, and the NYS Legislature does not want to make a law like this. We know that because (for several years) they refused to pass a proposed law (A-416) that was the same sum and substance of this DOH regulation!
Remember from grade-school History class – we have three branches of government (Judicial, Executive and Legislative), all are co-equal with one another, and each has its own separate powers and duties. The Governor and her agencies are in the Executive Branch of government. The Executive Branch enforces the laws that are passed by the Legislative Branch. The State is calling this a “regulation”, but in reality, it is a law cloaked as a regulation. Not to mention the fact that it violates numerous Constitutional rights as well as New York State laws.
So, our citizens’ group, Uniting NYS, has teamed up with a group of New York State Legislators, and we are suing the Governor of New York and her Department of Health to stop their “quarantine camp” regulation! The Legislators standing with us in this lawsuit are true leaders, willing to stand up for We the People, and to help us preserve the Constitutional rights upon which our founding fathers based our great Nation. Senator George Borrello, Assemblyman Chris Tague, and Assemblyman Mike Lawler are the NYS Legislators who are named plaintiffs in our lawsuit with us. Additionally, Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, Assemblyman Joseph Giglio, and Assemblyman William Barclay are also standing with us, by writing a fantastic Amicus Brief in support of our case.
Our lawsuit is the first and only lawsuit of its kind in the Country, and its importance cannot be understated. If this “regulation” is allowed to stand, then it will signal to all agencies that they can make regulations that conflict with the Constitution and with state laws. If that happens, then the Legislative Branch of government will no longer be a co-equal branch. Instead, it will become subservient to the Executive Branch, because the agencies in the Executive Branch could just make a rule that conflicts with a law (or the Constitution) whenever they wanted. It would make our laws useless.
And if this regulation is allowed to stand in New York, and quarantine camps are a new standard of government control over the people, then it will spread like wildfire across the Country. Other states will see what New York is doing, and they will follow. The floodgates will open. So we must win this fight, not just for New Yorkers, but for all Americans!
To find out more about our lawsuit, to sign up for weekly updates, or to join our citizens’ group, go to www.UnitingNYS.com/lawsuit. Our fearless attorney, Bobbie Anne Flower Cox of Cox Lawyers, PLLC, is doing this case pro bono, so we are asking people to please help us support her with a donation if you can. All donations are appreciated, and no donation is too small.
