Proposed NY legislation would allow ‘suspected carriers’ to be detained by order of the governor

New York state is considering a new piece of coronavirus-related legislation, and it contains some troubling provisions, The Daily Wire reported. 

Proposed by New York State Assembly member Noah Nicholas Perry (D), New York State Assembly Bill A416 would significantly expand the power of public health officials and the state governor.

The legislation seeks to amend New York’s public health law so as permit officials to detain those deemed a “suspected case, contact or carrier of a contagious disease” and “pose an imminent and significant threat to the public health.”

Involuntary detainment

The order seeks to give more power to those like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who undoubtedly multiplied the death toll in his state by sending infected people into nursing homes.

In August, the Department of Justice announced that it was asking for data from New York and several other Democrat-run states regarding “orders which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents.”

According to the New York bill, the involuntary detention would occur in “a medical facility or other appropriate facility or premises designated by the governor.”

Furthermore, “public health” is not defined in the proposed legislation and the “opinion of the governor” is the authority behind who is involuntarily detained.

“The governor or his or her delegee … may order the removal and/or detention of such a person or of a group of such persons by issuing a single order, identifying such persons either by name or by a reasonably specific description of the individuals or group being detained,” the bill states.

“Egregious privacy violation”

As the Daily Wire noted, the bill has come under criticism as a threat to civil liberties. Libertarian Party of New York chairman Cody Anderson called it an “egregious privacy violation.”

“This bill offers a clear and direct path to unconstitutional and indefinite detainment, on the governor’s sole authority,” Anderson said in a statement.

He continued, “No U.S. state was ever meant to have a single person acting as judge and jury, without checks or balances; if this bill is allowed to pass, that is exactly what New York will have.”

Anderson concluded by declaring, “We once again demand that legislative leaders be principled when they claim ‘My body, my choice’ – they must not pick and choose.”

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