PU 120 Unit 5 Assignment: Constitutional Rights and Public Health Prevention

1. What legal grounds does the CDC and the New York State Department of Health have to quarantine a United States citizen against their will? 2. The official from the CDC informed Brice that they “…were going to have to take steps to place him in quarantine for at least the next 21 days.” What “steps” was the CDC official referring to? 3. Is Brice entitled to legal counsel? Explain. 4. What must public health officials demonstrate to the court to have an order of quarantine issued? 5. Brice was placed in quarantine in his apartment. Why was he not placed in a hospital isolation unit or even locked in a jail cell where officials could monitor him more closely to assure he would not break the quarantine order? 6. What are the societal benefits of quarantine? 7. Quarantine is one of many “police powers” that exist today. What is the purpose of police powers and how can they be justified in a country where so many freedoms are provided by this nation’s Constitution? 8. Quarantine and isolation are just two of many police powers that exist today. How are mandated vaccines, seatbelts ordinances, or smoking bans in public places, for example, comparable to these police powers, and how can they be justified by public health officials as needed to improve population health? 9. Now, place yourself in the shoes of the CDC official. Sitting before you is an innocent young man, who truly feels like a man without a country. He is a law-abiding and contributing member of society. Although he doesn’t know exactly what is unfolding, 5 he knows it is bad and he is frightened, not only for himself, but for his finance and his family members back in Pennsylvania. However, as much as you may feel for Brice, your mind cannot help but think of all those people Gemma has come in contact with since she became symptomatic. Your job is to do everything possible to protect the public from this serious communicable disease. As such, how do you respond to Brice? How do you justify to him the need to temporarily infringe upon his Constitutional rights in an effort to protect the health of the community where he resides? Requirements The essay should be properly formatted using APA 6th Edition guidelines, which includes double-spaced 12 point Times New Roman font, 1” margins, a title page, and applicable headers. Include a list of scholarly peer-reviewed sources using APA 6th Edition guidelines for in-text and reference citation style. The essay should have a sustained viewpoint and use Standard American English.