(LifeSiteNews) — On November 30, just a few days ago, a handful of American patriots took to the streets of a lower Hudson Valley community to address a very troubling development in New York State, which severely impacts the freedoms and individual liberties of every citizen of the state: outrageous, unconstitutional quarantine regulations.
But the most troubling news about this development is that most New Yorkers haven’t a clue.
First, a little background. New York State already has a Public Health Law (NYSPHL) which provides for the isolation and quarantine of those who are infected with contagious and communicable diseases. It dates back to 1953, so no one in his right mind is looking to challenge this law. The health and well-being of all New Yorkers is always of primary concern, just not at the expense of individual and civil liberties—or the dismantling of the Constitution.
But in 2015, Assembly Bill 416 was introduced as an amendment to the NYSPHL in response to the Ebola outbreak. The bill would sit dormant, never even to receive a sponsor in the Senate, until 2021 when, consistent with a national trend to usurp civil liberties as a result of COVID, the bill began to pick up steam. But thanks to the efforts of a determined and well-informed citizenry who pushed back against this bill, it was eventually pulled from the legislative docket, never making it out of committee.
Unfortunately, Governor “Be my apostles” Hochul did an end run around the Constitution by implementing this “dead before arrival” bill as a regulation, a clear abuse of the separation of powers clause. This regulation would give state health bureaucrats the ability to forcibly isolate or quarantine, not only those who may have contracted certain communicable diseases, but those suspected of coming in contact with the infected. The broad language found in this regulation, which does not provide for due process found in the NYSPHL, gives unchecked tyrannical powers to the state allowing them to imprison folks for nothing more than a flu—or even Lyme disease for that matter.
Even though NY was recently labeled the least free state in the nation, there are still plenty of diehard patriots who recognize that all our civil rights are at risk if this government overreach is not addressed immediately, and that those who are not in the correct political party could easily be placed in “medical jail” at the whims of an abusive government. And even if the details of this regulation were worthy of praise—which they are not—the way in which it was unilaterally imposed by our authoritarian governor would demand similar efforts to sack this regulation.
So that is why Attorney Bobbie Anne Cox and her team at Uniting NYS have been fighting this regulation since its inception. They sued the State of New York on behalf of a few NYS Legislators who understood the existential threats this regulation has on our civil liberties. And due to these efforts of Attorney Cox, the court struck down this regulation on July 8, 2022. As Judge Ronald Ploetz correctly opined, “Rule 2.13 only gives ‘lip service’ to Constitutional due process.”
RELATED: New York wins appeal to allow its health department to put people in quarantine facilities
But in their arrogance, and with a fistful of New Yorker’s tax dollars, Attorney General Laetia James appealed on behalf of the governor. And unfortunately, they were successful. Now the ruling allows for the reissuance at will of this regulation. Not on the merits of the case, mind you, but because, in the opinion of the court, the litigants did not have standing.
So where do we stand now? Well, Attorney Cox has promised to continue the fight and to take it to the New York Court of Appeals. However, there is no guarantee the court will hear the arguments, and that is why local political action must begin immediately. We must hold all of our elected officials accountable, and not only the governor, but our state representatives as well, demanding that our legislators publicly decry this regulation. They must demand that Governor Hochul completely rescind this unconstitutional edict.
This grassroots effort has already begun in Cornwall, NY, a small bedroom community slightly north of NYC, with the hope that similar rallies will take place across the state. A group of approximately 50 to 60 folks got together outside the office of NY State Senator James Skoufis, to not only demand immediate action from him, but to inform the local community of this government overreach as well. Senator Skoufis was asked on numerous occasions to comment on this constitutional abuse, but his silence continues to imply his approval of Governor Hochul’s power grab.
READ: New York Gov. Hochul announces plan to train schoolchildren on what media sources to trust
Michelle Hinchey, another state senator, was also asked at her Town Hall Meeting in Lloyd, NY, what her position was on this regulation. To the dismay of her annoyed constituents, who seemed to know more about this issue than she did, she feigned ignorance.
As this is clearly a non-partisan issue, there really is no need to expend any political capital here, and thankfully there are rock solid representatives in NYS who recognize this. Senator George Borello, who is one of the litigants in the original lawsuit, issued a powerful statement which sums up the entire debate in a nutshell, respectfully calling on the governor to refrain from re-issuing Rule 2.13, as did Senator Mark Walczyk.
For those of you not living in New York who believe this is not something you should be concerned about, read this post on “X”, which received over 8 million impressions and prudently warns: “This is one of the biggest abuses of power this country has ever seen. This is only the beginning. How long until this is nationwide, or even global?”
Happening Now: The New York Appellate Division has ruled in favor of Governor Kathy Hochul in a landmark case for government overreach.
Rule 2.13: “Isolation and Quarantine Procedures” will give the state of New York the ability to come in your home and take you away to… pic.twitter.com/wpWHrjU7x8
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_in_Flint) November 22, 2023
So, no matter where you live, pay very close attention to the outcome of this constitutional battle. If this regulation is restored here in NYS, how long do you think it will be before they not only start placing New Yorkers in “medical jail” for any one of those diseases linked above, but before they start knocking on your door with the sheriff and a medical bureaucrat packing a thermometer?