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A man exits the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York, US, December 8, 2020. \u00a9 REUTERS\/Brendan McDermid<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
RT.com<\/p>\n
A New York state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow the government to detain people deemed a potential public health risk, amid concerns that the Covid-19 crisis is being allegedly used to usher in authoritarianism.<\/p>\n
Authored by a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly N. Nick Perry, Bill A416\u00a0calls<\/a>\u00a0for the\u00a0\u201cremoval and\/or detention\u201d<\/em>\u00a0of individuals who are identified as a\u00a0\u201ccase, contact or carrier\u201d<\/em>\u00a0of a contagious disease.<\/p>\n Such person or group of persons shall be detained in a medical facility or other appropriate facility or premises.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The sweeping powers would be employed in the event of the state government declaring a health emergency due to an epidemic of any communicable disease, the bill proposes. The legislation states that the government must provide\u00a0\u201cclear and convincing evidence\u201d<\/em>\u00a0that the health of others is in danger before ordering a person or group to be detained. People being\u00a0\u201cremoved\u201d<\/em> will have the right to legal representation and are allowed to supply the telephone numbers of friends or family to receive notification of the individual\u2019s detention.<\/p>\n The law apparently allows the governor or health official to unilaterally approve such detentions but a court order is required within 60 days of confinement, and judicial review is also required if the individual is still in detention after 90 days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Citizens that are placed in detention will be released once health authorities determine that they are no longer contagious, the proposed law states.<\/p>\n The bill also allows the governor or relevant health authorities to require people deemed potential health risks to submit to medical examinations as well as undergo a\u00a0\u201cprescribed course of treatment, preventative medication or vaccination.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The law does not specifically mention coronavirus. On his\u00a0website<\/a>, Perry says A416\u00a0\u201cRelates to the removal of cases, contacts and carriers of communicable diseases who are potentially dangerous to the public health.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In fact, the Democratic lawmaker\u00a0introduced<\/a>\u00a0a nearly identical bill during the 2015-2016 legislative session, but it appears to have gone nowhere.<\/p>\n The current iteration of the proposed law will be reviewed by the assembly\u2019s health committee next week.<\/p>\n Although the legislation is still a long way off from adoption, it caused considerable consternation on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew Cuomo was a bit of an authoritarian anti-Semite but I never thought the state would go literal Nazi,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Conservative commenter Ian Miles Cheong\u00a0wrote<\/a>, referring to New York governor Andrew Cuomo. The governor has previously been accused of imposing draconian crackdowns on New York City\u2019s Jewish community, which has resisted many of the Covid-19 restrictions imposed across the state.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a conspiracy theory, like many other things, 9-10 months ago,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0noted a similarly outraged Twitter user.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time that New York state lawmakers have been accused of promoting naked authoritarianism. Last month, Manhattan Democrat Linda Rosenthal introduced legislation that makes Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory\u00a0\u201cin certain situations.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0It was specified later that any such mandate would apply to\u00a0\u201call individuals or groups of individuals who, as shown by clinical data, are proven to be safe to receive such vaccine.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n