MASKS: Supreme Court clarity

No, your rights under the U.S. Constitution are not being trampled when required to wear a mask or to quarantine. The Constitution in the preamble, among other phrases, states, “Promote The General Welfare.” In the most relevant decision for today (in Jacobson vs. Massachusetts in 1905), the Supreme Court declared, “Upon the principle of self-defense, of paramount necessity, a community has the right to protect itself against an epidemic of disease which threatens the safety of its members.” The court explicitly rejected the claim that “Liberty” under the Constitution included the right of citizens to make their own decisions about their own health when it endangered others.

At this stage of COVID-19, courts unquestionably should uphold orders for quarantine and mask wearing, shelter in place, and closure of nonessential business. All are designed to stop the transmission of a highly communicable disease that, if left unchecked, could overwhelm the health care system.

Why do anti-maskers think nurses (and I am a retired RN), doctors and other health care providers have been wearing PPE for more than 150 years now? It is to protect patients and themselves from those with infections. Why do you think operating rooms practice sterile technique?

All of you who refuse to mask up, wash your hands and social distance are just flat out wrong. And I think you are incredibly selfish not to do it for your fellow citizens.

VICKY SANDRA BOYNTON

Rathdrum