OK, a very quick primer for you who are thinking "how can the state shut everything down?"
1. The states (and their cities) have *long* held what's called the "police power" to govern for the health, welfare, and safety of their citizens. It's NOT new, and it's not radical. 1/
1. The states (and their cities) have *long* held what's called the "police power" to govern for the health, welfare, and safety of their citizens. It's NOT new, and it's not radical. 1/
2. This truism has been stated "repeatedly" by the United States Supreme Court (mostly to contrast it with the limited powers of the federal government). This includes to power to *force* even unwilling businesses to shut down, place restrictions on individuals, curfews, etc. 2/
3. "What about my rights?" crowd. Of course you have your individual rights, and states have to choose the least restrictive means of doing what they need to do even for important purposes. Lots of cases where govt a) are too broad and/or b) don't have a good enough reason 3/
4. But this framework assumes that *sometimes* there are truly compelling emergencies that allow the states to enforce even drastic rules. A global pandemic that spreads even among the asymptomatic with a high hospitalization rate and hospital bed crisis 4/
5. is the kind of "crazy hypo" even I wouldn't have thought about before. But here we are. *I'm not giving you legal advice and I'm not telling you everything the states will do for all time is legal blah blah* 5/
6. But seeing "blue check" people saying "this is unAmerican and illegal" is where *Iegal disinformation* contributes to the public health crisis. End/
(And to my colleagues most of whom have much smarter things to say here--yes I've omitted textbooks full of nuance and whatabouts but here just trying to help people understand quickly)
