John Whitehead: The Attack on Civil Liberties in the Age of COVID-19
In an exclusive for MintPress, constitutional attorney John Whitehead warns
that the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to bring the American Police State out
into the open on a scale weve not seen before.
by John Whitehead
April 02nd, 2020
By John Whitehead
You can always count on the government to take advantage of a crisis,
legitimate or manufactured.
This coronavirus pandemic is no exception.
Not only are the federal and state governments unraveling the constitutional
fabric of the nation with lockdown mandates that are sending the economy
into a tailspin and wreaking havoc with our liberties, but they are also
rendering the citizenry fully dependent on the government for financial
handouts, medical intervention, protection and sustenance.
Unless we find some way to rein in the governments power grabs, the
fall-out will be epic.
Everything I have warned about for yearsgovernment overreach, invasive
surveillance, martial law, abuse of powers, militarized police, weaponized
technology used to track and control the citizenry, and so onhas coalesced
into this present moment.
The governments shameless exploitation of past national emergencies for its
own nefarious purposes pales in comparison to what is presently unfolding.
Deploying the same strategy it used with 9/11 to acquire greater powers
under the USA Patriot Act, the police statea.k.a. the shadow government,
a.k.a. the Deep Statehas been anticipating this moment for years, quietly
assembling a wish list of lockdown powers that could be trotted out and
approved at a moments notice.
It should surprise no one, then, that the Trump Administration has asked
Congress to allow it to suspend parts of the Constitution whenever it deems
it necessary during this coronavirus pandemic and other emergencies.
Its that other emergencies part that should particularly give you pause,
if not spur you to immediate action (by action, I mean a loud and vocal,
apolitical, nonpartisan outcry and sustained, apolitical, nonpartisan
resistance).
In fact, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been quietly trotting out and
testing a long laundry list of terrifying powers that override the
Constitution.
Were talking about lockdown powers (at both the federal and state level):
the ability to suspend the Constitution, indefinitely detain American
citizens, bypass the courts, quarantine whole communities or segments of the
population, override the First Amendment by outlawing religious gatherings
and assemblies of more than a few people, shut down entire industries and
manipulate the economy, muzzle dissidents, stop and seize any plane, train
or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease, reshape financial
markets, create a digital currency (and thus further restrict the use of
cash), determine who should live or die
Amid COVID-19 Crisis Gov't Spends Equivalent of Entire US Student Debt to
Rally Stock Market
Amid COVID-19 panic, the New York Federal Reserve Bank injected $1.5
trillion into the stock market, enough money to eliminate student debt.
MintPress News | Alan Macleod | Mar 13
Youre getting the picture now, right?
These are powers the police state would desperately like to make permanent.
Bear in mind, however, that these powers the Trump Administration, acting on
orders from the police state, are officially asking Congress to recognize
and authorize barely scratch the surface of the far-reaching powers the
government has already unilaterally claimed for itself.
Unofficially, the police state has been riding roughshod over the rule of
law for years now without any pretense of being reined in or restricted in
its power grabs by Congress, the courts or the citizenry.
This current pandemic is a test to see whether the Constitutionand our
commitment to the principles enshrined in the Bill of Rightscan survive a
national crisis and true state of emergency.
Heres what we know: whatever the so-called threat to the nationwhether
its civil unrest, school shootings, alleged acts of terrorism, or the
threat of a global pandemic in the case of COVID-19the government has a
tendency to capitalize on the nations heightened emotions, confusion and
fear as a means of extending the reach of the police state.
This coronavirus epidemic, which has brought Chinas Orwellian surveillance
out of the shadows and caused Italy to declare a nationwide lockdown
threatens to bring the American Police State out into the open on a scale
weve not seen before.
Every day brings a drastic new set of restrictions by government bodies
(most have been delivered by way of executive orders) at the local, state
and federal level that are eager to flex their muscles for the so-called
good of the populace.
This is where we run the risk of this whole fly-by-night operation going
completely off the rails.
Its one thing to attempt an experiment in social distancing in order to
flatten the curve of this virus because we cant afford to risk overwhelming
the hospitals and exposing the most vulnerable in the nation to unavoidable
loss of life scenarios. However, theres a fine line between strongly worded
suggestions for citizens to voluntarily stay at home and strong-armed house
arrest orders with penalties in place for non-compliance.
More than three-quarters of all Americans have now been ordered to stay at
home and that number is growing as more states fall in line.
Schools have canceled physical classes, many for the remainder of the
academic year.
Many of the states have banned gatherings of more than 10 people.
At least three states (Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) have
ordered non-essential businesses to close.
In Washington, DC, residents face 90 days in jail and a $5,000 fine if they
leave their homes during the coronavirus outbreak. Residents of Maryland,
Hawaii and Washington state also risk severe penalties of up to a year in
prison and a $5,000 fine for violating the stay-at-home orders. Violators in
Alaska could face jail time and up to $25,000 in fines.
Kentucky residents are prohibited from traveling outside the state, with a
few exceptions.
New York City, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., is
offering its Rikers Island prisoners $6 an hour to help dig mass graves.
New York Mobilizes Rikers Island Prisoners To Dig Mass Graves for
Coronavirus Victims
New York is mobilizing prison inmates from Rikers Island to dig mass graves
for coronavirus (COVID-19) victims.
MintPress News | Alan Macleod | Apr 1
In San Francisco, cannabis dispensaries were included among the essential
businesses allowed to keep operating during the city-wide lockdown.
New Jerseys governor canceled gatherings of any number, including parties,
weddings and religious ceremonies, and warned the restrictions could
continue for weeks or months. One city actually threatened to prosecute
residents who spread false information about the virus.
Oregon banned all nonessential social and recreational gatherings,
regardless of size.
Rhode Island has given police the go-ahead to pull over anyone with New York
license plates to record their contact information and order them to
self-quarantine for 14 days.
coronavirus civil liberties
Rhode Island National Guard Military Police direct a motorist with New York
license plates to a checkpoint, March 28, 2020, David Goldman | AP
South Carolinas police have been empowered to break up any public
gatherings of more than three people.
Of course, there are exceptions to all of these stay-at-home orders (in more
than 30 states and counting), the longest of which runs until June 10.
Essential workers (doctors, firefighters, police and grocery store workers)
can go to work. Everyone else will have to fit themselves into a variety of
exceptions in order to leave their homes: for grocery runs, doctor visits,
to get exercise, to visit a family member, etc.
Throughout the country, more than 14,000 Citizen-Soldiers of the National
Guard have been mobilized to support the states and the federal government
in their fight against the coronavirus.
Thus far, we have not breached the Constitutions crisis point: martial law
has yet to be overtly imposed (although an argument could be made to the
contrary given the militarized nature of the American police state).
Its just a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.
If this is not the defining point at which we cross over into all-out
totalitarianism, then it is at a minimum a test to see how easily we will
surrender.
Generally, the government has to show a compelling state interest before it
can override certain critical rights such as free speech, assembly, press,
search and seizure, etc. Most of the time, it lacks that compelling state
interest, but it still manages to violate those rights, setting itself up
for legal battles further down the road.
These lockdown measureson the right of the people to peaceably assemble, to
travel, to engage in commerce, etc.unquestionably restrict fundamental
constitutional rights, which might pass muster for a short period of time,
but can it be sustained for longer stretches legally?
Thats the challenge before us, of course, if these days and weeks
potentially stretch into months-long quarantines.
Battlefield America: The War on the American PeopleAt the moment, the
government believes it has a compelling interestalbeit a temporary onein
restricting gatherings, assemblies and movement in public in order to
minimize the spread of this virus.
The key point is this: while we may tolerate these restrictions on our
liberties in the short term, we should never fail to be on guard lest these
one-time constraints become a slippery slope to a total lockdown mindset.
What we must guard against, more than ever before, is the tendency to become
so accustomed to our prison wallsthese lockdowns, authoritarian dictates,
and police state tactics justified as necessary for national securitythat
we allow the government to keep having its way in all things, without any
civic resistance or objections being raised.
Most of all, dont be naïve: the government will use this crisis to expand
its powers far beyond the reach of the Constitution.
Thats how it starts.
Travel too far down that slippery slope, and there will be no turning back.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American
People, if you wait to speak outstand upand resist until the governments
lockdowns impact your freedoms personally, it could be too late.
Just because were fighting an unseen enemy in the form of a virus doesnt
mean we have to relinquish every shred of our humanity, our common sense, or
our freedoms to a nanny state that thinks it can do a better job of keeping
us safe.
Whatever we give up willingly nowwhether its basic human decency, the
ability to manage our private affairs, the right to have a say in how the
government navigates this crisis, or the few rights still left to us that
havent been disemboweled in recent years by a power-hungry police statewe
wont get back so easily once this crisis is past.
The government never cedes power willingly.
Neither should we.
