Judicial analyst and former federal judge Andrew Napolitano blasted a controversial bill in Massachusetts and warned that the public would resist. During an interview on Fox News, the well-known freedom advocate also described various powers the legislation purports to authorize — e.g., forcibly quarantining residents without a warrant — in the name of quelling a public-health threat such as that supposedly presented by the swine flu virus. And he told the Fox News show host that the legislation appeared to be on track for passage.
The legislation purports to authorize search and seizure without warrants, price controls, government prohibitions on freedom of assembly, warrantless arrests, and other alarming powers. The bill also claims it would shield virtually everybody involved from liability — including the vaccine manufacturers on down to the people injecting it. The bill passed the Commonwealth’s Senate unanimously, though the House clerk’s office told The New American that the bill had not yet cleared the House of Representatives.
After explaining that the H1N1 (swine flu) virus had made thousands of Americans sick and that some worry it could become a pandemic, the Fox host said the proposed bill claims to authorize warrantless quarantines and even the imposition of martial law. “Could that possibly be constitutional?” Regardless, the state’s chief executive plans to sign it, according to Napolitano.
The bill would allow the governor to declare an emergency and authorize “non-healthcare-licensed personnel” — which Napolitano suggested would be police — to vaccinate people against their will. The former judge noted that instead of forcing adults to take the shot, the statute authorizes incarceration without a warrant, charges or a trial. Children, on the other hand, could be removed from their parents and force-vaccinated, he added.
The screen read “Unconstitutional law?” and “bill being called ‘draconian’” underneath while the host described the bill as troubling on many levels. He wondered if the government would compile a list of everybody who received the swine flu shot, and if it would encourage neighbors to snitch on each other for failing to take the vaccine.
“Look, this is the reason why we have federal judges,” explained Napolitano, though other legal experts have warned that the courts would not step in. “Because federal judges in Massachusetts will have to take this statute and compare it to the Constitution. And the Constitution says the police can’t break into your home, and the police can’t take your children away, and parents decide what medication the children get, not the government.”
If this nightmarish scenario comes to fruition and police were to force-vaccinate children, “it’s going to hit the fan,” the host warned. Napolitano also cautioned against passage of the bill, saying: “The state of Massachusetts will be sorry it enacted this, because people will revolt against it.”
There has already been widespread criticism and opposition mounting against the bill, with groups like the Liberty Preservation Association of Massachusetts leading the charge. Natural News editor Michael Adams warned that the state was delving into medical fascism and said the bill transforms the Commonwealth of Massachusetts into a “medical police state” while turning citizens into government property.
The bill is indeed wildly overstepping the bounds imposed by the Supreme Law of the Land, but it is symptomatic of a larger trend across the country. Dozens of states already have forced-vaccination and quarantine statutes, while the federal government claims the authority to detain Americans indefinitely over medical issues and even more frightening powers than the states have allowed. It would certainly be a welcome development for the courts to step in, but as Napolitano warned, the prospect of citizens revolting against these draconian measures is not hard to imagine.
Photo: Judge Andrew Napolitano
