Civil Rights in the Time of Covid, Part 2

We continue with Judge Wilson’s (ret.) review of civil rights and the Covid crisis

INFRINGEMENT OF THE RIGHT TO TRAVEL

The right to travel between states has been long enjoyed by citizens of the United States, even though the “textual support” for this right is a bit unclear. Still, as stated in the 1999 US Supreme Court case, Saenz v. Rose, “we need not identify the source of [the right to travel] in the text of the Constitution. The right of ‘free ingress and regress to and from’ neighboring states which was expressly mentioned in the text of the Article of Confederation, may simply have been ‘conceived from the beginning to be a necessary concomitant of the stronger Union the Constitution created.’ ”

Yet, the state of Rhode Island began to hunt down New Yorkers traveling to their state, going so far as to use the National Guard to track these travelers to the places they were staying. A checkpoint was established on I-95, and cars with New York license plates were specifically targeted. After less than a week of these excessive tactics, Rhode Island, under threat of a lawsuit from New York State, broadened their approach to include “any person coming to Rhode Island from another state for a non-work-related purpose” who “must immediately self-quarantine for 14 days.”

Florida has set up similar checkpoints on its highways, targeting vehicles with New York plates coming from the North, and vehicles with Louisiana plates coming from the West. To date, neither New York nor Louisiana has made any statement regarding these obviously illegal actions by Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, who has also instructed his state troopers to threaten those who do not self-quarantine with 60 days in jail.

INFRINGEMENT ON THE RIGHT TO WORSHIP

As is stated in the First Amendment to the US Constitution, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” There are fewer statements that are more direct and clear than this statement of the law of our land.

Yet, in Kentucky, the governor issued an order stopping all in-person gatherings, including festivals, government meetings and church services. California also ordered the closure of their churches, deeming them to be an “unessential service.” The Mayor of New York threatened to permanently close churches and synagogues that did not comply with his orders.

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Despite these threats, various churches have kept their doors open in defiance of the civil authorities. In Louisiana, Pastor Tony Spell of the Life Tabernacle Church stated, “We hold our religious rights dear, and we are going to assemble no matter what someone says.” Florida went so far as to arrest Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, who refused to close his church in Tampa. Once more, Florida had not deemed church services to be an “essential service.”

These are but a few examples of the overreach and unconstitutional power grabs going on throughout the country. Yes, the state does have the power to act in the interests of the health and safety of its citizens. But it does not have the power to exact criminal penalties on those who do not follow “stay at home” orders. All the state can legally do is quarantine those who will not stay at home. However, establishing quarantine centers costs more money than threatening citizens with criminal penalties, and enforcing these illegal laws on the few who will not cooperate.

And of course, it never hurts to take advantage of a crisis, and expand your power – does it?

This article was provided exclusively to the New York Analysis of Policy and Government by Judge John H. Wilson (ret.)

Photo: Pixabay

Quick Analysis

Russia Expanding Aggression

President Putin is using more than one pathway to enter Europe and undermine the West. While most of the world watches the conflict he initiated in Ukraine, the Russian government is actively pursuing a second front in a little noticed campaign in Cyprus. Although the corrupt Cypriot government ended its issuance of “golden passports” in 2020, Russian intelligence is functioning quietly there to transform this EU country into a Russian beachhead of illicit economic activity aimed at penetrating the capitalist West, according to Paul Goble of the Jamestown Foundation. Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor does it receive as much attention as those countries who are member states. That adds to its allure as a prime location for Russia to attempt to gain a European foothold. Last week a NATO report, cited in the European Daily Monitor, noted that Russian intelligence agents have been plotting to destroy European infrastructure across the continent to disrupt states supporting Ukraine. It further suggests that Putin’s immediate goal is to lay the framework for a future move against the security organization’s members. Hungary, in particular, is another country garnering Moscow’s attention as it opposes the Western response to Russian aggression. Russia is focusing its intelligence efforts on other European, non-NATO member countries in addition to Cyprus, including Austria, Malta, and Ireland. The NATO report suggests that Moscow has had success in disseminating the Russian political narrative in these states to advance its campaign against the West. The island of Cyprus is proving to be a good target for Moscow as it is an ethnically divided island that is part of the EU since 2004. Northern Cyprus, officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey. The division precludes it from joining NATO. As Goble suggests, “it offers Russia troubled waters in which to fish.” Over the last 20 years, he points out, Cyprus’ challenges have opened it to a massive influx of Russian citizens, who now comprise approximately 10 percent of the island state’s population. Over 2,900 residents are Russians who entered until the “golden passport” program that allowed wealthy or well-connected Russians to move to Cyprus. It also provided them with documentation to travel freely throughout Europe! Although less visible on the world’s radar than the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also being helped by Cyprus’ banks opposition to seizing Russian assets and its support in evading Western sanctions. Russia has placed tens of billions of US Dollars there for money laundering. It has been more than two years since a single Russian “diplomat” has been deported and, in fact, the Embassy has grown to over 300 staffers on this tiny island state of only 1.2 million people. The Russian embassy in Nicosia has advanced communications antennae on its roof and opened a consulate on the northern end of the island. Moscow’s Ambassador, Mura Zyazikov, is a lieutenant general in the FSB with no diplomatic experience. The FSB, SVR (Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and GRU are actively using the island as a base of operations against NATO Member states, Israel, and other Western allies. Moscow backs pro-Russian political parties who in turn influence Cypriot decisions on education, language, and other issues. “Dmitry Khmelnitsky of the Dossier Center says that its findings should be of concern not only to Cyprus but to the West as a whole. Those who ignore what Moscow is doing because Cyprus does not follow the EU sanctions regime are missing something critical,” says Goble. “Cyprus does not seek to get rid of Russian agents and does not interfere with their work,” Khmelnitsky concludes, “despite the fact that what the Kremlin is doing is so clearly visible.” This has an impact not only on the small island but on the EU, NATO, and the West in general. Earlier this year the Moscow Times reported that when the FBI became more interested in Russian business and oligarchs in Cyprus, at least 10 of the major Russian businesses operating there left. Despite the government of Cyprus’ vow to implement plans for new sanctions against Russia, it continues to ignore Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine and to shield the wealth of the 50,000 wealthy Russian citizens and oligarchs residing there. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay