This article was provided exclusively to the New York Analysis of Policy and Government by the distinguished retired jurist, John H. Wilson.
EDITOR’S NOTE: As this article went to press, passage of the Senate legislation to provide aid to Americans economically strapped by the Covid Crisis was inexplicably delayed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who dismissed the House at 10:02 am this morning.
Covid-19. Chinese Coronavirus. The Wuhan Flu. Whatever you want to call it, and whether or not you think this is the plague of end times, or an utterly overblown “angry flu,” the reaction of the world’s governments to this spreading virus has become the most important issue of our current age.
In Italy, entire cities have been placed under quarantine. In China, where the disease originated, the government admits over 3,000 people have died, while in Spain, the current death total is just under 800. As of this writing, Iran has suffered over 1,100 deaths due to coronavirus, and Italy is right behind China at over 2,500. Worldwide, the total number of people lost to this illness is 7,500, with that number increasing daily. Here in the United States, as of this writing, the death toll is 160.
These numbers pale in comparison to the number of people who die from the common flu every year. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), between October 1, 2019 and February 1, 2020, 12,000 people died in the United States from influenza, out of 31 million Americans infected by the illness in that same time period.
So why the panic? Perhaps the insidious nature of the coronavirus strikes at the imagination of the public. Those infected may display no symptoms at all while at the same time, infecting others unknowingly and unwittingly. Recent research shows the average incubation period of the illness is 5 days, but symptoms such as fever, a dry cough, or body aches may not appear for any where from 3 to 14 days after infection.
Rather than take any chances with an illness that can spread so rapidly and unknowingly, most of the World’s governments have taken extreme measures to control the spread of the virus. On March 13, 2020, President Trump declared that “the outbreak of Covid-19 in the United States constitutes a national emergency,” and granted authority to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Dr. Ben Carson) “to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements” of Medicare, Medicaid, and other government health insurance programs. Congress has also authorized a multi-billion dollar spending bill to combat the virus, including free testing and paid emergency leave.
In his famous statement, former Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emmanuel said, “you never let a serious crisis go to waste…its an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” Certainly, the coronavirus pandemic is the very definition of a crisis, and there has been no shortage of attempts to take advantage of the situation.
While the coronavirus relief bill was being debated in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was accused of attempting to insert funding for abortion clinics into the bill. Politifact immediately claimed the story was not true, but did admit that “Pelosi’s staff had no comment.” Meanwhile, Mother Jones accused Republicans of trying to insert anti-abortion restrictions into the coronavirus bill.
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After Mayor Feinen’s power grab became national news, the City of Champaign was quick to state that it had not actually banned the sale of alcohol or firearms. But this was not the point – the Mayor has the power to do so anytime she chooses.
In New York City, which continues to suffer the ill-effects of their “no-bail” policy, Mayor Bill De Blasio has been pummeled for his attempts to declare his own version of a state of emergency. After closing the schools, De Blasio proposed that New Yorkers “shelter in place,” which sounds suspiciously like a small step below the quarantine imposed upon Italians by their government. Even Governor Cuomo, no stranger to the use of government to solve all problems, would not endorse this step.
But governments are not the only ones who seek to exploit the crisis. New York’s Legal Aid Society recently demanded that “City Hall must put an immediate moratorium on arrests…we are in the midst of a pandemic, and our last priority should be to cycle New Yorkers through our broken criminal justice system.” As an alternative, the New York Post proposes that Governor Cuomo use his emergency powers to suspend the “no-bail” law to give judges “maximum discretion right now.”
The Legal Aid Society also called for the release of inmates since jail “facilities are a literal breeding grounds for infectious disease such as COVID-19.” This call has found some support from the Mayor, who has announced that “we will identify any inmates who need to be brought out because of either their own health conditions — if they have any pre-existing conditions, etc. — or because the charges were minor and we think it’s appropriate to bring them out in this context.” Completely unaware of the irony of his next statement, Mayor De Blasio added, “we still need our criminal justice system to function.”
Releasing inmates and refusing to make arrests is no way to maintain public order during a pandemic, but Philadelphia has made an art form of dysfunction. The Police Commissioner of Philadelphia, the delightfully named Danielle Outlaw, had announced that her officers will not be making arrests, but instead, will “temporarily detain (a person stopped for a crime) to confirm identification and complete necessary paperwork. The individual will then be arrested on a warrant at a later date.” In other words, if I’m caught trying to steal your car, or just break into it, in Philadelphia, I will be actually arrested some time in the future – maybe.
In other words, Commissioner Outlaw is encouraging lawlessness. But her policy is in keeping with the wishes of the District Attorney and Mayor of Philadelphia, who have instituted their own no bail policy. Why shouldn’t Commissioner Outlaw use the Covid-19 crisis to further Philadelphia’s no-bail policies?
In the months to come, as the virus spreads, local and national governments will begin to assert their powers to protect the health, safety and welfare of their citizens. What we must watch for, are those efforts to use the crisis to foster and encourage pre-existing social policies, such as the no-bail laws of New York and Philadelphia, or the anti-gun sentiments of the Mayor of Champaign, Illinois.
Illustration: Pixabay