Inconvenient truth

Or at least unpopular in some circles

THE ARGUMENT that requiring masks and social distancing during a pandemic is akin to a gross infringement on constitutional rights is one that first-year law students would quickly dismiss. And Americans don’t have to argue about it. The nation’s highest court has already ruled. About 100 years ago.

And still, not a pitchfork or torch in sight of the U.S. Supreme Court building, all these years later.

A body might not know it by listening to talk radio, but Police Power of the State versus Individual Liberties has been argued before. And ruled on before.

And settled before. And most Americans have accepted all of it, before. Check out a court ruling called Jacobson v. Massachusetts.

A man named Pastor Henning Jacobson decided the state of Massachusetts’ compulsory vaccination laws infringed on his liberty. And those laws did. But for good reason: the public health.

Mr. Jacobson claimed he might have an allergic reaction to the smallpox vaccine, and also claimed that previous inoculations in his home country of

Sweden had caused him pain. So he refused the smallpox shot, and the case went through the usual legal channels.

The United States Supreme Court ruled, in a 7-2 decision no less, that the Massachusetts law did not violate the Constitution. The high court ruled that “in every well ordered society charged with the duty of conserving the safety of its members, the rights of the individual in respect of his liberty may at times, under the pressure of great dangers, be subjected to such restraint, to be enforced by reasonable regulations, as the safety of the general public may demand” and that “[r]eal liberty for all could not exist under the operation of a principle which recognizes the right of each individual person to use his own [liberty], whether in respect of his person or his property, regardless of the injury that may be done to others.”

(Brother Jacobson might have had more luck to argue against “cruel and unusual” in his particular case, but his lawyers didn’t go down that path.)

Yes, the government can make you get a shot. Or fine you. That’s the law of the land, and has been for, well, before any of us were born.

Folks can’t simply make up constitutional rights. Neither can radio talkshow hosts.

Those rights have to be spelled out in the Constitution (rules during pandemics are not mentioned in our founding document), or ruled on later by the courts (see Jacobson).

As has been mentioned hundreds of times this year, the United States Constitution may be the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man (William Ewart Gladstone), but it’s also not a suicide pact (Robert H. Jackson).

The government, at all levels, can try to prevent you from dying with your rights on.

Which brings us to Arkansas.

WE NOTICED a story in Thursday’s paper by Jeannie Roberts, one of the newsroom’s busier reporters.

It seems the state of Arkansas has issued more than 100 citations over the months to businesses that have violated covid-19 directives.

Such enforcement is being handled by the Alcoholic Beverage Control people: “This includes numerous violations issued over the last month,” said Scott Hardin, ABC spokesman. “Non-compliance that may have resulted in a warning earlier this year will now result in an actual violation.”

ABC agents are handing out tickets, and they can cost between $100 and $500. Also, it should be noted, such misdemeanor violations could carry up to a month in jail. (Although we doubt things will go that far for anybody, at least not anytime soon.)

What are the specific violations at these businesses? The story lists many: Cooks preparing food without gloves or masks, staff not wearing masks, clerks at convenience stores not wearing masks, nine people squeezed together at a bar, 13 people at a table, register workers wearing masks covering only their chins, etc.

We like the idea of ticketing businesses, not patrons. For now.

We are reminded what Newt Gingrich said just after 9/11, when some questioned how far government was going to fight terrorism on American shores: He said you’re not going to believe how much liberty you’re going to go without if another plane crashes into another building. He also suggested that Americans would demand it if terror struck that way again.

The same warning can be given today: You’re not going to believe the government restrictions that might be handed down from Little Rock if covid-19 cases increase to 4,000 or 5,000 daily.

Wear a mask. Or be prepared to write a check.