Ebola Quarantine An Encroachment on Rights? Margaret Canady 2nd Period

   Kaci Hickox, an American nurse who traveled to West Africa to treat Ebola patients, is planning to take legal action over the severe quarantine she has been put under after her return to the states. Her lawyer says the confinement raises "serious constitutional and civil liberties issues" and they plan to challenge the confinement in a federal court.
  The new quarantine rules, issued in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois, require all health workers who have been in contact with Ebola patients to undergo a mandatory 21-day quarantine period after returning to the US. Hickox said that immediately after stepping off of the plane, she was put into an airport quarantine, and her treatment was chaotic and uncoordinated.
  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the treatment of Hickox was inappropriate, and has revised regulations by allowing patients with no symptoms to finish their 21 day quarantine in their own homes. The White House has warned that imposing such strict restrictions might stop future health workers from going to West Africa to help others in need.

  I can understand where Hickox is coming from: she believes that under Amendment IV of the Constitution, she is protected from unreasonable seizures, and considers her quarantine an encroachment on civil liberties because she has no Ebola symptoms, and no reason to be confined. However, I think having a regulation and quarantine for ALL people returning from West Africa is crucial in fighting the spread of Ebola and keeping the rest of society safe. Mayor de Blasio's revisions are more humane, and I am glad they were enacted. But I think the quarantine was and is necessary, and is not breaking any constitutional laws in the process.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29782389