Freedom does not include a right to endanger others. COVID vaccines should be mandatory

Sacramento Bee ^ | April 16, 2021 | Erwin Chemerinsky

[DoodleBob]

No one’s freedom provides the right to endanger others. That is the point of the adage that my right to swing my fist ends at another person’s nose. The government always has the power to impose restrictions on behavior to protect other people from harm, including to stop the spread of a communicable disease. Yet these basic principles are forgotten by those who opposed a mask mandate and who now are trying to prohibit vaccine passports.

Indeed, the government can and should require that everyone be vaccinated against COVID.

There is no constitutional right to refuse to wear a mask in public. Scientific studies conclusively demonstrate that masks lessen the spread of COVID. Yet, astoundingly, opposition to wearing masks has been championed as an exercise of personal freedom and mask mandates have been repealed as part of protecting this liberty. From a constitutional perspective, that is just nonsense. There is no right to risk infecting others with a deadly disease.

Nor is there any constitutional limit on the ability of the government to require that everyone be vaccinated. In Jacobson v. Massachusetts, in 1905, the Supreme Court considered a constitutional challenge to a law requiring that people be inoculated against smallpox. A minister challenged this requirement, saying it unconstitutionally infringed his liberty and his right to control his body and his health. The Supreme Court decisively rejected this argument and held that in order to protect public health, the government may require inoculations against communicable diseases. It declared: “Upon the principle of self-defense, of paramount necessity, a community has the right to protect itself against an epidemic of disease which threatens the safety of its members."

...

Similarly, those holding public events, such as concerts and sports, or those with businesses, can require proof of vaccination...

[DoodleBob]

A few things:

-The cited SCOTUS ruling covered smallpox, which had a fatality rate of about 30% for all unvaccinated individuals. The fatality rate for Americans who get COVID84 is about 1.8%. This SCOTUS' ruling likely isn't binding on a dramatically less fatal situation like the current one.

-Per this great writeup, Jacobson v. Massachusetts centered around smallpox vaccination, which already had a long history by that time (George Washington required vaccination for Continental Army soldiers during the Revolutionary War in 1777). The current vaccines... have not yet received actual approval. They were granted emergency authorization by the FDA, which could make the courts less likely to side with a mandate today.

-The author, the current dean of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, is a loon:

Chemerinsky supports gun control and disagreed with the decision in District of Columbia v. Heller....Chemerinsky believes that Roe v. Wade was correctly decided...Chemerinsky also represents a client held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center...He supports affirmative action...In January 2017, Chemerinsky, along with other high-profile lawyers, sued President Donald Trump for refusing to "divest from his businesses"... In an opinion piece following the 2020 presidential election, Chemerinsky wrote that "the Electoral College makes no sense as a way for a democracy to choose a president."

[tennmountainman]

Utter nonsense.

[riverrunner]

Just another commie spouting their BS.

[Jonty30]

So, if I interpret his comments on principle, liberalism should an illegal political philosophy, because it is dangerous. No other philosophy has murdered hundreds of millions of people, enslaved over a billion and started the majority of major wars in order to enslave populations.

I quite agree with his principle.

[impimp]

Nothing protects vaccinated people more than unvaccinated people who get infected and allow the vaccinated people to keep their immunity. The immunity only remains if you are repeatedly exposed.

[Jonty30]

Judging by his picture, he’s capable of seeing both sides of an issue simulataneously.

[cdcdawg]

“Chemerinsky supports gun control”

Imagine my shock.

[HighSierra5]

I’ve always hated this commie. He’s not only physically defective but mentally as well.

[TheDon]

So much for driving cars.

[Radix]

Are you on drugs?

[TheDon]

The airlines are being shut down?

[no-to-illegals]

The author would have been a fine hitler lap dog

[ConservativeInPA]

This isn’t the Babylon Bee, right?

[Nathan _in_Arkansas]

Straight commie talk. Individuals are a threat to the collective, comrade. Off to the gulag for forced vaccination, re-education, and sterilization.

Anyone else want to dissent from Almighty Government’s commands?

[lgjhn23]

“Professor”, “University”....nough said.

[Lizavetta]

No one’s freedom provides the right to endanger others.

Except abortion, right?

[kenmcg]

What is the SacramentoBee, is it legitimate? Obviously they long for the days of Nazi Germany or the old Soviet Union. Freedom means you have the right to get vaccinated or decline. The government does not have the right to force a vaccination. Even in these f'd up days, one would think the SCOTUS would uphold the right of individual choice.

[DoodleBob]

Sadly, it is right from the Law School Dean of UC Berkeley.

[mewzilla]

Berzerkley.

Nuff said.

[David Chase]

No. No. No.

I have been vaccinated myself and I totally oppose and mandatory vaccinations and any forced I.D. or passport type I.D. to be allowed to live free and travel and attend events and be in public or for any reason!

This idea is extremely dangerous and like everything else can expand into terrible horrors.