ACLU opposed new fed. quarantine regs. said to be considered by Obama admin. in 2009. Groups gave Obama high marks for rejecting calls to close US Mexico border during swine flu outbreak-Politico, 8/5/2009

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8/5/2009, "Obama team mulls new quarantine regulations," Politico, Josh Gerstein

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"The Obama administration is quietly dusting off an effort to impose new federal quarantine regulations, which were vigorously resisted by civil liberties organizations and the airline industry when the rules were first proposed by the Bush administration nearly four years ago....

“It doesn’t surprise me that when swine flu or any other epidemic is featured prominently in the news, we see a return to quarantine and other public health regulations,” said Christopher Calabrese of the American Civil Liberties Union, which sharply criticized the Bush-era proposal as too heavy-handed. “The enemy here isn’t the American people or sick people. It’s an illness....Police officers with guns cannot make people obey a quarantine. In order for this to work, it has to be collaborative.  
They have to trust the government.” 

Thus far, the Obama administration has gotten high marks from quarantine critics,  particularly for rejecting suggestions that the U.S. close its border with Mexico  during the initial swine flu outbreak. 
 
“The current administration quite rightfully resisted those calls,” Jennifer Nuzzo of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Biosecurity said. 
 
A report in The Washington Post on Tuesday signaled that the administration may lessen some of the more stringent measures recommended for swine flu earlier this year, such as school closures. 

Analysts said the administration may want to hold new quarantine powers in reserve, for unforeseen situations or for diseases other than the flu. 

POLITICO spoke with about a half-dozen health policy experts and travel industry representatives who submitted comments about the rules the Bush administration proposed in 2005. None of those interviewed had heard that the Obama administration was in the process of reviving the plan, though some hailed the move."...





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