The coronavirus that was traced to a Wuhan seafood market has now spread across the world, wreaking havoc. Most governments have ordered strict lockdowns to contain the spread of the pandemic. As normal life has come to a standstill, a section of far-right politicians in the US have called the lockdown unconstitutional.
Is lockdown unconstitutional?
Some politicians in the US fear that the government will eventually use a national emergency to limit civil liberties. Republican Matt Shea, co-founder of the Coalition of Western States, a federation of politicians who are suspicious of big government, claimed that unconstitutional acts against US citizens should be prevented at any cost.
Shea believes that quarantine should be imposed only for sick people, and it will be unconstitutional if the government imposes isolation measures on healthy, law-abiding people. He sees the enforced lockdown slowly pushing the country into martial law territory.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp endorsed Shea's views, calling the lockdown measures unconstitutional.
"If I choose to peacefully assemble, go to church, go to a gun shop, take my family fishing, open my business, enjoy the outdoors, or exercise any of my constitutional rights, I should not be restricted from doing so by a would-be dictator," Culp told his supporters during a conference call.
A new system of governance?
A section of conspiracy theorists has started putting forward the proposition that the strict COVID-19 lockdown measures in most countries will eventually lead to a new system of governance.
According to them, leaders will be hesitant to give up the newly acquired draconian powers even after the containment of coronavirus, and it will slowly roll back the freedom people have gained over the years.
