3 ms·

State border closures are unconstitutional in the United States, we could never have a national lockdown. The interstate commerce clause prevents it. Among othe

State border closures are unconstitutional in the United States, we could never have a national lockdown. The interstate commerce clause prevents it. Among other laws I am sure.

triceratops 6y ago
> State border closures are unconstitutional in the United States I'm not an expert, but that doesn't seem to be the case.[1] > interstate commerce clause I thought that just gave Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. Again, I'm not a legal expert. 1. https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2020/03/18/296072.htm https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2020/03/18/29607...
- salmon30salmon 6y ago
  Right, closing borders between states could be seen as an uneven application of a law and prevent interstate commerce. Especially if it were applied unevenly in the sense of "Oregon can have an open border with Idaho but not Washington" because Washington had more cases. Businesses that rely on the border between OR and WA would sue for relief in a hot minute. I am probably wrong about the law used. IANAL.
  - triceratops 6y ago
    > Businesses that rely on the border between OR and WA would sue for relief in a hot minute. So if you gave them relief preemptively they'd be OK, right? In any case, you don't need border closures. Even things like suspending or massively reducing domestic air travel, introducing compulsory self-quarantine upon arrival in a new state etc. might be better than doing nothing. I'm not an expert, but it seems like we never even tried.
    - fyfy18 6y ago
      In the EU most countries still had borders open for commercial traffic even during the height of the quarantine. This applied not only to trucks shipping tomatoes from southern Europe (rather vital), but also to a plumber hopping across the border to get slightly cheaper products (not so vital).
  - minkzilla 6y ago
    There is also: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_under_United_States_law https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_under_Un...

State border closures are unconstitutional in the United States, we could never have a national lockdown. The interstate commerce clause prevents it. Among other laws I am sure.

triceratops 6y ago

> State border closures are unconstitutional in the United States I'm not an expert, but that doesn't seem to be the case.[1] > interstate commerce clause I thought that just gave Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. Again, I'm not a legal expert. 1. https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2020/03/18/296072.htm https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2020/03/18/29607...

salmon30salmon 6y ago
Right, closing borders between states could be seen as an uneven application of a law and prevent interstate commerce. Especially if it were applied unevenly in the sense of "Oregon can have an open border with Idaho but not Washington" because Washington had more cases. Businesses that rely on the border between OR and WA would sue for relief in a hot minute. I am probably wrong about the law used. IANAL.
- triceratops 6y ago
  > Businesses that rely on the border between OR and WA would sue for relief in a hot minute. So if you gave them relief preemptively they'd be OK, right? In any case, you don't need border closures. Even things like suspending or massively reducing domestic air travel, introducing compulsory self-quarantine upon arrival in a new state etc. might be better than doing nothing. I'm not an expert, but it seems like we never even tried.
  - fyfy18 6y ago
    In the EU most countries still had borders open for commercial traffic even during the height of the quarantine. This applied not only to trucks shipping tomatoes from southern Europe (rather vital), but also to a plumber hopping across the border to get slightly cheaper products (not so vital).
- minkzilla 6y ago
  There is also: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_under_United_States_law https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_under_Un...