Can a local health department quarantine an entire apartment complex?
Thursday, July 23, 2020
By Christopher Hutton
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YES
Quarantine laws allow public health authorities wide latitude to isolate potential carriers of contagious diseases. In California, for instance, health codes allow local health officers to "take measures as may be necessary to prevent the spread of the disease or occurrence of additional cases." Through most of U.S. history, courts have allowed state authorities wide latitude. A 1902 Supreme Court decision upheld the state of Louisiana's right to bar access in and out of an entire geographic area. A housing complex would appear to be well within the bounds of that kind of authority.
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