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11 JIJIS 75 (2011)
Incarceration and Isolation of the Innocent for Reasons of Public Health

handle is hein.journals/jijis11 and id is 87 raw text is: Claborn & McCarthy 75 INCARCERATION AND ISOLATION OF THE INNOCENT FOR REASONS OF PUBLIC HEALTH David Claborn and Bernard McCarthy* The police powers of the public health authority give unique capabilities to government officials tasked with providing for the health of human populations. This paper reviews the application of terms such as incarceration, isolation, quarantine, and social distancing in the context of public health. Historical examples are provided to demonstrate how incarceration continues as a component of programs to control multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. The expanding authority of the federal government to incarcerate the innocent is also discussed. Introduction If a man or a woman has a sore on the head or the beard, then the priest shall look at the sore; and indeed if it appears deeper than the skin, and there is in it thin yellow hair, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a scall, a leprosy of the head or beard... But if the scall should at all spread over the skin after his cleansing, then the priest shall look at him; and indeed if the scall has spread over the skin, the priest need not seek for yellow hair. He is unclean.... The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his sore is on his head. Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, Unclean! Unclean! . He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his habitation shall be outside the camp. Excerpts from Leviticus 13, King James Translation. The passage above is an early account of isolation being used to stop the transmission of infectious disease. Perceptions of disease etiology at the time of the writing were certainly different from modem concepts of the germ theory of disease because ancient views on the relevance of sin and the state of being unclean were complex and often inconsistent with current thought. For instance, a similar isolation was required for menstruating women. Nevertheless, the writer obviously had some understanding of isolation as a method of interrupting disease transmission or contamination in a susceptible population. Isolation has also been used as punishment, which is a different concept. The punishment response in the form of banishment and exile was a key element of the Adam and Eve story, but has also had historical importance with Socrates, Napoleon, and Roger Williams. For instance, when given the option of banishment or death by drinking hemlock, Socrates chose the latter. Punishment is directed at the person who has supposedly done wrong, but the goal of isolation and incarceration for issues of public health is to protect populations. These differing concepts still play a role in modem public health and they extend beyond simple isolation to the more restrictive acts of quarantine, detention, social distancing and incarceration. This article will review the use of 0 2011 by authors, reprinted here by permission. Please send your correspondence to author at DavidClabom@MissouriState.edu.

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