The Constitutional Balance between Health and Liberty

Public health measures to control communicable diseases have existed\nin the United States since the colonial period, and citizen protests against\nsuch measures have been variously based on business, property, or civil\nliberty interests. Civil rights claims did not appear in judicial opinions\nuntil 1875, but since 1940 such claims have been given more weight in court\ndecisions. The courts have struggled with society's interests versus those of\nthe individual, frequently deferring decisions to other branches of\ngovernment. The history of communicable disease control does not point to a\nsingle resolution of the AIDS crisis. New regard for individual liberties\nwill be balanced both by the desire to protect the public health and by the\nsame kinds of social fears that led to strict quarantines and eugenic laws\nduring the early part of this century. (KIE abstract)

Balance (ability) · Civil liberties · Constitutional right · Government (linguistics) · Political science · Politics · Supreme court · Law · Medicine · Public Health Policies and Education · Reproductive Health and Contraception

• Issues of definitions and their implications

  Open Access•Ilse J Volinn•Social Science & Medicine•1989

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• International behavioral responses to a health hazard

  Open Access•Robert J Earickson, Robert Earickson•Social Science & Medicine•1990

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• Aids and the human community

  Open Access•Erich H Loewy•Social Science & Medicine•1988

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