blog assignment #4: public health and the law

For this week's blog assignment, we had to read an article about Mary V. Kirk vs board of health case. Mary V. Kirk, a resident of the city of Aiken, had anesthetic leprosy, which is infamous in its contagious nature, and she was asked to move out of the city. To this, she claimed that she is "a woman of culture and refinement" and that she cannot live in such a dirty and confortable pest house where African Americans with smallpox were isolated. Besides, the pesthouse is right next to the city's dumping ground where foul order arose. However, the board of health insisted on her isolation because leprosy is dangerous to the community and the pesthouse is only "the last resort." Also the board of health argued that they would repair the city hospital and that they would build a nice cottage just for her; therefore it is fair for the community and for Ms. Kirk. They also argued that although the dumping ground is 100 yards away from the pesthouse, unhealth odors do not arise from it. After hearing both sides, Judge Aldrich restrained board of health's order, but board of health appealed. Ms. Kirk ended up submitting to board of health's action. The article then mentions six constitutional law governing public health regulations. However, after careful observation of this case, tells us that this is an exception.
I think the difference between quarantine and isolation is that although you are usually forced to be quarantined and isolated, but i think with quarantine there is more of negative connotation and resistance of the person being quarantined. Although board of health mainly decides who should be quarantined and who should not be, i think just like Kirk vs. board of health case, it should be determined by the court (even though it can be costly, it will be more fair to both sides) i think the judge should balance the rights of individual and of the community; I believe there's more err on the side of protecting the rights of the community because rights of the community consists of the rights of the many individual belong to the community