Being stuck in a lockdown or a quarantine can be frightening. As bad as forced isolation can be, the worst part can be the uncertainty of what might lie ahead.
Unfortunately, that's the price each of us pays when governments determine that a virus must be contained by limiting its opportunity to spread. In this case, of course, that is SARS-CoV-2, otherwise known as the coronavirus. Entire states in the U.S. have imposed measures to keep people at home, and elsewhere in the world entire nations have done so.
It's a bit like being jailed.
But you're not a criminal. And you have civil rights — or at least you think you do.
Before we talk about your rights during a quarantine or lockdown, let's first look at government's powers to order them.
First, it's important to distinguish between quarantines, lockdowns, and "shelter in place" orders.
People who are dutifully following a state decree to stay at home are not "under quarantine." Real quarantines are hardcore. They are designed to isolate people who have been infected or exposed to someone who is affected. And if people under quarantine venture away from their quarantined space, they can be fined or jailed — or, perhaps more likely, placed in a locked medical ward.
The penalties can be serious. If the Centers for Disease Control gets involved, a quarantine scofflaw could be fined up to $100,000 and spend a year in jail.
Most of the time, quarantines in the U.S. are the responsibility of state and local governments, and they have police powers to protect the public health. This phrase is worth repeating: police powers. People under quarantine have very little ability to refuse an order to isolate themselves.
When it comes to lockdowns and "shelter in place" orders, however, the law is grayer. Technically, a lockdown is a stricter order that could impose a curfew or a ban on leaving a certain area, but the term has been used interchangeably with "shelter in place."
Whatever the name, the actions taken by states have contained the same elements: "inessential stores" ordered closed, limitations on crowd size, etc. For the most part, however, people could still leave their homes to go for a walk if they're alone or stand six feet apart if in a group.
While the state emergencies say rulebreakers can be charged with misdemeanors, police in most locales have tended to use persuasion to send people back indoors. This stands in sharp contrast — at this point in time, at least — to the real lockdowns in Italy and Spain, where there were curfews and fines.
But the restrictions in the U.S. could become stricter and begin to resemble a true lockdown like those in Italy and Spain.
If that happens, be prepared.
Land aquisition
I want to pay cash and not go through a lender to purchase a property. if he gives me the ''deed', does that guarentee me there are no leans etc on the land?
My biological father was not present at my birth, and during my mother's pregnancy had told her he did not want to be a part of it (according to her). She met someone else; this new boyfriend signed my birth certificate though he was not my biological parent and 2 months later, he married my mother, and 4 months after I was born, I was adopted by him (my birth mother's new spouse). They actually divorced 2 years later and I have had a polite relationship with him but he was not very involved at all. So, now I am 27 and have become a parent, so I've started realizing I actually want to know more. I especially want to know medical history, and have a personal desire to learn about my roots. My mother has very little to say about him, so i've only got a middle name that he went by and his last name, plus his line of work and maybe the college he attended (he has 2 degrees, she says). So, I looked online and think I may have an idea of who he might be. However, I do not feel comfortable contacting him, especially since I would like medical records. I would hope he would want to speak with me and maybe take on a parent role, but I know that is a lot to wish for. I believe he did wish to not have me around, because HE WAS MARRIED.
What do I do? What can I do? What should I expect?
How was my mother able to be the only person giving permission for my adoption by her new spouse? Why could they do that without my biological father's written permission? Why did they not clue him in? Has my mother lied, and did someone contact him? How did her word stand in place of his consent?
Loan
My son has car loan. He is owner and general signer, but because he was at that time 20 I did help him get loan and I'm co-signer. He moved to other state and stopped pay his loan payment. Now Credit Company asking me pays back his loan. What I can do to stop this. I can't pay his loan. Thank you!