Thanks to this post by Conspiracy Sarah, I have learned that all 50 states have rules in place for quarantining people in the event of some poorly defined health emergency. Here are the rules for my previous home state of Vermont:
Vermont’s rules are vague about what a “communicable disease” is, or how to know whether said disease is “dangerous to public health”. Using this vagueness, the health officials of Vermont could conceivably quarantine you if came down with a cold, because colds can be dangerous for elderly people. Furthermore, the state can not only isolate you at home, but can also shame you by putting a big fat sign on your front door telling everybody that you’re an unclean plague rat.
Next, let’s look at the the rules for my current (and past) home state of California:
California is even more vague than Vermont in determining whether to lock you up. You simply need to have contracted a “contagious disease”, and it doesn’t have to be “dangerous to public health”, as in Vermont. You got a cold? Quarantine for you, unclean plague rat! California also makes you a criminal if you dare to violate any arbitrary, extra-legal rules that the health bureaucrats come up with, and you could get a year in the hoosegow. Vermont says they’ll isolate you at home; California isn’t that specific, leaving open the possibility you’ll be taken to a quarantine camp. California can also burn down or otherwise destroy your home if the bureaucrats decide they can’t disinfect the premises safely. But at least you won’t have to endure the shame of a sign on your front door announcing your uncleanliness.
I’m sure that the vagueness of these rules is a feature, not a bug. It gives power-mad bureaucrats more leeway to create, interpret, and enforce rules as they see fit.