By Doug Sedlak
Pittsboro, NC – Fellow Chatham Countians, I posed the following civil liberties issues to the Chatham County Board of Health (BoH) who serve at the pleasure of the Chatham County Commissioners. In person I shall reiterate these concerns to the Commissioners (mostly Democrat) who thus far adamantly support this anti-Democratic clear and present danger to civil liberties.
My experience is the BoH “takes its good ol’ time” to respond, but I am hopeful they DO respond as unfortunately Chairperson Reitz-Barlow recently said to me, “I will no longer entertain your emails as I relates to the BOH Statement.”
If you care about civil liberties, I encourage you to present your concerns to the commissioners at their meetings at the new Agricultural building near the college, in the meeting Public Input session.
I will contact the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Monday morning; I encourage you to contact them too.
First line below is the title of my email to the BoH.
RFI: Legal/ethical civil rights questions to the BoH re: the Structural Racism Health Crisis
Hello BoH and Health Authorities,
Can you answer these civil rights related questions please? There are “preface” lead-in materials to some of the questions. As you all created and unanimously passed the Structural Racism Health Crisis, I’m sure you are, by definition, the authorities to answer these Resident posed civil rights related questions.
Question 1: Did the BoH consult with the ACLU or similar civil rights experts while creating and unanimously passing the new Structural Racism Health Crisis? Yes or no.
Question 2: Does the BoH, and/or whatever consultants it may have used, have specific domain expertise in civil rights? Yes or no. If yes, what specific domain expertise?
Preface to Question 3:
Most experts, influencers, and thought leaders concur that racism is an ongoing “struggle session” because it is structural/systemic in nature. The “ongoing nature of the struggle” is a fundamental tenet of anti-racism that County Health authorities endorse (“We, the Chatham County Board of Health, pledge to work with governing bodies in the County, and our local partners on anti-racism initiatives …”).
Question 3: Do you concur that the duration of the Structural Racism Health Crisis is indefinite? Yes or No. And that this “health crisis” could last for decades? Yes or no.
Preface to Question 4:
I can provide many more references if desired. Public health laws are crystal clear that in health crises, the government has extraordinary powers. The respected legal site “Nolo” confirms, calling them “Police State” powers.
As does “Wired” (See section Emergency Public Health Powers).
Question 4:
Will you confirm that the Structural Racism Health Crisis enables “Police State” powers as described above? [Looking for a yes/no answer here, possibly qualified.]
Preface to Questions 5-8:
Enabling Police State power, and exercising it are different things. The following is a hypothetical example of possible exercising. Hypothetical example:
Chathamite Jones chooses to fly a Confederate flag (sometimes called a symbol of hatred) on his private property, but VERY visible to passers-by on a County road. Chathamites Smith and Wesson, both medically certified with PTSD, acquire physician diagnoses that Jones’ flag significantly aggravates their PTSD. Note in the following questions that “empower” does not necessarily imply the action would be taken.
Question 5:
Could the Structural Racism Health Crisis empower County authorities to request that Jones move, remove, or otherwise alter his “presentation” due to its alleged negative health impact on Smith and Wesson? Yes or no.
Question 6:
Could the Structural Racism Health Crisis empower County authorities to create a new “Health Regulation” requiring Jones to move, remove, or otherwise alter his “presentation”, or face possible fines and/or jail time? [Note this would be a ‘general Health regulation’ encompassing the alleged Health hazard of Jones’ flag, and obviously not an arbitrary edict aimed at Jones in particular]. Yes or no.
Question 7 (following on #6):
Could the Structural Racism Health Crisis then possibly empower County authorities to direct Law Enforcement to arrest Jones for failure to comply? Yes or no.
Question 8 (following on #6 and #7):
Could the Structural Racism Health Crisis possibly empower County authorities to direct Law Enforcement and/or other County personnel to enter Jones’ property and remove Jones’ flag? Yes or no.
Preface to Questions 9-11:
Race and health can be weaponized. Historically that occurred in Nazi Germany (Holocaust and other) and Communist Soviet Union (Holodomor and other). Currently it is occurring in Communist China (Uighurs). Especially being temporally open-ended, future weaponization could occur of the Structural Racism Health Crisis. Trump is reputed to have “brown shirts” similar to Hitler’s. Anti-fascists like Antifa could finger-point “fascism”. We cannot predict the County future and thus cannot foretell whether such radical groups might obtain power. Surely there were extensive discussions of civil liberties implications among the BoH, agenda proponents such as CORE, and whatever legal consultants the BoH utilized. Surely civil liberties protections were built into the Statement.
Question 9
Can you point citizens to the public record of discussions, debates, and resolutions/votes concerning the potentially dire civil liberties implications of creating and approving this second Health Crisis, the Structural Racism Health Crisis?
Question 10 (related to #1 and #2*)*
Can you tell citizens the legal experts/scholars that were consulted?
Question 11
Can you point citizens into the content of the Structural Racism Health Crisis Statement, where the Statement itself legally assures that civil liberties will not and cannot be infringed upon?
I hope you observe the high value of these civil rights questions being posed, and thus the corresponding high value in answering them authentically and comprehensively.
P.S. Chairperson Reitz-Barlow recently said to me, “I will no longer entertain your emails as I relates to the BOH Statement.” In deference, I’ve not included her.