George Borrello releases statement regarding Associated Press article
Press Release:
“I am disappointed that a longstanding news service like the Associated Press (AP) has abandoned its responsibility to accurate and unbiased reporting as evidenced by today’s article, “New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is not trying to create ‘quarantine camps.’
Their so-called ‘fact check’ of the basis for Borrello et. al. v. Hochul is nothing but a political cover for the administration’s blatant separation of powers violation, a breach which was confirmed in a State Supreme Court decision in July 2022.
While the term ‘quarantine camp’ isn’t used in Rule 2.13 per se, the language in the regulation is very clear when it says the Commissioner of Health or local health department can issue an isolation or quarantine order, at whim, without proof of infection, and can force someone to remain in their home, or send them to ‘other residential or temporary housing… or other locations as the public health authority issuing the order deems appropriate.’
Call it whatever you like – quarantine camp, detention facility, field hospital, etc. – the bottom line is that Rule 2.13 authorizes the government to take such an action, which would be a gross abuse of due process and New Yorkers’ civil rights.
The article incorrectly states that the rule only clarifies powers the state already has. As Judge Ronald Ploetz cited, the rule, as written, ‘actually contravenes the [isolation and quarantine] procedures set forth in PHL 2120’ which was established by the New York State Legislature in 1953. The governor and the Department of Health cannot unilaterally change that law. Only the legislature possesses that power.
During the pandemic we saw governments around the world, and our own, overreach in ways we never could have imagined prior to March 2020. Those actions set a terrible precedent that will require us to remain constantly vigilant against constitutional abuses. That was the premise at the core of this court challenge. By focusing on sensational semantics, the AP’s article did a disservice to their readers and missed an opportunity to educate New Yorkers about what is at stake in this case.”
