The gutsy red headed nurse who has taken on the right wing noise machine has won another round. Go Kaci!
Victory for Maine nurse as judge makes U-turn on Ebola monitoring order
Maine suffered defeat in its attempts to restrict the movements of a nurse who returned to the state after working with Ebola patients in west Africa, when a judge reversed an earlier ruling.
A Maine judge on Friday ruled that Kaci Hickox must comply with monitoring for Ebola symptoms, but lifted an order that she stay away from public gatherings and maintain a 3ft distance from others, though those requirements had complied with current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for people in a situation like hers.
“[Maine] has not met its burden at this time to prove by clear and convincing evidence that limiting [Hickox’s] movements to the degree requested is ‘necessary to protect other individuals from the dangers of infection’,” chief district court judge Charles C LaVerdiere wrote in an order posted on Friday afternoon. “[Hickox] currently does not show any symptoms of Ebola and is therefore not infectious.”
LaVerdiere had previously issued a temporary order restricting Hickox’s movements. Maine officials initially attempted to quarantine Hickox in her home until 10 November, despite the fact that she has shown no symptoms of Ebola and has twice tested negative for the disease, but they backed down after Hickox threatened legal action and hired two civil rights attorneys.
This is what I have been waiting to see. Quarantine law have historically given public officials fairly broad latitude. What this judge has said that they can't just make up facts based on public hysteria. The law imposes a burden on them to provide sound medical justification for their actions. In the case of Kaci Hickox they didn't have one.
I am sure that this is not the last time that this issue will appear in a court. But it does appear that the courts are where it is going to have to get sorted out. The political climate has deteriorated into chaos and confusion.