Civil Liberties Still Matter, Even During a Pandemic

“However, reconceptualizing fundamental rights is a serious matter. As such, we must guard against measures such as these continuing to shape our civic life, politics, and economies—even long after this pandemic has passed.”

As the Coronavirus spreads throughout the world, governments have been enacting measures that may have once been considered unacceptable expansions of State power. These measures include curfews, mass surveillance, the confiscation of private goods, and requests for indeterminate detentions without trial. Although harsh, these measures have been deemed as necessary moves in the effort to slow the spread of the virus. But should we not be wary of some of the more intrusive measures? The answer is a definite “Yes.” If we are not careful and governments keep outreaching in their powers, we may not recognize the threat this poses to our civil liberties until it is too late.

The Narrowing Gap between Democracies and Dictatorships

A “police state” is characterized by the extensive surveillance of its citizens, as well as by the overwhelming presence of the State in individuals’ lives. Citizens living in a police state may experience restrictions on their mobility—and on their freedom to express their ideas. Dictatorships are normally police states. As such, it is not surprising when China puts millions of its citizens under draconian control. The true surprise, then, arises when—in the blink of an eye—liberal democracies with a long history of respecting individual rights grant to their governments expansive powers.

For instance, while Germany asked domestic car manufacturers to consider producing medical equipment such as masks and ventilators, the U.S. government ordered General Motors to produce ventilators under the Defense Production Act, a potent Korean War-era statute that allows the federal government to require companies to manufacture materials that are in short supply. Something analogous happened in Brazil, a country that has actually been struggling to strengthen its property rights protections to attract investments. The richest state in the nation, São Paulo, confiscated 500,000 masks from a manufacturer under a brand new federal law that allows governors to seize private goods and services to respond to the Coronavirus.