Covid “immunity” has different meanings…
by: David Ransin
Everyone would like to be totally immune from any disease, and today, in particular, everyone deserves and would love to be immune from Covid-19.
However, there is another type of “immunity” that many are seeking that they may not deserve, and that is immunity from their own carelessness.
On both a national and state to state basis, there is legislation being proposed out of unfounded fear to grant legal immunity to entities and corporations from their own carelessness that could put every citizen at risk of not only catching the virus, but also at risk of losing their 7th Amendment rights under our national and state constitutions.
What is the 7th Amendment?
In our Bill of Rights, our founders deemed it essential to preserve our right to a jury trial if we file a lawsuit for redress of a wrong committed by a careless person, and wrote that this essential right “shall remain inviolate.” They did not provide for any exceptions.
That means, if someone violates our society’s safety rules and we are harmed by their carelessness, we are guaranteed the right to seek justice in court and have our claims determined by a jury of fellow citizens.
The 7th Amendment is the foundation upon which all our other constitutional rights depend.
If you weaken or remove this right, all your other rights are weakened and cannot be preserved from attack.
If your 1st or 2nd Amendment rights are violated, the 7th Amendment makes sure you can seek a remedy. It is that important.
So, the question today is: Should an entity or corporation be shielded from legal liability for damages it causes to others through its own carelessness? No.
Our system of justice has built in checks and balances that have worked exceedingly well for more than 200 years to protect everyone from “frivolous lawsuits” which are routinely “thrown out of court” by our judges, and legal immunity is not needed in this time of the Covid-19 virus.
As long as everyone is careful, including those who might be exposed to the virus, there is no risk of legal liability.
Before anyone or any entity can be held liable for someone contracting the virus, that person must first prove that the responsible party was careless, meaning they failed to exercise reasonable and prudent care and practices to help prevent the spread of the virus.
No one has to guarantee you will not get the virus; but if someone knows better, has control over the situation, and makes the choice to not be careful, to not be reasonably prudent, to not take preventative steps, then that person/business/entity should accept their responsibility and the legal liability no different than the speeder or distracted or drunk driver.
We live in a society and country with well-known safety rules and standards.
Follow those rules, exercise reasonable care to avoid harming others, and no one will need “legal immunity,” and we will preserve our constitutional rights guaranteed by the 7th Amendment.
Governor Parson has withdrawn the bill in our state legislature, but I’m sure it will come back on the floor with the regular session in January, so I suggest you do some reading on this issue and let the Governor and your Representative and Senator know that you want your 7th Amendment rights protected.
You might know some of the groups who opposed this “legal immunity”: NEA, AARP, Nurses, Firefighters, UFCW, AFL-CIO, VOYCE, SEIU, NAACP, among others.
No legislature should be tinkering around with your constitutional rights, and that goes for the national level as well, so please also consider letting your Congressional Representative and Senator know your feelings on this important topic.
This is not a “jazzy” issue that will attract a lot of media, and could be slipped through and passed without many citizens being aware that their rights are being whittled away, so do your part, stand up, speak up, and protect our Bill of Rights, all of them !