Robert Daniels has been locked up indefinitely, perhaps for the rest of his life, since last July. But he has not been charged with a crime. Instead, he suffers from an extensively drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis, or XDR-TB. It is considered virtually untreatable.

County health authorities obtained a court order to lock him up as a danger to the public because he failed to take precautions to avoid infecting others. Specifically, he said he did not heed doctors' instructions to wear a mask in public.

"I'm being treated worse than an inmate," Daniels said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press last month. "I'm all alone. Four walls. Even the door to my room has been locked. I haven't seen my reflection in months."

Civil Rights?

Robert Daniels has been locked up indefinitely, perhaps for the rest of his life, since last July. But he has not been charged with a crime. Instead, he suffers from an extensively drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis, or XDR-TB. It is considered virtually untreatable.

County health authorities obtained a court order to lock him up as a danger to the public because he failed to take precautions to avoid infecting others. Specifically, he said he did not heed doctors' instructions to wear a mask in public.

"I'm being treated worse than an inmate," Daniels said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press last month. "I'm all alone. Four walls. Even the door to my room has been locked. I haven't seen my reflection in months."

This is an interesting problem and I agree that it's one the US may have to consider more frequently. The above reference is the only one that indicates that this patient has refused to wear a mask, and the only quotes we get from him is that he, at one point in the past, *did* not do so.

I want to know more. If he is genuinely refusing to wear a mask, then he can stay where he is, in my opinion. It's not his right to knowingly act in a way that exposes others to harm. Period. I think it's terrible that he will have to go through his life with a mask on in public. That's terrible, and not even his fault probably, but that doesn't mean he should get to infect me, or even run the risk of doing so.

This statement :

"Involuntary detention should really be your last resort," Harrington said. "There's a danger that we'll end up blaming the victim."

seems to make sense at first but ultimately, I don't blame the victim for getting sick, but you better believe I'll blame him for delibarately acting in a way that endangers public health. Getting sick may not have been something he could control, but acting responsibly is.

Nonetheless, the balance here -- the conditions of the incarceration, amenities provided, enforcement of release conditions etc. -- is going to be a fine point. -k