After examining more than a dozen varieties of preventive detention allowed by American law, we concluded that, despite the “civic myth” that preventive detention is disfavored and rare, it is neither prohibited nor “especially frowned upon in tradition or practice.” Surprisingly, American law allows quite a lot of it.
One of the areas we examined was the power of quarantine and isolation to protect the public health. Unfortunately, that power is newly relevant—more relevant than ever before in the living memory of most Americans.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/long-history-coercive-health-responses-american-law