Under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, every person has freedom of movement and travel. Such rights are fundamental, natural rights, and it was once understood that any person had a right to use violence against any government official who tried to interfere with them. Including deadly violence if necessary.
(Don’t believe me? Read Roger Roots’ “The Originalist Case for the Fourth Amendment Exclusionary Rule” (providing numerous court citations from the 1800s).)
On January 23, 2016, various government officials in New York–including at least the governor and the mayor of New York City–purported to issue a “travel ban” for the people of the City, in response to a massive snow storm. News outlets like the USA Today seemed to report this story as nothing unusual. See here.
The NYC mayor, known as an extreme socialist and powermonger, decreed that parents would be “permitted” to let their children play in the snow, but only near their homes under tight supervision.
New York Police Department officials tweeted that citizens, . . .er, subjects caught out on the streets would be arrested.
The Weekly Standard seemed to recognize the “ban” for what it was: a declaration of martial law in response to a snowstorm:
Martial law has been declared in New York City.
