Justice Alito's Federalist Society speech is a good time to recall that gov't regulations to prevent spread of infectious diseases go back to the founding of the U.S. and indeed the establishment of the modern state. 1/4

In 1824 Chief Justice John Marshall observed what everyone knew to be true: The power of states encompassed “inspection laws, quarantine laws” and “health laws of every description"; the "constitutionality of such laws," he noted, "has never . . . been denied.” 2/4

Since at least the middle of the 19th century such state regulations have included vital delegations of authority to boards of public health: delegation is not new either (and not a federal question, tho now I digress). 3/4

The emerging FedSoc narrative about the history of public health authority in the U.S. is a fantasy. 4/4