Kaci Hickox, the nurse held under New Jersey’s mandatory Ebola quarantine, has hired top civil-rights lawyer Norman Siegel to challenge her enforced isolation. Hickox, who was put in quarantine when she arrived at Newark’s airport after working with Ebola patients in West Africa, says she has been treated like a “criminal.” Siegel told CNN that New Jersey’s policy “infringes on Kaci Hickox’s constitutional liberty interests. The policy is overly broad... and we are challenging it on her behalf.” Hickox added that, “I think this is an extreme that is really unacceptable. I feel like my basic human rights have been violated.” Hickox has tested negative for Ebola in a preliminary test, but is to remain under 21-day quarantine. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has defended the quarantine policy, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said people in the state who show no symptoms of Ebola will be allowed to be quarantined at home.
