On I-95 south in Florida, about 13 miles from the Georgia border, all travelers must pull off of the highway and into a weigh station. If you are not coming from a coronavirus hot spot, you are allowed to go on your way. If you are coming from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, or Louisiana, you are subject to further screening, and given paperwork to fill out with the address of where you are coming from and where you are going and a signature agreeing to quarantine for 14 days. Not quarantining is a misdemeanor punishable by 60 days in jail, a $500 fine, or both.

Proponents of these safety measures argue that this is a small inconvenience and that we need to do something, anything, to save lives. When asked what she thought about the checkpoint in Rhode Island, one New Jersey resident said, “It’s really, really important to stay safe and not spread the virus.”

But the American Civil Liberties Union is unmoved: “The ACLU remains very concerned about the enormous breadth of the governor’s latest directive,” said Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island. “A two-week quarantine solely for the ‘offense’ of coming from out of state, and with no opportunity to contest this demand, is deeply troubling.”

Tremendous power is given to the presidents, governors and mayors in times of crisis—power that history has proven to be fatal to a free society. As Eric Walters put it, “Crisis doesn’t change people; it reveals them.” Crisis doesn’t alter who a person is, it amplifies who they are. It is more important now than ever to watch the watchmen.

This is how tyranny starts—incrementally, in the name of “safety,”—and it seems harmless at first, such as pulling over for a few minutes to answer some questions, but tyranny spreads like a virus. As with all wars, freedom is the first casualty. Once government seizes power, it rarely gives power back. When it was passed in 2001, the Patriot Act was sold as a temporary safety measure to prevent terrorism, but it is still alive and well 19 years later.

Taking away the right of the individual will not protect us from this virus, nor will it stop the spread of the virus, it will only leave us all in chains. Today police are conducting suspicionless stops, what will tomorrow bring?