The media should stop clamoring for a nationally ordered lockdown, or “quarantine,” to respond to the current pandemic. The president almost certainly lacks constitutional authority to order one, and it may not even be the wisest approach.

To be clear, this is not a medical judgment. The argument here is one of political philosophy and of the law. Secondarily, it is an argument that common sense argues in favor of humility and caution about sweeping, one-size-fits-all solutions.