[LINK] "Why Liberia Is Prosecuting the Man Who Brought Ebola to the U.S."

[rfmcdonald]

The Atlantic's Adam Chandler makes the case that the promise of the Liberian government to prosecute Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian currently hospitalized in Texas with Ebola, for lying about coming into contact with someone who had Ebola, makes sense.

Responding to the controversy on Thursday, Binyah Kesselly, chairman of the board of directors of the Liberia Airport Authority, declared that Duncan "will be prosecuted" when he returns home.

As West African countries battle the largest Ebola outbreak on record, the notion of pursing criminal charges against a man who claims he wasn't exposed to the virus may come off as wasteful, if not extreme. Given that thousands of people continue to move between the borders of West African countries, Liberia's intention to prosecute Duncan for traveling to the United States with Ebola—unwittingly or not—also rings a little hypocritical.

But as Jens David Ohlin of Cornell University Law School contends, the prosecution of Duncan may have less to do with what he did (or did not) do and more with the precedent his case could set.

"Liberia is probably anxious about maintaining travel connections to the United States and other countries," Ohlin told me. "And countries have probably felt comfortable keeping air connections with Liberia so long as protocols for screening passengers are in place."

He added that were Liberia to ignore this potential breach of its screening process, it would ultimately convey that "these protocols are worthless."