TRENTON — A district court has dismissed federal claims that Gov. Chris Christie violated the constitutional rights of a nurse detained at a Newark hospital in 2014 over fears she had contracted the Ebola virus.

But the judge’s order said the nurse can continue her state claims against Christie over her involuntary detention.

The confinement of Kaci Hickox made international headlines for weeks when she was stopped at Newark Liberty International Airport on her way home to Maine after caring for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.

She has charged that Christie and state Department of Health officials violated her constitutional right to due process and that they “illegally and unconstitutionally” held her against her will.

However, District Judge Kevin McNulty disagreed and denied her federal claims, according to court records.

But he said her common law claims, similar to defamation, could proceed based off comments Christie made shortly after her detention. Also, the judge said Hickox could continue her state claims, which lawyers for the administration also sought to have tossed and that her attorneys hailed as a victory.

“Hickox’s false light claim is based on a public statement Governor Christie made  …. less than 24 hours after Hickox’s quarantine began. According to the complaint, Christie, without using Hickox’s name, stated that she was ‘obviously ill,'” McNulty’s opinion reads.

Hickox said the judge’s ruling could mean Christie will “have to answer” for her confinement.

“One thing is certain: This decision vindicates my rights by giving me the opportunity to find out from Governor Christie directly whether the decision to detain me was motivated by science or by politics,” Hickox said in a statement released by the ACLU of NJ.

The judge referred to comments Christie made in Iowa defending his decision to place people traveling from West Africa under mandatory quarantine.

Hickox’s detention marked the first test of strict new policies put in place earlier by Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo concerning returning health workers.

“I never had Ebola. I never had symptoms of Ebola. I tested negative for Ebola the first night I stayed in New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s private prison,” Hickox said in a statement Thursday. “My liberty, my interests and consequently my civil rights were ignored because some ambitious governors saw an opportunity to use an age-old political tactic: fear.”

The nurse landed at Newark Airport in 2014 and argued she was in good health. However, she was placed in a mandatory quarantine because her visit in Sierra Leone included time treating Ebola patients.

While still at the quarantine station at the airport, she developed a fever and was taken to University Hospital in Newark for evaluation.

Christie later argued the nurse showed signs of sickness, which is why she was detained. However, Hickox maintained she was always in good health.

Christie and fellow GOP Gov. Paul LePage joked about Hickox when New Jersey’s governor was campaigning for president.

“What gift did Paul give to me? A nurse from Maine who happened to travel back from Africa through New Jersey to ultimately get to Maine and what we said very clearly in New Jersey when she came in … is that we are not going to expose you to the people of New Jersey,” Christie said at a September town hall meeting in New Hampshire.

“After we were assured that she didn’t have Ebola, then I called Paul, and I said, ‘Tag, you’re it. You have her back,'” he said. “Then she realized the governor of Maine felt exactly the way the governor of New Jersey (did).”

LePage interjected: “Thank you, Chris.”

POLITICO NJ was the first to report the ruling.

UPDATE: The story and its headline were updated to reflect Kaci Hickox’s state claims against Christie and New Jersey officials can proceed despite the federal claims being dismissed.

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