Sarah de Guia of ChangeLab Solutions is joined by Sharon Terman from legal aid at work, and Danilo Trisi from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The participants have a broad-ranging discussion about the safety net, what the Biden administration has achieved so far, and what are some of the priorities that remain.

Professor Wendy Parmet, Northeastern University School of Law, Lori Tremmel Freeman is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), and Jill Krueger, the director of the Network for Public Law’s Northern Region Office discuss the various attempts to restrict, reallocate, or otherwise diminish traditional public health powers and the implications. The panelists discuss recent state laws reducing public health emergency powers,...

I am joined by Professor Anniek de Ruijter Professor of European Law at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Professor Andrew Noymer, University of California, Irvine, and Professor Nils Hoppe, the Faculty for Humanities and Social Sciences at Leibniz University Hannover. Our discussion begins with the lessons learned or not learned in various countries and regions and then explores issues such as vaccine intellectual property and vaccine passports. BTW, Anniek has an interesting...

Jorge Contreras, Professor of Law, University of Utah, Brook Baker, Professor of Law, Northeastern University, and Ana Santos Rutschman, Professor of Law, Saint Louis University discuss vaccine access, What are the technical obstacles to increasing vaccine access? How are Intellectual Property, primarily patent and trade secret, laws restricting access and keeping prices high?

Professor Scott Burris, Temple Law School, Professor Wendy Parmet, Northeastern University School of Law, and Professor Lance Gable, Wayne State College of Law discuss the “shadow docket,” the hundreds of cases (emergency orders and summary decisions) decided by the Supreme Court each year outside of its far smaller, normal or merits docket. Specifically, the discussion focuses on how public health decisions, such as (particularly free exercise) challenges to government mitigation mandates...

Scott Burris, Professor of Law, Temple Law School, Christopher Robertson, Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law, and Gene Matthews, Network for Public Health Law discuss the current proposals to increase the independence of public health agencies such as the CDC. Political manipulation and lack of leadership have seriously jeopardized public trust and even agency competence. Topics include prior examples of the politicization of public health, policymakers failing to understand...

This is a special episode of TWIHL that introduces our new report, Volume II of our COViD-19 Policy Playbook titled, Legal Recommendations for a Safer, More Equitable Future. Support for this report was generously provided by the de Beaumont Foundation, the American Public Health Association, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. On this episode you will hear from the six members of the editorial committee in the following order-- Lance Gable from Wayne State University, Wendy Parmet from...

Can private companies effectively serve public health functions? A panel discussion sponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University featuring Lindsay F. Wiley, Professor of Law, Director of Health Law and Policy Program, American University Washington College of Law, Tamar Sharon, Associate Professor of Philosophy of Technology; Co-director of the Interdisciplinary Hub...

A Pandemic Meets a Housing Crisis. Sarah de Guia and Gregory Miao of ChangeLab Solutions, along with Courtney Lauren Anderson of Georgia State University, discuss how the pre-existing housing crisis has been exacerbated by its compounding eviction and public health crises--and what work can be done to address it.

Improving Data Collection and Management. Nicolas Terry of Indiana University, Wendy Parmet of Northeastern University, and Jessica L. Roberts of the University of Houston discuss the unique challenges created by the lack of public health data available to drive targeted disease mitigation strategies. They will explore how the nation could advance data gathering and management to be better prepared for the next outbreak. In particular, the discussion focuses on collection of important...

Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health. Those battling mental illness and addiction have been uniquely hard-hit. Hear about what can be done to heal and recover. Nicolas Terry of Indiana University and Jill Krueger and Corey Davis both of the Network for Public Health Law discuss the troubling rates of substance abuse, adverse mental health issues, and other quiet crises spurred by the isolation and anxiety of the nearly-year-long pandemic--as well as what can be done in the way of a...

School Reopenings and Online Learning. It is increasingly clear that online learning--especially for younger children--has been one of the most difficult #COVID transitions, with levels of engagement, retention, and mental health plummeting. At the same time, more and more evidence suggests that children under the age of 13 are relatively unlikely to transmit or become seriously sick with the virus. The debate is now escalating around the damage that will be done to students with schools...

The Role of the Courts: Religious Exemptions and the legacy of Jacobson v. Massachusetts. Scott Burris of Temple University and Steve Vladeck of the University of Texas discuss the legacy of Jacobson, a seminal Supreme Court ruling on the power of the states to mandate vaccinations, as well as the larger role of the courts in the ongoing COVID-19 response.

As new variants spread throughout the country, Lance Gable of Wayne State University, Ross Silverman of Indiana University, and Jill Krueger of the Network for Public Health Law discuss the challenges of state-based pandemic responses and the centrality of interstate and intrastate cooperation in any successful national strategy.

Preemption, Public Health, and Equity in the Time of COVID-19. Sarah de Guia of ChangeLab Solutions, Kim Haddow of Local Solutions Support Center, and Sabrina Adler of ChangeLab Solutions in conversation on the role of preemption in the response to COVID-19,including how it has promoted or hindered efforts to improve health equity.

Nicolas Terry of Indiana University, Wendy Parmet of Northeastern University, Timothy Caulfield of the University of Alberta, and Brian Castrucci of The de Beaumont Foundation discuss how public health disinformation and the framing of scientific fact as partisan opinion have hamstrung the response to the first post-truth pandemic—and what can be done going forward.

Wendy Parmet of Northeastern University, Scott Burris of Temple University, and Dara Lieberman of Trust for America’s Health discuss what immediate executive actions the Biden administration can take to tackle the COVID pandemic during the first 100 days. The Biden administration has made addressing #COVID-19 its top priority. How can President Biden use his newfound executive authority to make his first 100 days as impactful as possible?

Equitable Vaccine Distribution: Essential Workers and Scarce Resources. A conversation featuring Lance Gable of Wayne State University, Tara Sklar of the University of Arizona, and Ruqaiijah Yearby of St. Louis University. They discuss how to achieve equitable vaccine distribution and the issues of utilizing limited resources to reach multiple high-priority populations.

Though COVID vaccine production is ramping up, the U.S. is lagging well behind schedule in distributing and administering available vaccines. Efforts at the state level are being further hampered by slapdash attempts at coordination and a growing resistance to receiving the vaccine among certain populations. What can employers, schools and governments legally do to encourage uptake? In the first COVID Law Briefing of 2021, we will analyze best practices and sound strategies to get vaccine...

A conversation featuring Scott Burris of Temple University, Nicolas Terry of Indiana University, Nicola Glover-Thomas of the University of Manchester, Dominique Sprumont of the University of Neuchâtel, Nils Hoppe of Leibniz University Hannover, and Anniek de Ruijter of the University of Amsterdam. They compare the United States and Europe’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss what lessons might be learned from their contrasting approaches.

Ruqaiijah Yearby of St. Louis University, Dr. Evan Anderson of the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Michael Sinha of Harvard University Medical School and Northeastern University discuss the challenges of a worsening pandemic meeting an uncertain winter season, from dwindling hospital capacity to the possibility of another lockdown.

A conversation featuring Sarah de Guia, Jewel Mullen, and Patricia Zettler, discussing the law and policy around vaccine regulation and equitable distribution as COVID-19 surges in late 2020.

A conversation featuring Wendy Parmet, Lindsay Wiley, and Lance Gable discussing the law and policy around mask mandates as COVID-19 surges in late 2020.

A conversation featuring @nicolasterry @nhuberfeld1 & Sara Rosenbaum @GWSMHS discussing the #SCOTUS #ACA case and the possible Biden legislative and regulatory agenda. Or watch the video here! https://www.pscp.tv/phlawwatch/1DXxyRmDdbNKM?t=20m19s