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COVID-19

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Harvard–Yale COVID-19 and the Law Forum: Disruption, Impact, and Legacy

book cover for COVID-19 and the Law
Pre-order your copy of COVID-19 and the Law.

Throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School and Harvard Law School’s Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics hosted a virtual conference on the COVID-19 pandemic. This collaboration took the form of a series of workshops and examined the pandemic from several innovative perspectives, but particularly focused on its relationship with health law and policy. The collaboration also produced a forthcoming book project to accompany the series that will consider the ethical, legal, regulatory, and broader social and institutional impacts that COVID-19 has had, as well as the longer-lasting effects it may have on our society. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost all aspects of life in the United States and around the world, disrupting the global economy as well as countless institutions. The issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic present a critical juncture for the U.S. and other countries around the world. Our actions now have the potential to shape responses to future pandemics, and to ensure institutions serve all of our populations. 

How have our institutions, including the structure of our health care system and its attendant regulations, affected the evolution of the pandemic? What lasting changes have legal responses to COVID-19 introduced? Which institutions and intersectional issues have worsened or complicated the impact of and response to the pandemic? Join us for a critical reflection on changes the pandemic has introduced and their anticipated legacy.

COVID-19 and the Law: COVID-19’s Legacy & Evolving Legal Doctrines
February 2, 2021
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COVID-19 and the Law: What COVID-19 Teaches Us About Health Justice and the Path Forward
February 16, 2021
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COVID-19 and the Law: The Use of Biotech in the COVID-19 Pandemic
February 23, 2021
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COVID-19 and the Law: The Disparate Burdens of COVID-19
March 3, 2021
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COVID-19 and the Law: The Health Care System in the Age of COVID-19
March 16, 2021
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Faculty Director Abbe Gluck ’00 in the Biden administration

From November 2020 to November 2023, Professor Abbe R. Gluck ’00 served as Special Counsel in the Office of White House Counsel, working with the administration’s COVID-19 Response team in the White House as well as on other issues, including the Affordable Care Act.

“We are in a race against time, and we need a comprehensive strategy to quickly contain this virus. The individuals announced today will bolster the White House’s COVID-19 Response team and play important roles in carrying out our rescue plan and vaccination program,” said President Joe Biden in the announcement in January of 2021.

COVID-19: Law, Economics, Governance — A Virtual Workshop Series

This interdisciplinary virtual workshop and seminar led by Faculty Director Abbe Gluck '00 and Professor Ian Ayres '86 featured leading scholars, industry leaders, scientists, advocates, and government experts to discuss the pandemic's intersections with, and disruptions to, many areas of law. Topics ranged from elections to the incarcerated, constitutional law, vaccines, disparities, the workplace, and more. The full list of topics, speakers, and video recordings of the workshops can be found below.

On August 26, 2020, four experts presented on issues of COVID-19 and incarcerated populations, including how the pandemic has affected public health in prisons, the problem of mass incarceration, and the broader decarceral movement.

  • Judge Nancy Gertner (Ret.) ’71: Retired United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts; Senior Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School
  • Dr. Jaimie Meyer: Associate Professor of Medicine (AIDS), Yale School of Medicine; Assistant Clinical Professor of Nursing, Yale School of Nursing; Affiliated Faculty, the Liman Center for Public Interest Law, Yale Law School
  • Marisol Orihuela ’08: Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Yale Law School; Former Deputy Federal Public Defender (Los Angeles, CA)
  • Judith Resnik: Arthur Liman Professor of Law and Founding Director of the Liman Center for Public Interest Law, Yale Law School

Their presentations are available below.

Judge Nancy Gertner (Ret.) ’71, Retired United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts and Senior Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, presented on the bench’s response to compassionate release during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Dr. Jaimie Meyer, Associate Professor of Medicine (AIDS) at Yale School of Medicine, Assistant Clinical Professor of Nursing at Yale School of Nursing, and Affiliated Faculty at the Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School, presented on why depopulation of prisons is important from a clinical and public health perspective and advocated for finding ways to identify and seek the release of incarcerated people most vulnerable to COVID-19.


Professor Marisol Orihuela ’08, Clinical Associate Professor of Law at Yale Law School and Former Deputy Federal Public Defender in Los Angeles, CA, presented on how the advocacy and litigation regarding COVID-19 and incarcerated populations has played across different carceral populations, including federal, state, and local prisons, immigration detention centers, and psychiatric hospitals.


Professor Judith Resnik, Arthur Liman Professor of Law and Founding Director of the Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School, presented on legal and economic forces driving mass incarceration and the claims that confinement of medically vulnerable individuals is unconstitutional under the Fifth and Eighth Amendments.

On September 2, 2020, four experts presented on issues of COVID-19 and the 2020 Election, including issues of voting by mail, lost votes, postponing elections, and voting rights protections.

  • Richard L. Hasen: Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science, University of California, Irvine
  • Michael T. Morley '03: Assistant Professor, Florida State University College of Law
  • Nathaniel Persily: James B. McClatchy Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
  • Charles Stewart III: Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Their presentations are available below. Following the workshop, two students, Charlotte Blatt '22 and Solomon Center Student Fellow, Kate Hamilton '22, published To Get Out the Youth Vote, Start with a Stamp in the Election Law Blog.

Professor Richard L. Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine, presented on the challenges to voting rights protections discussed in his 2020 article Three Pathologies of American Voting Rights Illuminated by the COVID-19 Pandemic, and How To Treat and Cure Them, published in the Election Law Journal.

Professor Michael T. Morley ’03, Assistant Professor at Florida State University College of Law, presented on protecting the right to vote and the integrity of the election in responding to election emergencies.

Professor Nathaniel Persily, James B. McClatchy Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, presented on the challenges of mail voting and in-person voting in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Charles Stewart III, Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, presented on the risks of lost votes by mail in the 2020 election.

On September 9, 2020, four experts presented on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected various issues of constitutional law, including religious liberty, civil liberties, gun rights, reproductive rights, and executive powers.

  • Joseph Blocher '06: Lanty L. Smith '67 Professor of Law, Duke Law School
  • Douglas Laycock: Class of 1963 Research Professor in honor of Graham C. Lilly and Peter W. Low, Robert E. Scott Distinguished Professor of Law, and Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia
  • Melissa Murray '02: Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law and Faculty Director of Birnbaum Women's Leadership Network, New York University School of Law
  • Stephen Vladeck '04: A. Dalton Cross Professor in Law, University of Texas at Austin School of Law

Their presentations are available below.

Professor Joseph Blocher ’06, Lanty L. Smith ’67 Professor of Law at Duke Law School, presented on risks related to increased gun sales during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Second Amendment implications of gun shop closures during the pandemic.

Professor Melissa Murray ’02, Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law and Faculty Director of Birnbaum Women's Leadership Network at New York University School of Law, presented on the constitutional implications for abortion provision in the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly related to state executive orders limiting access to elective procedures.

Professor Stephen Vladeck ’04, A. Dalton Cross Professor In Law at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, presented on federal and state executive power in the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular the several cases on COVID and state constitutional powers and courts’ review and deference in applying Jacobson v. Massachusetts.

On September 16, 2020, four experts presented on issues related to ethics, medical rationing, and disability law implicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, including disability rights, prioritization of care, rationing of care, and the ethics of immunity certificates. Their presentations are available below.

 Following the workshop, two students, Yolanda Bustillo ’22 and Solomon Center Student Fellow Rachel Perler ’22 published Balancing Health Care Rationing and Disability Rights in a Pandemic in the Harvard Law School Bill of Health.

  • Samuel Bagenstos: Frank G. Millard Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
  • Dr. Joseph J. Fins: The E. William Davis, Jr. M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics, Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics, Professor of Medicine (with Tenure), Professor of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine in Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College; Solomon Center Distinguished Scholar in Medicine, Bioethics, and the Law and Visiting Professor of Law, Yale Law School
  • Henry T. (Hank) Greely '77: Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law and Director, Center for Law and the Biosciences, Stanford Law School; Professor by courtesy of Genetics, Stanford School of Medicine; Director, Stanford Program and Neuroscience and Society; Chair, Steering Committee of the Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford University
  • Peter Littlejohns: Professor of Public Health in the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London; Honorary Consultant to Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Professor Samuel Bagenstos, Frank G. Millard Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, presented on the ethical and legal issues of taking disability and quality of life assessments into account in medical rationing decisions.

Dr. Joseph Fins, the E. William Davis, Jr. M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics, Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics, Professor of Medicine (with Tenure), Professor of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine in Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Solomon Center Distinguished Scholar in Medicine, Bioethics, and the Law and Visiting Professor of Law at Yale Law School, discussed his experience consulting with physicians on ethical issues of care during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ethical considerations in administering and rationing care.

Professor Henry T. (Hank) Greely ’77, Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences at Stanford Law School;, Professor by courtesy of Genetics at Stanford School of Medicine; Director of the Stanford Program and Neuroscience and Society, and Chair of the Steering Committee of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at Stanford University, presented on immunity certificates as discussed in his article COVID-19 immunity certificates: science, ethics, policy, and law, published in the Journal of Law and the Biosciences in 2020.

Professor Peter Littlejohns, Professor of Public Health in the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine at King’s College London and Honorary Consultant to the Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, presented on rationing and prioritization in health care, using the UK’s National Health Service as a case study, and argued that to prioritize fairly systems must articulate values and develop a fair process to ensure the best for individual patients and public health.

On September 23, 2020, experts presented on issues related to FDA regulation of vaccines, tests, and therapeutics developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Dr. Tom Cahill: Founder and Managing Partner, Newpath Partners
  • Nathan Grubaugh: Assistant Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases), Yale School of Medicine
  • Dr. Margaret (Peggy) Hamburg: Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly the Institute of Medicine (IOM); Former Commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration
  • Dr. Aaron S. Kesselheim: Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Sidley Austin-Robert D. McLean Visiting Professor in Law, Yale Law School

Their presentations are available below.

Professor Nathan Grubaugh, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) at Yale School of Medicine, presented on his lab’s development of a test for COVID-19, the role of the FDA in the testing, screening, and diagnostics, and the issues in increasing testing capacity in the pandemic.

Dr. Margaret (Peggy) Hamburg, Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Medicine and former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, presented on the FDA’s responsibilities related to the regulation of food, drugs, and medical devices and the FDA’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular regarding vaccine development and approval.

Professor Aaron S. Kesselheim, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Sidley Austin-Robert D. McLean Visiting Professor in Law at Yale Law School, presented on the need to balance evidence and speed in developing therapeutics and vaccines for COVID-19 and the FDA’s role in overseeing development, approving, and promoting access to these therapeutics and vaccines.

On September 30, 2020, four experts presented on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the U.S. health care system, including state and federal responses to promote public health, how the pandemic has changed the use of telemedicine, and how courts have interpreted and applied traditional public health law doctrines, including Jacobson v. Massachusetts, in recent COVID-related cases. Their presentations are available below.

  • Dr. Mandy K. Cohen: Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services 
  • Lawrence Gostin: University Professor, Georgetown University; Founding Linda D. & Timothy J. O'Neill Professor of Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center; Faculty Director, O'Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law; Director, World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Public Health Law & Human Rights
  • Dr. Karen S. Rheuban: Professor of Pediatrics, Senior Associate Dean of Continuing Medical Education, and Director of the Karen S. Rheuban Center for Telehealth, University of Virginia; Former President of the American Telemedicine Association
  • Andy Slavitt: Distinguished Health Policy Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania; Former Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
 

Dr. Mandy K. Cohen, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, discussed the state level public health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the political and legal challenges to enforcing these responses.

Professor Lawrence Gostin, University Professor at Georgetown University, Founding Linda D. & Timothy J. O'Neill Professor of Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center, Faculty Director of the O'Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law, and Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Public Health Law & Human Rights, presented on the traditional public health law doctrines, including Jacobson v. Massachusetts, and how Jacobson and related cases have affected the public health interventions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Dr. Karen S. Rheuban, Professor of Pediatrics, Senior Associate Dean of Continuing Medical Education, and Director of the Karen S. Rheuban Center for Telehealth at the University of Virginia and former President of the American Telemedicine Association, presented on how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the use of and access to telemedicine, including the federal policy changes that supported the increased access and the challenges to continued widespread use of telemedicine in the United States.

Andy Slavitt, General Partner at Town Hall Ventures, Distinguished Health Policy Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, and former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, addressed the federal government’s health policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges posed by the fragmented U.S. healthcare system and the populations’ perceptions of the pandemic.

On October 14, 2020, experts presented on the role of federalism and localism in responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, including challenges to city- and state-level responses and the role of federal aid and state bankruptcy to address the economic harms to governments. 

  • Richard Florida: University Professor at University of Toronto’s School of Cities and Rotman School of Management, Distinguished Fellow at NYU and FIU, and Co-Founder and Senior Editor, The Atlantic City Lab.
  • David N. Schleicher: Professor of Law, Yale Law School
  • Miriam Seifter: Associate Professor of Law and Rowe Faculty Fellow in Regulatory Law, University of Wisconsin Law School
  • David Skeel: S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Their presentations are available below.

Professor Richard Florida, University Professor at University of Toronto’s School of Cities and Rotman School of Management, Distinguished Fellow at NYU and FIU, and Co-Founder and Senior Editor at The Atlantic City Lab, presented on how the COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to change cities and factors that will enable cities to become more prosperous, inclusive, just, and resilient.

Professor David N. Schleicher, Professor of Law at Yale Law School, posed questions to fellow speakers about the impact the COVID-19 pandemic on changing cities, on economic growth, local politics, and the critiques of state bankruptcy.

Professor David Skeel, S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, presented on the economic harms suffered by state and local governments related to the COVID-19 pandemic and compared options to support states, including federal aid packages and state bankruptcy.

Professor Miriam Seifter, Associate Professor of Law and Rowe Faculty Fellow in Regulatory Law at University of Wisconsin Law School, responded to the presentations regarding state and local responses to COVID-19, emphasizing the importance of states’ capacity to govern and highlighting two obstacles to state capacity: partisan polarization and divergent visions of the role of government.

On October 21, 2020, five experts presented on the use of executive and emergency powers during the pandemic and balancing public health with civil liberties. 

  • John A. Ferejohn: Samuel Tilden Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
  • Jack Goldsmith '89: Learned Hand Professor of Law, Henry L. Shattuck Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
  • Roderick M. (Rick) Hills Jr. '91: William T. Comfort, III Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
  • Bernadette Meyler: Carl and Sheila Spaeth Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life, Stanford Law School; Professor, by courtesy, English, Stanford University
  • John Fabian Witt, '99: Allen H. Duffy Class of 1960 Professor of Law, Yale Law School

Their presentations are available below.

Professor Jack Goldsmith ’89, Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Henry L. Shattuck Professor at Harvard University, presented on the extraordinary executive underreach during the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenge of emergency authorities and judicial review.

Professor Roderick M. (Rick) Hills Jr. ’91, William T. Comfort, III Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, and Professor John A. Ferejohn, Samuel Tilden Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, presented a work in progress on executive overreach and underreach during crises and the incentives for centralization and decentralization of power during the pandemic.

Professor Bernadette Meyler, Carl and Sheila Spaeth Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life at Stanford Law School and Professor by courtesy of English at Stanford University, presented on constitutional flexibility in a public health emergency and striking a balance between constitutional requirements and general welfare.

Professor John Fabian Witt ’99, Allen H. Duffy Class of 1960 Professor of Law at Yale Law School, presented on the history of legal institutions’ approach to public health crises.

On October 28, 2020, three judges joined us to discuss the judiciary’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges of maintaining access to justice and using new technologies. 

The Courts (5:00 - 6:15 pm)

  • Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann '80: Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack: Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court
  • Chief Judge Lee H. Rosenthal: Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas

Contact Tracing & Privacy (6:20 - 7:35 pm)

  • Orin Kerr: Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
  • Glen Weyl: Office of the Chief Technology Officer Political Economist and Social Technologist, Microsoft; Founder and Chair, RadicalxChange Foundation
  • Jonathan L. Zittrain: George Bemis Professor of International Law, Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources, and Faculty Director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School; Professor of Computer Science, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Professor, Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government

Their presentations are available below.

Judge Robert A. Katzmann ’80, who was until September 2020 Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, discussed how the Second Circuit adapted in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack, Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, presented on how the Michigan state court system responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges and benefits associated with the courts’ uses of technologies.

Chief Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, presented on the courts’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges related to access to justice and conducting virtual trials.

On November 4, 2020, experts presented on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the economy. 

  • Daron Acemoglu: Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Yair Listokin '05: Shibley Family Fund Professor of Law, Yale Law School

Their presentations are available below.

    his session was co-sponsored by the Law, Economics & Organization Workshop

    Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, presented on how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing problems in the United States economy and their relationship to technological development.

    Yair Listokin ’05, Shibley Family Fund Professor of Law at Yale Law School, presented a history of macroeconomics and explained how these lessons inform our economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically in terms of monetary and fiscal policy.

    On November 4, 2020, experts presented on the role of the social safety net in the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

    • Andrew Hammond '14: Assistant Professor of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law
    • Karen Tani: Seaman Family University Professor, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

    Their presentations are available below.

    Andrew Hammond ’14, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, presented his article, How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has and Should Reshape the American Safety Net, co-authored with Ariel Jurow Kleiman ’14 and Gabriel Scheffler ’14 and published in the Minnesota Law Review Headnotes.

    Karen Tani, Seaman Family University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, presented on the welfare system in the United States, explaining the non-universality and limitations of the welfare state and contextualizing the COVID-19 response within the history of the social safety net programs.

    On November 11, 2020, experts presented on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in the United States.

    • Daniel Markovits ’00: Guido Calabresi Professor of Law, Yale Law School
    • Kimberly J. Robinson: Elizabeth D. and Richard A. Merrill Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law; Professor of Education, Curry School of Education; and Professor of Law, Education and Public Policy, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia

    Their presentations are available below. After the workshop, two students, Solomon Center Student Fellows Emily Caputo YLS ’22 and Blake N. Shultz YLS ’21, SOM ’22 published Can Schools Require the COVID-19 Vaccine? Education, Equity, and the Courts in the Harvard Law School Bill of Health.

    Daniel Markovits ’00, Guido Calabresi Professor of Law at Yale Law School, discussed inequalities in the educational system in the United States, particularly in relation to income, and how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these inequalities.

    Kimberly J. Robinson, Elizabeth D. and Richard A. Merrill Professor of Law at University of Virginia School of Law, Professor of Education at the Curry School of Education, and Professor of Law, Education and Public Policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at University of Virginia, presented on educational gaps before and after COVID-19 and the challenges posed by the lack of a federal right to education.

    On November 11, 2020, two experts presented on ageism and care for aging populations during the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for reform to adequately care for these populations. 

    • Alison E. Hirschel '84: Director, Michigan Elder Justice Initiative; Public Interest/Public Service Faculty Fellow and Lecturer, University of Michigan Law School
    • Nina Kohn: David M. Levy Professor of Law and Faculty Director of Online Education, Syracuse University College of Law; Distinguished Scholar in Elder Law, Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy, Yale Law School

    Their presentations are available below. 

     

    Alison E. Hirschel ’84, Director of the Michigan Elder Justice Initiative and Public Interest/Public Service Faculty Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School, discussed the regulation of nursing homes and the challenges of and problems with nursing homes’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Nina Kohn, David M. Levy Professor of Law and Faculty Director of Online Education at Syracuse University College of Law and Distinguished Scholar in Elder Law at the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School, presented on how we should move forward with nursing home reform and regulation after the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Nicholas A. Christakis, Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science, Internal Medicine & Biomedical Engineering at Yale University, gave a talk on his new book, Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live.  His presentation is available below.

    Apollo's Arrow offers a riveting account of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as it swept through American society in 2020, and of how the recovery will unfold in the coming years. Drawing on momentous (yet dimly remembered) historical epidemics, contemporary analyses, and cutting-edge research from a range of scientific disciplines, bestselling author, physician, sociologist, and public health expert Nicholas A. Christakis explores what it means to live in a time of plague — an experience that is paradoxically uncommon to the vast majority of humans who are alive, yet deeply fundamental to our species.

    On November 18, 2020, three experts presented on disparities in the COVID-19 pandemic, discussing variations in health outcomes by race, ethnicity, and sex.

    • Dr. Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable: Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
    • Sarah S. Richardson: Professor of the History of Science and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Director, GenderSci Lab, Harvard University
    • Kendall Thomas '83: Nash Professor of Law and Co-Founder and Director of Center for the Study of Law & Culture, Columbia Law School

    Their presentations are available below.

     

    Dr. Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, discussed the health disparities resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and NIH’s efforts supporting health disparities research.

    Sarah S. Richardson, Professor of the History of Science and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality and Director of the GenderSci Lab at Harvard University, presented on the sex disparities related to COVID-19 and variations across state, race, and socioeconomic status.

    Kendall Thomas ’83, Nash Professor of Law and Co-Founder and Director of Center for the Study of Law & Culture at Columbia Law School, presented on structural racism in policing and governance and their role in the resulting disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on African-Americans.

    Panel Events addressing COVID-19

    COVID-19 & Disability: Sustaining Reforms for Justice, March 14, 2022

    • Rachel Arfa: Commissioner, Chicago Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities
    • Rebecca Cockley: Program Officer for the U.S. Disability Rights Program, Ford Foundation
    • Jessica Roberts '06: Director of the Health Law & Policy Institute and Leonard Childs Professor in Law, University of Houston Law Center
    • Silvia Yee: Senior Staff Attorney, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund

          CoSponsored by the Disabled Law Students Association


    COVID-19 Litigation Around the World, October 21, 2021

    • Professor Fabrizio Cafaggi: Member, Italian Council of State; Professor of Behavioral Sciences and Public Administration, LUISS Guido Carli in Rome
    • Judge Bénédicte Fauvarque-Cosson: Judge, the Conseil d’Etat (France)
    • Judge Candice Lavocat Galvão Jobim: Federal Judge, Regional Federal Court of Brazil (Brazil)

    COVID & Employment Law, Wednesday, April 14th, 2021

    • Mark Barnes '84: Partner, Ropes & Gray LLP; Visiting Lecturer in Law, Yale Law School
    • Daniel Hemel '12: Professor of Law and Ronald H. Coase Research Scholar, University of Chicago Law School
    • Anup Malani: Lee and Brena Freeman Professor, University of Chicago Law School; Professor, Pritzker School of Medicine
    • Daniel Rodriguez: Harold Washington Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

    COVID-19 Vaccines: Regulation, Distribution & Equity, March 22, 2021

    • Dr. Kirstin Bibbins-Domingo: Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics; the Lee Goldman, MD Endowed Chair and Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
    • Holly Fernandez Lynch: The John Russell Dickson, MD Presidential Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics in the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, the Perelman School of Medicine
    • Dr. Saad Omer: Director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, Associate Dean and Professor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine; Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health

    Abortion Care and COVID: Autonomy is Not Elective, October 8, 2020

    • Dr. Nancy L. Stanwood: Associate Professor and Section Chief of Family Planning at the Yale School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
    • Dr. Bhavik Kumar: Medical Director for Primary & Trans Care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast
    • Rachel Reeves ’18: Staff Attorney, Reproductive Freedom Project at the American Civil Liberties Union
    • Dr. Louise King: Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School

          Cosponsored by the Information Society Project

    Scholarship & Advocacy

    As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, faculty, staff, and students from the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy immediately got to work. Since mid-March, members of the Solomon Center have been working on many areas of COVID-related health and legal policy, including easing restrictions to telehealth; expanding health care access to students now home from universities; and opposing executive orders that have restricted access to abortion during the pandemic. They are also putting forth important ideas for improving federal legislation and working in New Haven through innovative Medical Legal Partnerships to deliver on-the-ground assistance.

    Abbe Gluck ’00, faculty director of the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy, is part of a team of experts building a blueprint for federal legal assistance and coronavirus legislation. The group also includes Yale Law School student and Solomon Center Student Fellow Erica Turret ’20  and Solomon Center affiliated faculty Dr. Howard Forman, a Yale University professor of public health, radiology, and management, who coordinated the working group’s effort. The group outlined their plan in a commentary on Health Affairs. The blueprint was also cited in a New Yorker article, titled "What Would a Proper Coronavirus Stimulus Plan Look Like?"

    On the 10th anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Professor Gluck and Erica Turret wrote a commentary for Health Affairs about how much worse the COVID-19 pandemic would be if we did not have the protections and coverage of the ACA.

    The Center’s Medical Legal Partnerships have been actively working with physician partners to protect the populations they serve in a number of ways, including:

    -      Working with the Transitions Clinic Medical Legal Partnership for formerly incarcerated individuals, the Center has advocated with the Governor’s office and other Connecticut officials to safely thin the density of Connecticut’s incarcerated population. In a recent letter, the group argues that mass infection in the prisons will overwhelm the state’s hospitals, affecting the entire state’s public health. They urged: “Connecticut has days, not weeks, to chart a different future. Under current conditions, in which there is no cure and no widespread testing, the thousands of Connecticut residents who live and work in correctional facilities are simply unable to practice the most effective method of prevention: social distancing. To create the requisite spacing of 6 feet between individuals, the State must rapidly decrease the density of its prisons, jails, and halfway houses.” With colleagues, Professor Gluck also co-wrote an commentary in the CT Post about how COVID-19 threatens to overrun Connecticut’s jails and prisons.

    -     HAVEN Medical Legal Partnership students have worked in collaboration with New Haven Legal Aid Association to assist in advocacy efforts for detained immigrants, including filing emergency applications for medical release.

    -     Pediatric MLP students have worked with Connecticut Center for Children’s Advocacy to compile and update a Benefits Resource Guides.

    On the academic side, the Center recently held a “lawyering through Covid-19” special seminar for students and alums with Mark Barnes ’84, chair of the Ropes & Gray Healthcare Practice, and FDA expert Dr. Aaron Kesselheim.

    Professor Gluck, together with Yale Law Professor David Schleicher, has also organized a weekly faculty workshop exploring the multitude of ways that COVID-19 intersects with virtually every area of law, from tax law, health law, immigration law, federalism, criminal justice, and much more.

    *Please check back to this page for additional updates.

    • Abbe Gluck ’00 is profiled in Yale Law School Today about her work on the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. (May 2023)

    • Abbe Gluck ’00 is profiled in a Yale News story on her time at the as special counsel to the President and Special Counsel to the White House COVID-19 Response Team. (Feb. 2023)

    • Dr. Joseph Fins, Visiting Professor of Law and Solomon Center Distinguished Scholar in Medicine, Bioethics, and the Law, was cited in an article by the New York Bar Association looking back at pandemic policy. (Jan. 2022)

    • In January of 2021, Professor Abbe Gluck ’00 was announced to be joining White House as Special Counsel on President Joe Biden’s COVID Response Team.  (Jan 2021)

    • Executive Director Katherine Kraschel was quoted in an article by the Lily on the abortion pills new availability via mail. (July 2020)

    • Distinguished Scholar in Elder Law, Nina Kohn is quoted about the ability of long-term care facility residents to participate in elections in an article on ProPublica. (Aug. 2020)

    • Distinguished Scholar in Elder Law Nina Kohn is quoted in a story in MarketWatch about voting issues for long-term care facility residents (Aug. 2020)

    • Distinguished Scholar in Elder Law Nina Kohn is quoted about a Senate proposal that would grant nursing homes breathtaking immunity from liability. (Aug. 2020)

    • Distinguished Scholar in Elder Law Nina Kohn is quoted in Law360 about the implications of the new Safe to Work Act for patients and long-term care residents (July 2020)

    • The recent work of Distinguished Scholar in Elder Law Nina A. Kohn is discussed in a commentary about pandemic immunity orders for nursing homes and hospitals. (June 2020)

    • Distinguished Scholar in Elder Law Nina A. Kohn is featured in a PIX 11 News segment on nursing home liability (June 2020)

    • A story in the Guardian references the work of and quotes Distinguished Scholar in Elder Law Nina A. Kohn. (May 2020)

    • Distinguished Scholar in Elder Law Nina A. Kohn is interviewed and quoted in a piece for Time Magazine (May 2020). 

    • Visiting Professor Nina A. Kohn is quoted in an article in the Chicago Tribune about the challenges facing long-term care facilities in Illinois during COVID-19 and calls for increased regulation. (May 2020)

    • Abbe R. Gluck ’00 was quoted in a Talking Points Memo article about the effect ending Obamacare would have on the COVID-19 pandemic. (May 2020)

    • Executive Director Katie Kraschel was quoted in an article about patient privacy and COVID-19 data. (May 2020)

    • Abbe Gluck '00 was quoted in a Washington Post article on federalism and the state-level response to the COVID crisis. (May 2020)

    • Abbe R. Gluck ’00 was quoted in the New Haven Register about the federal government’s response to the production and distribution of PPE. (May 2020)

    • Abbe Gluck '00 spoke at a "virtual march" organized by NeedMasksToday, bringing together experts from across Yale, politicians, and more than 1000 people online to demand adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline medical workers. The march and Professor Gluck's remarks were featured in a New Haven Register article. (May 2020)

    • Professor Nina A. Kohn, YLS visiting professor, spoke at the African American Policy Forum's virtual panel series Under the Blacklight, in an episode exploring "COVID in Confinement" (Apr. 2020)

    • Abbe Gluck '00 was a guest on ABC News where she discussed the impact of ending the DACA program in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Apr. 2020)Abbe Gluck '00 was quoted in a Bloomberg Law article about President Trump’s choice not to reopen the Affordable Care Act exchanges to allow uninsured Americans to purchase health-care coverage during the coronavirus pandemic. (Apr. 2020)

    • The Solomon Center was featured in a YLS today piece on the Center’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Mar. 2020)

    • Abbe Gluck ’00, on a team of other public health experts issued a detailed policy recommendation to lawmakers at the beginning of the COVID-19 public health emergency (Mar. 2020)