Emergencies in Public Law


Book Description

Debates about emergency powers traditionally focus on whether law can or should constrain officials in emergencies. Emergencies in Public Law moves beyond this narrow lens, focusing instead on how law structures the response to emergencies and what kind of legal and political dynamics this relation gives rise to. Drawing on empirical studies from a variety of emergencies, institutional actors, and jurisdictional scales (terrorist threats, natural disasters, economic crises, and more), this book provides a framework for understanding emergencies as long-term processes rather than ad hoc events, and as opportunities for legal and institutional productivity rather than occasions for the suspension of law and the centralization of response powers. The analysis offered here will be of interest to academics and students of legal, political, and constitutional theory, as well as to public lawyers and social scientists.




The Law of Emergencies


Book Description

The Law of Emergencies: Public Health and Disaster Management, Second Edition, introduces the American legal system as it interacts with disaster management, public health and civil unrest issues. Nan Hunter shows how the law in this area plays out in the context of real life emergencies where individuals often have to make split-second decisions. This book covers the major legal principles underlying emergency policy and operations and analyzes legal authority at the federal, state and local levels, placing the issues in historical context but concentrating on contemporary questions. The book includes primary texts, reader-friendly expository explanation and sample discussion questions in each chapter, as well as scenarios for each of the three major areas to put the concepts in to action. Prior knowledge of the law is not necessary in order to use and understand this book, and it satisfies the need of professionals in a wide array of fields related to emergency management to understand both what the law requires and how to analyze issues for which there is no clear legal answer. The book features materials on such critical issues as how to judge the extent of Constitutional authority for government to intervene in the lives and property of American citizens. At the same time, it also captures bread-and-butter issues such as responder liability and disaster relief methods. No other book brings these components together in a logically organized, step by step fashion. - Updated with expanded coverage and several new chapters - Re-organized to improve topic focus, with sections covering The President, Congress, and the Courts; Governance on the Ground; The Rights of Individuals; Disaster Management and Reconstruction; Health Emergencies; Preserving the Social Fabric; and Liability - Includes a new disaster scenario (a dirty bomb explosion in Washington, DC) to illustrate the application of key concepts - Features two new appendices that provide key excerpts from the U.S. Constitution and the Stafford Act - Includes a new glossary of legal and legislative terms




Emergencies and the Limits of Legality


Book Description

Most modern states turn swiftly to law in an emergency. The global response to the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States was no exception, and the wave of legislative responses is well documented. Yet there is an ever-present danger, borne out by historical and contemporary events, that even the most well-meaning executive, armed with extraordinary powers, will abuse them. This inevitably leads to another common tendency in an emergency, to invoke law not only to empower the state but also in a bid to constrain it. Can law constrain the emergency state or must the state at times act outside the law when its existence is threatened? If it must act outside the law, is such conduct necessarily fatal to aspirations of legality? This collection of essays - at the intersection of legal, political and social theory and practice - explores law's capacity to constrain state power in times of crisis.




Public Health Emergencies


Book Description

"This is a clearly written, easy-to-read first edition on a necessary subject in an ever-changing world of disaster and humanitarian crisis...Not only theoretical, this book is also extremely practical and can be utilized by the various stakeholders involved in public health and emergency response. This book should sit on the shelf of every public health department and be made available for frontline workers and policymakers alike." --Doody's Review Service, 3 stars Public Health Emergencies provides a current overview of public health emergency preparedness and response principles with case studies highlighting lessons learned from recent natural and man-made disasters and emergencies. Designed for graduate and advanced undergraduate public health students, this book utilizes the 10 essential services of public health as performance standards and foundational competencies from the Council on Education for Public Health to assess public health systems. It emphasizes the roles and responsibilities of public health careers in state and local health departments as well as other institutions and clarifies their importance during health-related emergencies in the community. Written by prominent experts, including health professionals and leaders on the frontlines, this textbook provides the framework and lessons for understanding the public health implications of disasters, emergencies, and other catastrophic events, stressing applied understanding for students interested in pursuing public health preparedness roles. Practical in its approach, Part One begins with an introduction to the fundamentals of public health emergency preparedness with chapters on community readiness, all-hazards preparedness design, disaster risk assessments, and emergency operation plans. Part Two covers a range of public health emergency events, including hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, disease outbreaks and pandemics, accidents and chemical contamination, nuclear and radiological hazards, extreme heat events, and water supply hazards. The final part addresses special considerations, such as how the law serves as a foundation to public health actions; preparedness considerations for persons with disabilities, access, and functional needs; children and disasters; and a chapter evaluating emerging and evolving threats. Throughout, chapters convey the roles of front-line, supervisory, and leadership personnel of the many stakeholders involved in preparedness, response, and recovery efforts to demonstrate decision-making in action. Key Features: Provides the fundamentals of public health emergency preparedness and response with detailed case studies of recent natural and man-made disasters Explains the roles of administrators, planners, first responders, and other stakeholders involved in emergency response Covers major disaster planning and preparedness topics such as weather-related emergencies, bioterrorism, infectious disease outbreaks including COVID-19, wildfires, radiological and nuclear exposure, and many more Crosswalks the 10 essential public health services and foundational public health competencies illustrated in case examples Purchase includes digital access for use on most mobile devices or computers




Constitutionalism Under Extreme Conditions


Book Description

This book examines the problem of constitutional change in times of crisis. Divided into five main parts, it both explores and interrogates how public law manages change in periods of extraordinary pressure on the constitution. In Part I, “Emergency, Exception and Normalcy,” the contributors discuss the practices and methods that could be used to help legitimize the use of emergency powers without compromising the constitutional principles that were created during a period of normalcy. In Part II, “Terrorism and Warfare,” the contributors assess how constitutions are interpreted during times of war, focusing on the tension between individual rights and safety. Part III, “Public Health, Financial and Economic Crises,” considers how constitutions change in response to crises that are neither political in the conventional sense nor violent, which also complicates how we evaluate constitutional resilience in times of stress. Part IV, “Constitutionalism for Divided Societies,” then investigates the pressure on constitutions designed to govern diverse, multi-national populations, and how constitutional structures can facilitate stability and balance in these states. Part V, titled “Constitution-Making and Constitutional Change,” highlights how constitutions are transformed or created anew during periods of tension. The book concludes with a rich contextual discussion of the pressing challenges facing constitutions in moments of extreme pressure. Chapter “Public Health Emergencies and Constitutionalism Before COVID-19: Between the National and the International” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.




Law in Times of Crisis


Book Description

This book presents a systematic and comprehensive attempt by legal scholars to conceptualize the theory of emergency powers, combining post-September 11 developments with more general theoretical, historical and comparative perspectives. The authors examine the interface between law and violent crises through history and across jurisdictions.




Emergency Public Health


Book Description

Health Sciences & Professions




Law in Public Health Practice


Book Description

Continually changing health threats, technologies, science, and demographics require that public health professionals have an understanding of law sufficient to address complex new public health challenges as they come into being. Law in Public Health Practice, Second Edition provides a thorough review of the legal basis and authorities for the core elements of public health practice and solid discussions of existing and emerging high-priority areas where law and public health intersect.As in the previous edition, each chapter is authored jointly by experts in law and public health. This new edition features three completely new chapters, with several others thoroughly revised and updated. New chapters address such topics as the structure of law in US public health systems and practice, the role of the judiciary in public health, and law in chronic disease prevention and control. The chapter on public health emergencies has also been fully revised to take into account both the SARS epidemic of 2003 and the events of the Fall of 2001. The chapter now discusses topics such as the legal basis for declaring emergencies, the legal structure of mutual aid agreements, and the role of the military in emergencies. Other fully revised chapters include those on genomics, injury prevention, identifiable health information, and ethics in the practice of public health.The book begins with a section on the legal basis for public health practice, including foundations and structure of the law, discussions of the judiciary, ethics and practice of public health, and criminal law and international considerations. The second section focuses on core public health applications and the law, and includes chapters on legal counsel for public health practitioners, legal authorities for interventions in public health emergencies, and considerations for special populations. The third section discusses the law in controlling and preventing diseases, injuries, and disabilities. This section includes chapters on genomics, vaccinations, foodborne illness, STDs, reproductive health, chronic disease control, tobacco use, and occupational and environmental health.All chapters take a practical approach and are written in an accessible, user-friendly fashion. This is an excellent resource for a wide readership of public health practitioners, lawyers, and healthcare providers, as well as for educators and students of law and public health.




Emergency Ethics


Book Description

Leading scholars in bioethics and public health ethics clarify the key values and norms of emergency planning and response and address ethical issues relating to the allocation of scarce resources, research in the context of emergencies, community participation in preparedness planning, the protection of those with special needs, and the duties public health professionals.




Crisis Standards of Care


Book Description

Catastrophic disasters occurring in 2011 in the United States and worldwide-from the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, to the earthquake in New Zealand-have demonstrated that even prepared communities can be overwhelmed. In 2009, at the height of the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services, along with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a committee of experts to develop national guidance for use by state and local public health officials and health-sector agencies and institutions in establishing and implementing standards of care that should apply in disaster situations-both naturally occurring and man-made-under conditions of scarce resources. Building on the work of phase one (which is described in IOM's 2009 letter report, Guidance for Establishing Crisis Standards of Care for Use in Disaster Situations), the committee developed detailed templates enumerating the functions and tasks of the key stakeholder groups involved in crisis standards of care (CSC) planning, implementation, and public engagement-state and local governments, emergency medical services (EMS), hospitals and acute care facilities, and out-of-hospital and alternate care systems. Crisis Standards of Care provides a framework for a systems approach to the development and implementation of CSC plans, and addresses the legal issues and the ethical, palliative care, and mental health issues that agencies and organizations at each level of a disaster response should address. Please note: this report is not intended to be a detailed guide to emergency preparedness or disaster response. What is described in this report is an extrapolation of existing incident management practices and principles. Crisis Standards of Care is a seven-volume set: Volume 1 provides an overview; Volume 2 pertains to state and local governments; Volume 3 pertains to emergency medical services; Volume 4 pertains to hospitals and acute care facilities; Volume 5 pertains to out-of-hospital care and alternate care systems; Volume 6 contains a public engagement toolkit; and Volume 7 contains appendixes with additional resources.