Network Report Thursday, January 14, 2021 
When the Network launched in September of 2010, few of us could have predicted that a decade later our support would become essential to the public health community’s efforts to address the most devastating viral epidemic in the nation’s history. Network National Director Donna Levin reflects on the enduring strength of public health after a year marked not only by an unprecedented pandemic, but also by political and racial strife of historic proportions, and looks forward to the critical work of rebuilding. Read more.
Systemic Racism and Intersectionality: To Get Practical, We Need to Get Theoretical Increased efforts within public health to tackle structural and other forms of racism reflect new energy to change a system that produces vast inequalities. The theories that guide us may be consciously thought out or unreflectively adopted. Therefore, it is necessary to intentionally unpack and understand the norms and assumptions that are built into our day-to-day practices and long-term strategies. Absent this type of self-assessment, public health measures will fall short and exclude the most vulnerable.
Public Health Law News Roundup Some of the public health law and policy issues in the headlines in recent weeks include planned charges in the Flint water probe; Supreme Court ruling on abortion issue; obstacles in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout; calls for better public health data to combat the pandemic; public health issues facing the Biden administration; the impact of the EPA’s ‘secret science’ rule; and controversy over proposed vaccination distribution strategies. 
What do hospitals and providers do when there are insufficient resources to provide care for all? Where a pandemic results in a high number of patients suffering from life-threatening respiratory failure, who will receive one of a limited supply of respirators or treatments? What is fair? Who decides? What is legally permissible? Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) planning and guidance can help providers address these and other critical issues that arise when health care systems are in crisis operations.
COVID-19: Racial Disparities and Crisis Standards of Care The COVID-19 pandemic has motivated states to develop Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) plans responsive to possible shortfalls in resources. Huge racial disparities in COVID-19 infections and death raise the question of how CSC planning might incorporate growing racial justice concerns about COVID-19 and resource allocation. This issue brief examines evidence of racial disparities with respect to COVID-19 infections and provides an overview of CSC planning, including key ethical features that may be utilized to ensure that CSC planning incorporates concerns about racial inequity. 
Judicial Trends in Public Health 2020: Year in Review 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET | January 19, 2021 Join Network attorneys as they highlight pivotal, influential judicial decisions in 2020 on topics including emergency legal preparedness, religious freedoms, reproductive rights, food insecurity, health justice, and the future of the ACA. More than just a “year in review,” this webinar session will help you forecast judicial trends in public health law for 2021.
1:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET | January 21, 2021 States, cities, and counties have increasingly declared racism to be a public health crisis or emergency. These declarations are driven by a recognition that systemic, institutional, and other forms of racism drive disparities. Attend this webinar to: learn where such declarations or statements have been issued, hear specific examples of actions that jurisdictions are taking at state and local levels, and obtain practical steps for using racial equity tools to help ensure meaningful implementation that will have concrete real-world impacts.
Announcements McClain Bryant Macklin Joins Network Advisory Board The Network is pleased to welcome new National Advisory Board member McClain Bryant Macklin, J.D., M.B.A., Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives for the Health Forward Foundation. She brings her expertise and extensive background in policy at local, state, and national levels to the Network’s Advisory Board, and joins an esteemed group of leaders—representing the critical sectors of law, medicine, health care, education, housing, public health and government—who provide strategic guidance to the Network. 
APHA Law Section Call for Abstracts The APHA Law Section seeks abstracts that focus on current hot topics in public health law and/or are relevant to APHA’s 2021 Annual Meeting & Expo theme, “Strengthening Social Connectedness.” The deadline for submissions is March 21, 2021.
Worth Sharing This Viewpoint, published in JAMA, examines the legal and ethical considerations that policy makers must consider when determining whether vaccine mandates should be implemented within specific sectors and settings, including educational, business and health care settings.
Job Opportunity The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids seeks a Staff Attorney to provide legal and policy support for regulation of the tobacco industry (including e-cigarettes) by the Food and Drug Administration, as well as state and local tobacco control efforts. The Staff Attorney will play a leading role in high-profile litigation related to FDA regulation of tobacco products and the legal defense of state and local tobacco control laws, including the preparation of amicus briefs. At least 6 years of predominately litigation experience is required.
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Thank you! Your interest in the work of the Network is important. Together, we can advance law as a tool to improve public health. Please forward the Network Report and encourage others to join the Network! The Network for Public Health Law provides information and technical assistance on issues related to public health. The legal information and assistance provided in this document does not constitute legal advice or legal representation. For legal advice, readers should consult a lawyer in their state.
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