Renters Bill of Rights: Education, Enforcement, and Enhancement of Rights

Law & Policy InsightsHealthy and Affordable HousingMechanisms for Advancing Public HealthMechanisms for Advancing Health Equity

August 22, 2023
by Kathleen Hoke

The Biden Administration’s Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights (Blueprint) was introduced on January 25, 2023 to drive action at the federal, state, and local levels to strengthen tenant protections and housing affordability. One of the principles outlined in the Blueprint is that governmental bodies should do all they can to enforce fair housing laws, protect renters from unlawful discrimination, and ensure renters know their legal rights.

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Community Health Workers with Lived Experience of Incarceration Are Uniquely Suited to Serve Reentering Populations—But Legal Obstacles Impede Hiring Them

Law & Policy InsightsMechanisms for Advancing Public HealthMechanisms for Advancing Health EquityWorkforce Expansion

August 10, 2023
by Chris Alibrandi O’Connor and Colleen Healy Boufides

People who are incarcerated have higher rates of chronic health conditions, which tend to worsen upon their release, primarily due to the barriers to health care they experience. Despite evidence that employing Community Health Workers with lived experience of incarceration to serve individuals reentering their communities leads to better patient outcomes, significant barriers impede hiring them within health systems.

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Renters Bill of Rights: Clear and Fair Leases

Law & Policy InsightsHealthy and Affordable HousingMechanisms for Advancing Public HealthMechanisms for Advancing Health Equity

August 8, 2023
by Kathleen Hoke

The Biden Administration’s Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights (Blueprint) was introduced on January 25, 2023 to drive action at the federal, state, and local levels to strengthen tenant protections and housing affordability. One of the principles outlined in the Blueprint is that renters should have clear and fair leases, with defined rental terms, rights, and responsibilities written in simple and clear language.

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Collateral Consequences of Criminalizing Substance Use Disorder

Law & Policy InsightsSubstance Use Prevention and Harm ReductionHarm Reduction Legal ProjectLegislation and Legal Challenges

July 25, 2023
by Ashleigh Dennis and Corey Davis

The “War on Drugs” could better be described as a “War on People.” In addition to obvious negative impacts such as incarceration and increases in drug-related harm, this “War” also leads to collateral consequences that can last for years —or even a lifetime. Collateral consequences are legal barriers resulting from a person’s conviction in addition to incarceration, parole or probation, and fines and fees.

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Innovative Laws and Policies for Public Health: How Insights from Public Health Departments Shaped an Analysis of Forward-Looking Policies

Law & Policy InsightsCOVID-19Mechanisms for Advancing Public HealthLegislation and Legal ChallengesPublic Health Funding and Infrastructure

July 25, 2023
by Jill Krueger

The Network for Public Health Law’s report, Innovative Law and Policy Strategies for a Post-Pandemic Public Health System, which highlights examples of laws and legal levers implemented across the country that strengthen public health, was inspired and shaped in large part by three questions raised by public health practitioners in the field in three different states.

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As One State Strides Forward on Evidence-Based Drug Policy, Another Slides Back

Law & Policy InsightsSubstance Use Prevention and Harm ReductionHarm Reduction Legal Project

June 28, 2023
by Corey Davis

Unlike how they regulate the far more deadly drug products tobacco and alcohol, states overwhelmingly continue to treat individuals who use illicit drugs as criminals, and state law is oriented towards arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating them. A few states, however, have made more significant changes, and some have made less drastic but still important changes.

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Short- and Long-Term Considerations in Reducing the Environmental Harms of Waste from Tobacco Products

Law & Policy InsightsInjury Prevention and SafetyEnvironment, Climate and Health

June 14, 2023

Tobacco product waste represents environmentally damaging single-use plastic in the form of cigarette butts and electronic smoking devices. Efforts on a global and national level are underway to address these harms, including interesting examples of novel litter laws from Maine and California to Singapore and Rwanda.

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