Emergency Legal Preparedness and Response
During disease outbreaks or natural disasters, jurisdictions may take divergent legal approaches in their responses to national or regional public health threats. Legal authorities vary across states, tribal governments and localities during declared emergencies. Conflicting laws and overlapping jurisdictions further complicate key decisions on when or how to respond.
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Resources
Trends in Vaccination Law and Judicial Challenges
Guidance: State COVID-19 Emergency Declarations
Legal and Health Care Repercussions of the End of the National Public Health Emergency
Legal Repercussions of Public Health Emergency Rescissions
COVID-19 Related Opinions and Orders from the U.S. Supreme Court
CDC Travel Mask Mandate Litigation
Emergency Legal Preparedness: Monkeypox
Legal Handbook for Establishing A Public Health Registry
Legal Liability for Acts of “COVID Denialism”
Federal Vaccine Mandates in Response to COVID-19
Crisis Standards of Care: COVID-19 State Invocations
Proposed Limits on Public Health Authority: Dangerous for Public Health
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Addressing Indoor Air Quality through Model Law
Plata v. Newsom and Its Impact on Health Equity in California’s Prisons
State Medicaid Programs Urgently Need to Prepare for the End of the COVID Public Health Emergency: These Tools and Resources Can Help
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A Closer Look at Emergency Legal Preparedness and Response
Public health officials may face many critical legal and policy decisions during public health emergencies, including:
- Inter-jurisdictional legal coordination of federal, tribal, state and local actors in real-time emergencies under changing legal norms
- The ability to issue isolation or quarantine orders, or other social distancing methods, to control public health threats
- Whether to close or dismiss schools, or other public assemblies, temporarily or for prolonged periods to prevent the spread of communicable diseases
- The authority to mandate vaccinations for minors or autonomous adults, including health care workers
- Licensing, credentialing and privileging out-of-state health practitioners
- Inter-jurisdictional management of scarce resources including personnel, vaccines, shelter and sustenance
- Omnipresent concerns over liability of public health practitioners during emergencies
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