Law Commons^™

Tribal Water Rights And Tribal Health: The Klamath Tribes And The Navajo Nation During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Robin Kundis Craig

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Pursuing Climate Justice: Learning The Lessons Of The Covid-19 Response, Lance Gable

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

What Covid-19 Laid Bare: Adventures In Workers’ Compensation Causation, Michael C. Duff

All Faculty Scholarship

This essay performs a close analysis of workers’ compensation coverage of COVID-19 and arrives at the conclusion that it should not be “impossible” to prove in a legal sense that an employee’s COVID-19 was caused by work. Scientific proof is not the same as legal proof: workers’ compensation law has never required that claims must be supported by irrefutable scientific proof of workplace causation. Yet repeatedly one heard this suggestion during public discussion on workers’ compensation coverage of employees.

Still, there is good evidence that even when workers’ compensation undisputedly covers work-related disease employers seldom pay benefits (and states do …

“Under The Guise Of Public Health:” The Biden Administration And Title 42, Casey Plach

SLU Law Journal Online

In March 2020, the Trump Administration set forth a policy, now known as Title 42, which closed U.S. borders and allows government officials to immediately expel migrants—including asylum seekers—citing public health concerns in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still in effect today, Title 42 has faced criticism from legal experts and health experts alike, who claim the policy directly conflicts with asylum laws and has little basis in public health. In this article, Casey Plach explores this criticism and critiques the Biden Administration’s continued use of Title 42.

Homeward Bound: The Current Rise Of Homeschooling And The Need For Regulation, Mary Fletcher

SLU Law Journal Online

With the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of American homeschoolers has drastically increased. While all fifty states have passed legislation allowing for homeschooling, regulations of homeschooling vary from state-to-state, with some states having virtually no regulation at all. In this essay, Mary Fletcher examines homeschooling laws and discusses the need for consistent federal regulation to ensure that homeschooled students receive an adequate education.

Contract Clauses Under Scrutiny: Covid-19, Mike Zawalski

SLU Law Journal Online

Force majeure clauses have saved many businesses that have been unable to perform their contractual obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, Mike Zawalski discusses case law on force majeure provisions in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fallout Avoided? Zoombombing Litigation Update, Kaitlin Carpenter

SLU Law Journal Online

In this article, Kaitlin Carpenter discusses Zoom’s dark side in a practice called Zoombombing, and also provides an update on the lawsuit addressing this problem.

The Fate Of The Public Charge Rule Following A Covid-19 Era, Jacquelyn Sicilia

SLU Law Journal Online

Within two weeks of the new administration, President Biden sought immediate review of the long existing Public Charge Rule and former President Trump's changes to it. In this article, Jacquelyn Sicilia discusses the recent litigation on the Public Charge Final Rule and where it stands today.

My Body, My Temple: The Constitutional Requirement For Religious Exemptions To A Covid-19 Vaccination Mandate, Ben Davisson

SLU Law Journal Online

While the COVID-19 crisis has caused many to fear the threat that the virus poses to the health and safety of themselves and their loved ones, for others, and particularly for those with certain religious beliefs, the cure is worse than the disease. The possibility of a government mandated vaccine has caused extreme anxiety for many Americans. In this article, Ben Davisson discusses the constitutionality of mandatory vaccination programs and how such programs may come into conflict with the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

Hipaa-Phobia Hampers Efforts To Track And Contain Covid-19, Lee Hiromoto M.D., J.D.

SLU Law Journal Online

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), enacted by the US Congress 1996, laudably protects medical privacy in healthcare settings. However, this federal law has created a culture of fear that limits current efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare providers, who are covered by HIPAA, may be reluctant to disclose information about outbreak clusters for fear of violating the law. Healthcare organizations, who are also covered by the law, still rely on fax machines to avoid violating HIPAA’s data security requirements. And the scrupulous rule-following in healthcare has given independent life to a HIPAA boogeyman. Thus, officials who …

The Cdc’S Moratorium: Will The New Year Bring About An Eviction Crisis?, Matt Donahoe

SLU Law Journal Online

The new relief bill has extended the eviction moratorium another month. In this article, Matt Donahoe discusses whether this will provide tenants the necessary protection to avoid an eviction crisis as well as whether the moratorium is an infringement upon a landlord’s constitutional rights.

Policies Of Exclusion: The Impact Of Covid-19 On People With Disabilities, Amanda M. Caleb, Stacy Gallin

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on marginalized groups and has amplified the social and health inequalities in society, particularly for people with disabilities (PwDs), who are at higher risk of dying from the coronavirus. As such, it is vital that policies and practices include and protect PwDs, yet that is not the case across the United States. In this article, we examine policies related to COVID-19 that have further othered PwDs and that have created practical and theoretical inequity. In looking at public health strategies that are meant to protect the public, we argue that measures such as social …

Covid-19, Doctors, And The “Realities Of Prison Administration” Part I: The Realities Of A Subject Matter Expert, Fred Rottnek

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

COVID-19 is still novel. As scientists continue racing to characterize the virus and its mutations, promote behavioral change, and optimize treatment and vaccination strategies, public policy makers shift their attention from one high priority population to the next. These spotlights have converged on one truism of the pandemic: COVID-19 infection, and all its sequelae, have magnified long-established social and structural inequities in U.S. institutions—including practices in jails, prisons, and detention facilities. While these facilities were recognized as early incubators of the virus, the response of the facility administrators and local leaders were at best uneven and at worst nonexistent. When …

Retaining Medicaid Covid-19 Changes To Support Community Living, Elizabeth Edwards, David Machledt, Jennifer Lav

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

The impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities in institutional settings, like nursing facilities, has garnered significant attention. But people receiving comparable services in the community have also been affected significantly. States used several emergency authorities in efforts to facilitate access to and stabilize these Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS), including behavioral health services. Although states made different policy choices within those authorities, many states expanded the provider pool, increased HCBS provider rates, decreased onerous utilization controls and other barriers to care, expanded telehealth, and added new community-based services. These state policy responses have resulted in new services or …

Covid-19, Courts, And The “Realities Of Prison Administration” Part Ii: The Realities Of Litigation, Chad Flanders

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Lawsuits challenging prisons and jails for not doing enough to stop the spread of COVID-19 among inmates have faced mixed results in the courts: wins at the district court level are almost always followed by losses (in the form of stays of any orders to improve conditions) at the appeals court level or at the Supreme Court. This short Article tries to explain why this is happening and makes three comparisons between how district courts and appeals courts have analyzed these lawsuits. First, district courts and appeals courts tend to emphasize different facts in their decisions. District courts focus more …

Lessons Learned From Community-Driven Responsiveness During Covid-19, Amanda Harris, Brittini "Ree Belle" Gray, Ciearra Walker, Melinique Walls Castellanos

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

People of color are suffering and dying from COVID-19 at greater rates than the general population. Additionally, population-level health interventions can worsen health disparities by failing to reach already underserved populations. In response, PrepareSTL, a collaborative, community-led campaign, aims to reach communities of color in St. Louis with accessible information and resources to stop the spread of the coronavirus among the target audiences and help these communities survive the virus’s adverse social and economic impacts. This study (1) analyzes factors contributing to the success of PrepareSTL as a community-led and equity-centered response to COVID-19 and (2) identifies lessons from the …

Vaccine Clinical Trials And Data Infrastructure, Ana Santos Rutschman

All Faculty Scholarship

We find ourselves at a momentous turn in the history of vaccines. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a quasi-global vaccine race that not only compressed vaccine research and development (R&D) timelines, but also paved the way for the administration of a new type of vaccine technology – mRNA vaccines, which work in substantially different ways from the vaccines in use before the pandemic.

While the process of bringing emerging COVID-19 vaccines to market has taken place in an unusually short timeframe, it was largely predicated on the same scientific and regulatory processes that govern the development, approval and deployment of new …

Systemic Racism, The Government’S Pandemic Response, And Racial Inequities In Covid-19, Ruqaiijah Yearby, Seema Mohapatra

All Faculty Scholarship

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal and state governments have ignored racial and ethnic minorities’ unequal access to employment and health care that results in racial inequities in COVID-19 infections and deaths. In addition, they have enacted laws that further exacerbate these inequities. Consequently, many racial and ethnic minorities are employed in low-wage essential jobs that lack paid sick leave and health insurance. This lack of benefits causes them to go to work even when they are sick and prevents them from receiving appropriate medical treatment. As a result, racial and ethnic minorities have disproportionately been infected and died from …

Covid-19, Courts, And The 'Realities Of Prison Administration.' Part Ii: The Realities Of Litigation, Chad Flanders

All Faculty Scholarship

Lawsuits challenging prisons and jails for not doing enough to stop the spread of COVID-19 among inmates have faced mixed results in the courts: wins at the district court level are almost always followed by losses (in the form of stays of any orders to improve conditions) at the appeals court level or at the Supreme Court. This short article tries to explain why this is happening, and makes three comparisons between how district courts and appeals courts have analyzed these lawsuits. First, district courts and appeals courts tend to emphasize different facts in their decisions. District courts focus more …

Intellectual Property As A Determinant Of Health, Ana Santos Rutschman

All Faculty Scholarship

Public health literature has long recognized the existence of determinants of health, a set of socio-economic conditions that affect health risks and health outcomes across the world. The World Health Organization defines these determinants as “forces and systems” consisting of “factors combin[ing] together to affect the health of individuals and communities.” Frameworks relying on determinants of health have been widely adopted by countries in the global South and North alike, as well as international institutional players, several of which are direct or indirect players in transnational intellectual property (IP) policymaking. Issues raised by the implementation of IP policies, however, are …

Covid-19 Employee Health Checks, Remote Work, And Disability Law, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, about 61 million individuals in the U.S. The law’s protections in the workplace are especially important during COVID-19, which has worsened pre-existing disparities experienced by people with disabilities. The ADA also applies to new strategies to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection in the workplace. This Chapter will focus on two strategies that impact individuals with and without disabilities – employee health screening, testing and vaccination policies, and new or expanded remote work programs.

Social Media Self-Regulation And The Rise Of Vaccine Misinformation, Ana Santos Rutschman

All Faculty Scholarship

This essay examines the main characteristics and shortcomings of mainstream social media responses to vaccine misinformation and disinformation. Parts I and II contextualize the recent expansion of vaccine information and disinformation in the online environment. Part III provides a survey and taxonomy of ongoing responses to vaccine misinformation adopted by mainstream social media. It further notes the limitations of current self-regulatory modes and illustrates these limitations by presenting a short case study on Facebook—the largest social media vehicle for vaccine-specific misinformation, currently estimated to harbor approximately half of the social media accounts linked to vaccine misinformation. Part IV examines potential …

Covid-19 And Public Accommodations Under The Americans With Disabilities Act: Getting Americans Safely Back To Restaurants, Theaters, Gyms, And “Normal”, Frank Griffin

Saint Louis University Law Journal

COVID-19 permanently changed the way places of public accommodation like restaurants, theaters, medical facilities, arenas, gyms, and many other proprietors of mainstream American activities must operate in order to accommodate people with newly-defined, COVID-19-related disabilities under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The required modifications will affect all patrons and employees of these establishments. Under the ADA, places of public accommodation are barred from discriminating against people with disabilities in the full and equal enjoyment of goods, services, and facilities. Infectious diseases like tuberculosis and HIV have been categorized as disabilities under the ADA, and COVID-19 is …

Covid-19 And Law Teaching: Guidance On Developing An Asynchronous Online Course For Law Students, Yvonne M. Dutton, Seema Mohapatra

Saint Louis University Law Journal

Most law schools suspended their live classroom teaching in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quickly transitioned to online programming. Although professors can be commended for rapidly adapting to an emergency situation, some commentators have nevertheless suggested that the emergency online product delivered to students was substandard. Based on our own experiences in designing and delivering online courses, we caution against embracing a broad-reaching, negative conclusion about the efficacy of online education. Indeed, much of this emergency online programming would be more properly defined as “emergency remote teaching,” as opposed to “online education.” Online education requires professors to …

FacebookʼS Latest Attempt To Address Vaccine Misinformation — And Why ItʼS Not Enough, Ana Santos Rutschman

All Faculty Scholarship

On October 13, 2020 Facebook announced the adoption of a series of measures to promote vaccine trust “while prohibiting ads with misinformation that could harm public health efforts.” In the post written by Kang-Xing Jin (head of health) and Rob Leathern (director of product management), the company explained that the new measures were designed with an emphasis on encouraging widespread use of this yearʼs flu vaccine, as well as in anticipation of potential COVID-19 vaccines becoming available in the near future.

The changes focus mainly on the establishment of a multiprong informational campaign about the seasonal flu vaccine, which includes …

The Further Downfalls Of Dcfs During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Josie Finch

SLU Law Journal Online

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought nationwide trials and tribulations but in Illinois, it has brought further complications to an already struggling Department of Children and Family Services. In this article, Josie Finch discusses the consequences of isolation and economic issues on at-risk children in Illinois as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top Executives Forgoing Their Salaries In The Face Of Covid-19: A Benevolent Act Or Deceitful Trick?, Lauren Sullivan

SLU Law Journal Online

As financial hardship hits us all in the wake of COVID-19, affluent executives of top companies have announced relinquishment of their 2020 salaries. While appearing to be to sharing the financial suffering with their lower employees, Lauren Sullivan dives into the question of how much these executives are really “sacrificing.”

Resolving Tensions Between Disability Rights Law And Covid-19 Mask Policies, Elizabeth Pendo, Robert Gatter, Seema Mohapatra

All Faculty Scholarship

As states reopen, an increasing number of state and local officials are requiring people to wear face masks while out of the home. Grocery stores, retail outlets, restaurants and other businesses are also announcing their own mask policies, which may differ from public policies. Public health measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus such as wearing masks have the potential to greatly benefit millions of Americans with disabilities, who are particularly vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19. But certain disabilities may make it difficult or inadvisable to wear a mask.

Mask-wearing has become a political flashpoint, putting people with …

Meat Processing Workers And The Covid-19 Pandemic: The Subrogation Of People, Public Health, And Ethics To Profits And A Path Forward, Kelly K. Dineen

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated existing health injustices. People who are Latino/Latinx, Black, Indigenous or members of other minority groups have disproportionately paid with their very lives. The pandemic has also exposed the complex interdependence of worker health and well-being, community health, and economic security. Industries like meat processing facilities—with congregate and high-density workplaces staffed by workers who are already disadvantaged by structural discrimination—must reckon with decades of subrogation and exploitation of workers. During this pandemic, the industry has pushed that exploitation to a point of no return. Policies to protect workers need a reset to an orientation …

Structural Discrimination In Covid-19 Workplace Protections, Ruqaiijah Yearby, Seema Mohapatra

All Faculty Scholarship

Workers, who are being asked to risk their health by working outside their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, need adequate hazard compensation, safe workplace conditions, and personal protective equipment (PPE). Sadly, this is not happening for many essential workers, such as those working in home health care and in the meat processing industry. These workers are not only being unnecessarily exposed to the virus, but they are also not receiving paid sick leave, unemployment benefits, and affordable health care and childcare. The lack of these protections is due to structural discrimination and has disproportionately disadvantaged women of color and low-wage …