LAWU-338 Public Health Law
This course examines the government's legal authorities and duties to ensure the conditions for people to be healthy, and how to balance these authorities and duties with individual rights to autonomy, privacy, liberty, property and other legally protected interests. The scope of public health law is broad. Public health law issues range from narrow questions of legal interpretation to complex matters involving public health policy, social justice and ethics. This course investigates the legal tools such as statutes, regulations and litigation have played a vital role in historic and modern public health achievements including containing the COVID-19 pandemic, advances in infectious disease control, food safety, curbing the consumption of junk food, occupational health, injury prevention and emergency preparedness and response. For example, local governments have passed clean indoor air legislation to address tobacco as a health hazard, state courts have upheld vaccination mandates and federal regulations have established vehicle performance crash standards to promote motor vehicle safety.
Prerequisite
LAWU 338 is an elective course that students can take to satisfy