Category: Issue Archive

In response to COVID-19, U.S. states and localities are exercising various health actions under their inherent police powers—often facing stiff resistance by the public and the courts. Edward P. Richards outlines how states and localities enjoyed broad police powers over public health since the colonial period. The Supreme Court limited this authority only in cases… Continue reading A Historical Review of the State Police Powers and Their Relevance to the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020

While the U.S. military is tasked with homeland defense and security, in this article Mark Nevitt highlights on the military’s role domestically to provide aid and support during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. military is currently engaged in the largest domestic operation in American history. The article evaluates the responses of different branches of the… Continue reading Domestic Military Operations and the Coronavirus Pandemic

Without a vaccine, writes Jennifer Daskal, the United States and other countries are struggling with different tools to stem COVID-19. A critically important one is health surveillance. Previous crises, such as 9/11, also led to restrictions—but often secret—on civil liberties. A pandemic’s surveillance response has a different goal: to educate and inform. Health surveillance provides… Continue reading Good Health and Good Privacy Go Hand-in-Hand