Bioethics

The Constitutional Implications of Ebola: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights In Times of Health Crises

Join us for an important public forum: Constitutional Implications of Ebola:Civil Liberties & Civil Rights In Times of Health Crises This public forum addresses the constitutional and public health implications of Ebola response in the United States.  According to state and federal laws, patient information is deemed private and is to be held in strict…

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Join us for an important public forum:

Constitutional Implications of Ebola:
Civil Liberties & Civil Rights In Times of Health Crises

This public forum addresses the constitutional and public health implications of Ebola response in the United States.  According to state and federal laws, patient information is deemed private and is to be held in strict confidentiality.  However, in the wake of Ebola, well-established protocols to guard patient privacy have been neglected or suspended without public debate.  At this forum, a panel of experts raise questions not only about how to contain the disease, but also to what extent Americans value their healthcare privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights.  To what extent are Americans’ Ebola fears influenced by the origins of the disease?  What liberties are Americans willing to sacrifice to calm their fears?  How to balance the concern for public welfare with legal and ethical privacy principles?

Speakers: Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.;  Michele Goodwin, Chancellor’s Chair, UC Irvine School of Law;  Professor Andrew Noymer, UC Irvine School of Public Health; and Dr. George Woods, American Psychiatric Association.

This Forum intervenes in the current national and international discourse on Ebola by probing law’s role in addressing public health crises.  This forum is free and open to the public.

WHEN: Wednesday, November 19, 2014, 3.30pm-5.30pm

WHERE: University of California Irvine, School of Law; ROOM EDU 1111, 401 E Peltason Dr, Irvine, CA 92612

 

About the author

  • Michele Goodwin

    Michele Bratcher Goodwin is a prolific thoughtleader, author, advocate and public commentator. Her research, scholarship and public commentary span constitutional law, women’s rights, domestic and international health policy, and biotechnology. She holds the Linda D. & Timothy J. O’Neill chair in constitutional law and global health policy at Georgetown Law and serves as the faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. Her academic publications appear in the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Cornell Law Review, and NYU Law Review among others. She is the author of the award-winning book Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and The Criminalization of Motherhood. She is also the executive producer of Ms. Studios. In addition to Ms. magazine, Dr. Goodwin’s commentary can be read in The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Nation, CNN, and the LA Times.

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