COVID-19 and The Law

Law and Policy to Address Basic Needs and Marginalized Populations

Illustration of scales of justice with COVID

Colloquium Series Co-Hosted by Martha Minow and Emily Broad Leib

Wednesdays 12-1pm from September 9 to November 18

“COVID-19 is the most important development in my professional lifetime. The 1918 pandemic, the 1929 economic decline, the 1968 social implosion and the Andrew Johnson presidency all at once is how it’s been described. Labor markets, financial markets and international relations will never be the same.”

Lawrence Summers is Charles W. Eliot University Professor.

Stay-at-Home Orders and Religious Freedom: How Courts Balance the Free Exercise Clause and State Emergency Powers

In the wake of the initial impact of COVID-19, state governments rushed to respond to breakouts. The resulting executive orders ...
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The Constitutionality of Technology-Assisted Contact Tracing

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an impossible set of choices for governments, forcing them to weigh the competing interests of ...
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Decarceration and the Coronavirus Pandemic

At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, many hoped and expected that the pandemic would serve as a natural catalyst ...
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Force Majeure as term in contract

Contracts in the Age of COVID-19: A Look At Force Majeure Clauses

As businesses continue to confront the harsh economic realities of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, many are looking for legal solutions ...
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COVID-19 and the FDA Emergency Use Authorization Power

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for protecting public health by regulating the production, distribution, and consumption of ...
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Police Should Not Be Enforcing Emergency Public Health Orders

On a weekend when police officers were handing masks to white residents in parks around New York City, NYPD Officer ...
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Travel Restrictions During Coronavirus

Why is traveling during COVID-19 a problem? Whether by airplane, bus, train, or car, traveling increases a person’s chances of ...
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Coronavirus and the Class Action

As coronavirus has upended life across the globe, the disruption has been followed by a wave of class action cases ...
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Election Litigation in the Era of COVID-19

The 2020 Presidential election promises to be unlike any in history. The country is still in the midst of a ...
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Venezuelan migrants in a flatbed truck crossing the Colombian mountains

A Critical Analysis of the International Response to COVID-19: Reflections from Colombia

In the face of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, questions of resource allocation, information access, aseptisation, and biopolitics that were once reserved ...
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Arizona road signs with mask and social distance reminders

COVID-19 in Rural America and the Indian Nations: Refocusing Development to Support At-Risk Communities

For many, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to conjure scenes of once-bustling urban centers grinding to a halt. However, for ...
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Tenants hanging makeshift signs out of windows reading "No Job, No Rent"

Pandemic Property: What Covid-19 Taught Us about Housing Law

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to light longstanding problems in housing law. This sudden emergency has exposed systemic deficiencies in ...
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Illustration of network: lines drawn between people

Digital Contact Tracing: Hope or Hype?  

In prior pandemics, manual contact tracing has been key to slow the spread. Contact tracing entails conducting interviews with infected ...
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Emergency Measures: Free Speech and Online Content Moderation During Coronavirus

A Conversation with HLS Lecturer evelyn douek In the chaos and confusion of the Coronavirus pandemic, few have stopped to ...
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Returns to Public Investment in Drug Discovery: Some Fundamental Questions

Fred Ledley, Ekaterina Cleary, and Matthew Jackson[1] “I am disposed to ask: "Does teaching consist in putting questions?" Indeed, the ...
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Shield symbol associated with Disinfo Defense League

Voter Suppression: Disinformation and Harmful Narratives around Voting

This memo was originally written by the Disinfo Defense League (DDL) and published by their writers on August 27, 2020 ...
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Prioritizing Life: the Grim Irony of Capital Punishment in the Time of Coronavirus

As it has transformed almost every aspect of social and economic life in America, the Coronavirus pandemic has forced local ...
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