CLE-How law and public health practice failed to prevent and mitigate the Flint Water Crisis
Health Law Program Virtual Talk
“How law and public health practice failed to prevent and mitigate
the Flint Water Crisis”
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Via Zoom
Approved for 1 MCLE Nevada Credit
Register Here
Peter Jacobson
Professor Emeritus of Health Law and Policy
Director, Center for Law, Ethics, and Health
University of Michigan School of Public Health
Abstract
Governmental officials failed to prevent the water crisis in Flint, Michigan – exposing thousands of children and adults to dangerous levels of lead in the drinking water, with disastrous consequences for their health, development, and well-being. This talk will discuss the complex legal arrangements regulating the maintenance and monitoring of safe drinking water. It will describe how intersecting legal frameworks and implementation failures affected decisions addressing a municipality’s immediate financial crisis at the expense of the community’s long-term health. In particular, the unbridled legal authority provided to appointed emergency managers impeded democratic checks on governmental action. To prevent similar disasters, public officials must understand and appropriately use their legal authority (legal preparedness).
Bio: Peter D. Jacobson, JD, MPH, is Professor Emeritus of Health Law and Policy, and Director, Center for Law, Ethics, and Health, at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where he taught courses on health law, public health law, and public health policy. Currently, he is the principal investigator, Mid-States Region of the Network for Public Health Law.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jacobson assisted health departments in addressing the pandemic’s legal and policy challenges. Previous public health research includes: the implementation of health in all policies programs; assessing the legal aspects of the Flint Water Crisis; health departments’ strategic adaptations; public health entrepreneurship; and the U.S. Surgeon General’s vital mission. His books include Law and the Health System (co-authored), youth tobacco control (co-authored), and the role of the courts in shaping health policy.
From 2015-2018, Jacobson was Chair, Board of Health for the Washtenaw County (Michigan) Health Department. From 2010-2016, Jacobson was Associate Editor for Health Law and Public Health, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law. From 2010-2012, he served as President of the Public Health Law Association. In 2016, Jacobson received a lifetime achievement award from the American Public Health Association’s Health Law Section, and in 2017, he received the Distinguished Health Law Professor Award from the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics.
Agenda
| 7:00-7:05 PM | Introduction |
| 7:05-7:45 PM | Program |
| 7:45-8:00 PM | Questions and Answers |
