COVID-19 and the Law

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enduring effect across the entire spectrum of law and policy, in areas ranging from health equity and racial justice, to constitutional law, the law of prisons, federal benefit programs, election law, and much more. This collection provides a critical reflection on what changes the pandemic has already introduced and what its legacy may be. Chapters evaluate how healthcare and government institutions have succeeded and failed during this global “stress test,” and explore how the United States and the world will move forward to ensure we are better prepared for future pandemics. This timely volume identifies the right questions to ask as we take stock of pandemic realities and provides guidance for the many stakeholders of COVID-19’s legal legacy. This book is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

I. Glenn Cohen is Deputy Dean and the James A. Attwood and Leslie Williams Professor of Law at Harvard Law School as well as Faculty Director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. He is one of the world’s leading experts on the intersection of bioethics and the law, as well as health law. He also teaches civil procedure.

Abbe R. Gluck is the Alfred M. Rankin Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School and Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. She is one of America’s leading experts in health law, Congress, litigation, and federalism and has served in numerous senior government positions, including most recently as Special Counsel to the President and lead lawyer for the White House COVID-19 Response Team.

Katherine L. Kraschel is Assistant Professor of Law and Health Sciences at Northeastern University. At the time of writing and editing this volume, she was the Executive Director of the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School, where she also co-taught its Reproductive Rights and Justice Clinic. Her work focuses on the intersections of health, gender, and reproduction.

Carmel Shachar is Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Health Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School. At the time of writing and editing this volume, she was the Executive Director of the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School. Her work focuses on access to care and digital health. She is the co-editor of several other volumes, including Transparency in Health and Health Care and Disability, Law, Health, and Bioethics.