Law in the Time of COVID-19

Law in the Time of COVID-19 is a 2-credit course for UW Law students.

Because of public interest and the importance of this topic, the instructors are sharing some of its content. We will post reading (and listening) assignments here.

Weeks 2-7 will include webcast panels, which will be available to the public.

Only students enrolled in the class will have access to the class discussions and the course Canvas page. (And only the students in the class are required to write papers.)

Nathan Furr, You’re Not Powerless in the Face of Uncertainty, Harv. Bus. Rev. (March 27, 2020)

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, A Virus Doesn't Discriminate, CNN podcast & transcript (March 27, 2020)

Isaac Chotiner, How Pandemics Change History, New Yorker (March 3, 2020). Interview with Frank M. Snowden, author of Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present (2019).

Public Panel

April 9, 2020, 12:20-1:20 pm Pacific Time

Introduction:

Dean Mario Barnes (UW Law)

Panelists:

Steve Calandrillo (UW Law)

Patricia Kuszler (UW Law)

Anna Mastroianni (UW Law)

Sallie Sanford (UW Law)

Allyn Taylor (Independent)

Readings

Lawrence Gostin & Sarah Wetter, Why There's No National Lockdown, Atlantic (March 31, 2020)

Lisa Rosenbaum, M.D., Harnessing Our Humanity — How Washington’s Health Care Workers Have Risen to the Pandemic Challenge, New Eng. J. Med. (April 1, 2020), DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp2007466

Allyn Taylor, Health, in The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Treaties (Simon Chesterman et al. eds., 2019). (Link is to UW-licensed online version. Print book is also held by University Libraries but it is inaccessible during COVID shut-down.)

John Witt, The Law of Salus Populi: Epidemics and the Law, Yale Review

Public Panel

Thursday, April 16, 2020, 12:30-1:20pm Pacific Time

Panelists

Erwin Chemerinsky (Berkeley Law)

Lisa Marshall Manheim (UW Law)

Readings (& Viewings)

Erwin Chemerinsky, Trump Doesn't Have the Authority to Order the Country Back to Work by Easter, Seattle Times (3/25/2020). Link is to Seattle Times. If you are stopped by the paywall, see Erwin Chemerinsky, Op-Ed: Trump doesn’t have the authority to order the country back to work by Easter. Here’s why, L.A. Times (March 25, 2020)

ACLU Videos:

• Why Coronavirus Should Change How We Police (March 20, 2020) (2:18)
• Why Coronavirus Should Change How We Vote (March 20, 2020) (1:57)
• Why Coronavirus Should Change How We Treat Prisoners (March 20, 2020) (2:49)
• Why Coronavirus Should Change How We Incarcerate (March 20, 2020) (2:10)
• Why Coronavirus Should Change Our Immigration Policies (March 20, 2020) (1:56)

Recommended

Jeff Greenfield, How Coronavirus Will Blow Up the 2020 Campaign, Politico (April 12, 2020)

Daniel B. Rodriguez, Professional Regulation and Federalism in the Coronavirus Crisis: Let’s Remove Access Barriers, Harv. L. Rev. Blog (April 15, 2020)

Public Panel

Thursday, April 23, 2020, 12:30-1:20 (Pacific)

Panelists:

Jennifer S. Fan (UW Law)

Orly Lobel (University of San Diego)

Lea Vaughn (UW Law)

Readings

Alexander W. Bartik et al., How Are Small Businesses Adjusting to COVID-19? Early Evidence from a Survey, NBER Working Paper No. 26989 (April 2020)

Jonathan I. Dingel & Brett Neiman, How Many Jobs Can Be Done at Home?, NBER Working Paper No. 26948 (April 2020) (UW resource)

Justin Ho, Small businesses uncertain about emergency loan applications, Marketplace (April 15, 2020)

Orly Lobel, The Debate Over How to Classify Gig Workers is Missing the Bigger Picture, Harv. Bus. Rev. (July 24, 2019) (link to SSRN); same article on Harv. Bus. Rev. site.

Brianna McGurran & Kelly Ann Smith, List of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Small Business Loan and Grant Programs, Forbes (last updated April 10, 2020)

OSHA, U.S. Dep't of Labor, OSHA Fact Sheet: Protecting Workers During a Pandemic (Aug. 2014)

Small Business Administration, Interim Final Rule for the Paycheck Protection Program, 85 Fed. Reg. 20,811 (April 15, 2020)

Wage & Hour Div., U.S. Dep't of Labor, Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Employee Paid Leave Rights (March 2020)

Wage & Hour Div., U.S. Dep't of Labor, Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Employer Paid Leave Requirements (March 2020)

Thursday, April 30, 2020, 12:30-1:20 (Pacific)

Vulnerable Populations. Webcast will focus on people behind bars.

Speakers:

Nick Allen (Deputy Director of Advocacy, Columbia Legal Services)

La Rond Baker (King County Department of Public Defense)

Angélica Cházaro (UW Law)

Jacqueline McMurtrie (UW Law)

David Montes (King County Department of Public Defense)

Moderator: Kimberly Ambrose (UW Law)

Readings (and Viewings)

Joan Naviyuk Kane, Passing through Danger: Finding Words for This Pandemic in Inupiaq, Yale Rev. ([2020])

Jim Brunner, Washington Supreme Court rejects lawsuit seeking additional release of prisoners due to coronavirus threat, Seattle Times (April 23 2020)

Brie Williams et al., Correctional Facilities in The Shadow of COVID-19: Unique Challenges and Proposed Solutions, Health Affairs Blog (March 26, 2020)

Recommended:

Amnesty International, USA: ‘We Are Adrift, About to Sink'--The Looming COVID-19 Disaster in United States Immigration Detention Facilities (April 2020)

Sheri-Lynn S. Kurisu & Brittney Anda, Incarceration and COVID-19. Google Doc with annotated bibliography and list of resources.

Fraihat v. U.S. ICE, No. 19-1546 (C.D. Cal. April 20, 2020) (ordering ICE to “identify and track” every person in ICE detention at an elevated risk of complications from COVID-19 and to consider releasing those detainees, regardless of their legal status)

Anna Castro, TLC, Ballard Spahr, & Rapid Defense Network Announce Class Action Lawsuit to Free All Transgender People in ICE Custody, Transgender Law Center (April 23, 2020)

Public Panel

Thursday, May 7, 2020, 12:30-1:20 PM Pacific

Panelists

Dan Clark (Chief Criminal Deputy, King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office)

Jeff Feldman (UW Law)

Liz Porter (UW Law)

Brenda Williams (UW Law)

Materials

George Bermann, Dispute Resolution in Pandemic Circumstances, in Law in the Time of COVID-19, at 167 (Katharina Pistor ed., 2020)

Criminal Statutes of Limitations and Speedy Trial Act Considerations During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Covington Alert (April 3, 2020)

Michael B. Gerrard, Emergency Exemptions from Environmental Laws, in Law in the Time of COVID-19, at 81 (Katharina Pistor ed., 2020)

This week's topic, “The Role of Technology and Information,” includes information policy, intellectual property, EdTech, surveillance, privacy, and a host of other issues. The public panel will be From Ed Tech to Contact Tracing Apps: Technology Safeguards During the Pandemic

Public Panel

Thursday, May 14, 2020, 12:30-1:20

Ryan Calo (UW Law)

Elana Zeide, PULSE Fellow in Artificial Intelligence, Law & Policy, UCLA

Michelle Richardson, Center for Democracy and Technology

Materials

Enlisting Big Data in the Fight Against Coronavirus, Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Commerce, Science, & Transportation (April 9, 2020)

• Written testimony by Prof. Ryan Calo
• Questions from the committee for Ryan Calo
• Ryan Calo's Answers
• Written testimony by Michelle Richardson
• Questions from the committee for Michelle Richardson
• Michelle Richardson's Answers

Jen Patja Howell, The Lawfare Podcast: Is Contact Tracing a Privacy Threat?, Lawfare (April 18, 2020)

Susan Landau et al., The Importance of Equity in Contact Tracing, Lawfare (May 1, 2020)

Clarisa Long, Privacy and Pandemics, in Law in the Time of COVID-19, at 89 (Katharina Pistor ed., 2020)

Jeffrey D. Neuburger, Open COVID Pledge Rolled Out to Make Patents and Other IP Available for COVID-19 Response, National Law Review (April 21, 2020)

• OpenCovidPledge.org

Ashkan Soltani, Ryan Calo & Carl Bergstrom, Contact-tracing apps are not a solution to the COVID-19 crisis, Brookings Tech Stream (April 27, 2020)