The Law of Emergencies: Public Health and Disaster Management

The Law of Emergencies discusses the legal framework for disaster response and emergency management. The book engages with and debates some of the most important Constitutional issues of our time, such as the tension between civil liberties and national security. It also examines how the law of emergencies plays out in the context of real life emergencies where individuals often have to make split-second decisions. It analyzes legal authority at the federal, state and local levels, placing the issues in historical context but concentrating on contemporary questions.

This book includes primary texts, reader-friendly expository explanations, and sample discussion questions. Prior knowledge of the law is not necessary in order to use and understand this book. The contents are organized into 13 substantive chapters plus two additional chapters with problem sets, making the book especially easy to use for a separate course focused on law. The book leads students through the process of understanding both what the law requires and how to analyze issues for which there is no clear legal answer. It features materials on such critical issues as how to judge the extent of Constitutional authority for government to intervene in the lives and property of American citizens. At the same time, it also captures bread-and-butter issues such as responder liability and disaster relief methods. No other book brings these components together in a logically organized, step by step fashion. The book also features case studies of high-risk scenarios including pandemic flu, together with charts and text boxes for clarification.

This book will be of interest to graduate and undergraduate students studying the major legal principles underlying emergency management and homeland security policy and operations; professionals in EM and HS; and private-sector risk managers.

• Features case studies of high-risk scenarios including pandemic flu
• Offers extensive analysis of legal issues from a distinguished scholar, together with charts and text boxes for clarification
• Teaches readers how to think about issues crucial to the life and liberty of US citizens, including the limits of constitutional authority

Nan Hunter has been a consultant since 2005 with the Redefining Readiness Project of the New York Academy of Medicine. This position has given her an inside look at the dynamics of the emergency response profession as it engages with both legal issues and demands by communities for greater sensitivity to the needs of disadvantaged persons. She has taught law school courses in Public Health and Bioterrorism Law and Public Health and Emergency Preparedness.