The Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and Annals of Health Law & Life Sciences invite original submissions for presentations at our Thirteenth Annual Health Law Symposium: Addressing the Health Care Needs of Justice-Involved Populations. The Symposium will take place at Loyola University Chicago School of Law on Friday, November 15, 2019 beginning at 9:00am. The deadline for papers has been extended to JULY 1, 2019.
The Symposium will explore legal barriers that justice-involved populations face in accessing health care, and address how those barriers can be alleviated. “Justice-involved populations” generally refers to individuals who are incarcerated in prisons, jails, immigrant detention centers, juvenile detention centers, on probation, or individuals who are otherwise involved with the U.S. justice system.
The Symposium is intended to touch upon a wide variety of areas responsive to this overall theme. Accordingly, we invite submissions addressing any and all aspects of health care issues relating to justice-involved populations. Possible approaches to this Call for Proposals include, but are not limited to:
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Legal support for, and medical treatment of, justice-involved populations suffering from mental illness. Topics may include current measures [or lack thereof] to prevent mentally ill individuals from encounters with the criminal justice system; sentencing reform for individuals with mental illness; the effects of diversion programs and how they can be improved upon; and access to mental health treatment during and after incarceration or other involvement with the U.S. justice system.
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Legal support for, and medical treatment of, justice-involved populations suffering from substance abuse. Topics may include rehabilitation opportunities available to justice-involved populations during the duration of their involvement with the U.S. justice system; current or proposed measures to prevent relapse for individuals who are released from jail or prison; and the positive or negative effects of experimental drug courts.
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The impact of the U.S. justice system on maternal and reproductive health care. Topics may include the ways in which the law inhibits or provides access to maternal care for justice-involved individuals, such as prenatal care, treatment for postpartum symptoms, and the ability for incarcerated mothers to nurture their newborn/infant children.
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Constitutional issues relating to the medical treatment [or lack thereof] of justice-involved populations. Topics may include denial of abortions to women and girls in refugee centers and immigrant detention centers in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment (Azar v. Garza); Eighth Amendment issues relating to physician involvement in capital punishment and execution of medically-complex prisoners (Bucklew v. Precythe); Eighth Amendment issues regarding access to medical treatment and medical neglect of incarcerated individuals; and informed consent issues relating to human subject research and involuntary medical treatment of justice-involved populations.
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Empirical assessments of the effects of laws, regulations, and policies impacting justice-involved populations, such as efforts to enroll eligible adults in Medicaid prior to leaving jail or prison; the effect of the Medicaid expansion on providing coverage for justice-involved populations; legal opportunities for addressing social determinants of health upon re-entry into society; the barriers a criminal record places on obtaining health insurance coverage; the effect of Medicaid coverage on applications for citizenship under the “public charge” doctrine; and the effect of health insurance coverage and access to health care on recidivism rates.
Submission Information: We invite your interest in participating in the Symposium. To be considered, please send an abstract of no more than 1000 words to health-law@luc.edu by June 15, July 1, 2019. It is our hope that some presenters will also submit articles for publication in the Annals of Health Law & Life Sciences (articles will be due by January 7, 2020); if you are interested in this opportunity, please indicate that in your submission. Applicants for participation in the Symposium will be notified of decisions no later than July 13, 2019.
Read the full call here.
