from disparity - school of law

2021 DETROIT MERCY LAW REVIEW SYMPOSIUM:

PROGRAMMARCH 5, 2021

PANDEMIC:from

DISPARITY to

EQUITY

2021 DETROIT MERCY LAW REVIEW SYMPOSIUM: PANDEMIC: FROM DISPARITY TO EQUITY

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from DISPARITY to EQUITYPANDEMIC:

OPENING REMARKS & KEYNOTE SESSIONReginald Turner, American Bar Association, President-Elect

PANEL I: COVID AND THE LAW

PANEL II: EMPLOYMENT DURING A PANDEMIC

PANEL III: COVID’S IMPACT ON HUMAN RIGHTS & CLOSING REMARKS

SCHEDULE12:00 P.M. – 1:30 P.M.

1:30 P.M. – 3:00 P.M.

3:00 P.M. – 4:30 P.M.

4:30 P.M. – 6:15 P.M.

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CONTENT

KEYNOTE SESSIONReginald Turner, American Bar Association, President-Elect

PANEL I. COVID AND THE LAWModerator: Professor Michelle Richards

The Exacerbating Role of Technical and Connectivity Challenges on Detroiters’ Health in a Pandemic – Professor Nicholas J. SchroeckDr. Carrie Leach

Federalism: Fault or Feature – An Analysis of Whether the United States Should Implement a Federal Pandemic Statute – Ms. Stephanie Blum

Disaster Preparedness and Legislative Advocacy – Professor Christine E. Cerniglia


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CONTENT

PANEL II. EMPLOYMENT DURING A PANDEMICModerator: Professor Stephen Wilks

Gender (In)Equality in COVID-19 Era: New Norms, New Roles – Professor Bashar Malkawi

Direct Care Workers: COVID’s Forgotten Responders – Professor John D. BlumProfessor Shawn MathisMs. Patsy Romero

The Disposable Essential Workers of COVID-19: How Low-Wage, Workers of Color Sustain the US Economy – Professor Evelyn Rangel-Medina


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CONTENT

PANEL III. COVID’S IMPACT ON HUMAN RIGHTS & CLOSING REMARKSModerator: Richard Broughton

Addressing COVID-19’s Disproportionate Impact on Black and Brown Communities in the Western Cook County Suburbs through Interprofessional Collaboration and consideration of a Federal Public Health Rights Act – Ms. Maya WatsonDr. Amy H. LukeDr. Thao Griffith

Cracks to Chasms: How Black and Brown Children in Special Education are Being Failed During the COVID-19 Pandemic – Professor Tiffany SizemoreDr. Tammy HughesDr. Jeffrey Shook

Adding a Layer of Injustice: Amplified Racial Disparities in Reproductive Healthcare in the Wake of COVID-19 – Professor Brittany L. Raposa


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BIOGRAPHIES

John D. Blum is a Professor of Law Emeritus at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Blum is the founding director of Loyola’s Beazley Institute for Health Law & Policy and was the inaugural holder of the Bernard J. Beazley Chair in Health Law & Policy. For many years he has taught courses in government health policy, public health law and long- term care law, and is widely published in these areas. Blum is a past recipient of the Jay Healey Teaching Award in Health Law, an annual award given by the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics. Professor Blum is a graduate of Canisius College, Notre Dame Law School and the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.

Stephanie Blum has a J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School, an M.A. in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a B.A. in political science from Yale University. She has written a book and various articles on homeland security and civil rights issues. She is currently Senior Counsel to the Transportation Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as well as a mediator to DHS’s Interagency Dispute Resolution Group. Previously, she worked as a Special ICE OPLA Trial Attorney, provided legal advice to DHS’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, taught as an adjunct professor, and served as a law clerk to three federal judges. The views in this Symposium are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of the Agency or the U.S. Government.


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BIOGRAPHIES

J. Richard Broughton is an expert in American politics and institutions and the intersection of politics, constitutionalism, and criminal justice. Professor Broughton served in the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. His work involved federal prosecutions of violent crime related to gang activity, drug trafficking, organized crime, and racketeering. He received both the Meritorious Service Award and the Special Achievement Award from the Justice Department. He also has served as Assistant Attorney General of Texas for Capital and Post-Conviction Litigation, as a law clerk to the chief judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and as a law clerk for the House Judiciary Committee during the 106th Congress.

Professor Broughton joined the Detroit Mercy Law faculty in 2009. He was appointed Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in 2016. He has been selected as Professor of the Year five times at Detroit Mercy Law.

Prior to Detroit Mercy Law, Professor Broughton served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Wayne State University, where he was named both the First-Year Professor of the Year and Upperclass Professor of the Year for 2008-09. He also has taught on the law school faculties at Stetson University and Texas Wesleyan University, where he also won two teaching awards, and as a Lecturer in Government at Johns Hopkins University.


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BIOGRAPHIES

Christine E. Cerniglia is an Associate Professor of Law at Stetson College of Law and serves as the Director of Clinical and Experiential Education. She works with other clinicians across the country on disaster outreach and innovation in law school curricula to address the many legal needs post disaster. At Stetson, she helped create a Disaster Research Project where pro bono attorneys were able to submit research questions on disaster benefits and students were able to learn through the research assignment. She helped create a course entitled “Disaster Law” now offered every spring semester where students learn through simulation how to interview someone post disaster and draft a FEMA appeal. She also helped create a Disaster Law externship where they are able to work with Equal Justice Disaster fellows on real life cases or on larger policy issues.

Dr. Thao Griffith is an assistant professor at Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing. Her goal is to facilitate optimal individualized care for preterm infants and empower their parents; to prepare and empower the next generation of nurses, facilitating their journeys to becoming leaders and a person for and with others. In addition, she is highly committed to serve the community and involve in interdisciplinary effort to address systemic injustice and health disparities.


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BIOGRAPHIES

Tammy L. Hughes, Ph.D. is a Past-President of both the Division of School Psychology (16) of the American Psychological Association (APA) and Trainers of School Psychologists (TSP). A fellow of the American Psychological Association, she served as the Chair of the APA’s Board of Education Affairs (BEA), Chair of the Child, Adolescent and Family caucus as a Representative to the APA Council (CoR), 2019 APA Task Force to Develop a Blueprint for APA Accreditation of Master’s Programs in Health Service Psychology, 2017 APA Summit on High School Psychology Education, and 2009 APA Presidential Task Force on the Future of Psychology Practice. At present, she is active in APA’s Coalition for Psychology in the Schools and Interdivisional Task Force on Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Dr. Hughes is an Associate-Editor for Journal of Early Childhood and Infant Psychology and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of School Violence, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, and International Journal of School & Educational Psychology. Dedicated to effective communication with the public, Dr. Hughes is a writer of “notes to parents” published inside APA’s Magination Press therapeutic books, on websites providing tips for teachers as well as interviews with the press. Her writing is in the area of child violence, differentiating emotional disturbance and social maladjustment, and understanding the relationship between emotional dysregulation and conduct problems in children.

Dr. Hughes is a licensed psychologist, certified school psychologist and Board Certified in School Psychology. Her clinical experience includes assessment, counseling and consultation services in alternative education and juvenile justice settings focusing on parent-school-interagency treatment planning and integrity monitoring. She is currently funded to help school and justice service providers to address the needs of youth, especially those with autism who have juvenile justice contact.


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BIOGRAPHIES

Carrie Leach, PhD, MPA is a Research Associate at the Institute of Gerontology and Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors at Wayne State University.Health and communication disparities motivate her scholarly and community engagement activities that build on her expertise in environmental health literacy, health communication, and participatory communication and research processes that tap into community wisdom by partnering with older adults.

Amy Luke, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences, Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, Loyola University Chicago. Her area of research is the epidemiology of chronic diseases among populations of the African diaspora. For over 26 years, she has been engaged in both observational studies on the causes of excess rates of hypertension, diabetes and obesity in communities of color in the Caribbean, Africa and the US, and in service to the communities local to the university. She has been involved in the CoVID Equity Response Collaborative: Loyola (CERCL) since its inception in April 2020.


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BIOGRAPHIES

Bashar Malkawi is a Global Professor of Practice in Law at University of Arizona. He is well-versed in teaching and providing legal advice with 20+ years’ experience in private and public sectors. Bashar’s work covers a variety of subjects and which have appeared in such top-tier journals as Harvard Negotiation Law Review and American Journal of Comparative Law. In addition to his scholarship, Prof. Malkawi frequently consults for different international organizations and governments.

Shawn Mathis is in private practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico, specializing in health law and policy. After receiving her Health Law L.L.M. from Loyola Law School Chicago in 2011, she spent five years as a Staff Attorney for the New Mexico Legislative Council Service. During that time, she staffed the interim Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, its Disabilities Concerns and its Behavioral Health subcommittees. She also conducted research and drafted legislation for members of the New Mexico Legislature, acquiring experience in a broad range of health and social services policy areas. Before her legislative work, Shawn was in private practice for 30 years representing clients in heavily regulated industries. This included nearly a decade as in-house counsel managing litigation for two Fortune 500 companies. Since 2012, she has been a professor in Loyola’s online health law program and has authored several works in the area of health law.


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BIOGRAPHIES

Evelyn Rangel-Medina is the inaugural Visiting Assistant Professor of the Center for Racial and Economic Justice at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. Over the past decade and a half, she developed an expertise in building and leading national racial, gender and economic justice organizations, having held positions at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC United), the Greenlining Institute, and United for Respect. Professor Rangel-Medina graduated from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2016. Her research focuses on the intersections of critical race theory, immigration status, environmental justice, and human rights.

Brittany L. Raposa is a Professor at Roger Williams University School of Law School of Law and teaches Reproductive Justice there. Prior to joining Roger Williams, she worked for several years as a litigation associate practicing family law in Massachusetts. Her scholarship focuses on women’s reproductive freedom and issues of reproductive justice.


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BIOGRAPHIES

Michelle Richards Professor Richards received her undergraduate degree in Social Science, Multidisciplinary Studies, with special emphasis on Political Science, Economics and Psychology, from Michigan State University. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Following graduation from law school, Professor Richards served as an Assistant Corporation Counsel to the City of Detroit under Mayor Dennis Archer. She then moved into private practice with the law firm of Harvey Kruse, P.C. in Troy. At Harvey Kruse, Professor Richards represented various insurance companies and corporations in a wide-range of litigation and transactional matters, and developed an appellate practice in both state and federal courts. Immediately prior to coming to Detroit Mercy Law, Professor Richards was the Director of Regulatory Affairs for Comcast’s Midwest Division, a position which involved the handling of regulatory and corporate transactional matters, as well litigation management for franchise areas in 10 different states.

At Detroit Mercy Law, Professor Richards is principally responsible for teaching Applied Legal Theory and Analysis, Civil Procedure, & Torts. She has also developed a course in the law school’s law firm program (“LFP”) called Pre-Trial Litigation Skills, in which students explore basic litigation skills in a problem-based context. She has also worked with her colleagues to develop an innovative Advanced Appellate Advocacy course.

She currently serves as the chair of the Orientation Committee, and was the chair of the Moot Court Faculty Committee for more than 10 years. She is a member of the ABA, State Bar of Michigan, and is a former Executive Board member of the Young Lawyers Section for the SBM.


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BIOGRAPHIES

Patsy Romero Patsy Romero is the chief executive officer of Santa Maria El Mirador (SMEM) in Santa Fe New Mexico, a non-profit Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID) adults. The Agency provides a number of services (intermediate care, day services, supported employment and education, greenhouse program) designed to promote successful community living for adults. A large part of El Mirador’s workforce is composed of Direct Care Professionals who offer training and other support services to participants ranging from personal hygiene, housekeeping, cooking as well as following behavioral, medical care and individualized service plans. In addition to her position at El Mirador, Ms. Romero has served for several years as a Director and the Treasurer of the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange. MS. Romero will focus her remarks on the challenges posed by Covid-19 to operating a program for individuals with intellectual disabilities and the impacts of the pandemic on the direct care workforce in this setting.


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BIOGRAPHIES

Nick Schroeck is an environmental law expert whose work focuses on air pollution, water pollution, environmental justice, transportation, and citizen suit enforcement. Prior to joining our faculty, he directed the Transnational Environmental Law Clinic and taught Environmental Law at Wayne State University Law School. Schroeck also previously served as Executive Director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, a Detroit-based nonprofit that provides legal services to address environmental, resource, and energy issues affecting communities in Detroit and the Great Lakes region. Schroeck has litigated cases for several prominent environmental advocacy organizations, including Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Michigan Environmental Council, National Wildlife Federation, and Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice. Given the depth of his expertise, Schroeck is regularly sought after by National Public Radio, WDET-FM, and other national and local media to provide analysis on current issues.


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BIOGRAPHIES

Jeffrey Shook received a PhD in social work and sociology and an MSW, both from the University of Michigan; a JD from American University; and a BA in economics from Grinnell College. His primary appointment is in the School of Social Work and he holds affiliated appointments in the School of Law and Department of Sociology.

His research examines the intersection of law, policy, and practice in the lives of children and youth. Specifically, his research focuses on the transfer of juveniles to the adult criminal justice system, the administration of juvenile justice, the movement of youth across child and youth serving systems, and the experiences of youth “aging out” of the child welfare system. Jeff also is involved in efforts to end the sentencing of juveniles to life sentences without the opportunity for parole both in Pennsylvania and nationally.

Tiffany Sizemore is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Legal Studies at Duquesne University School of Law. She founded and directs the Youth Advocacy Clinic at the law school. The clinic represents youth in delinquency and education matters. Professor Sizemore’s work focuses on dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline. Prior to joining the Duquesne Law faculty, she was a career public defender representing both children and adults in the juvenile and criminal legal systems.


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BIOGRAPHIES


Reginald Turner is a highly accomplished litigator, government affairs advocate and strategic adviser. Turner will assume the role as ABA president in August 2021 after serving a one-year term as president-elect. He joined Clark Hill in 2000 and is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Government Policy Group, and Labor and Employment Practice Group. He clerked for Hon. Dennis Archer, Sr. at the Michigan Supreme Court in the late 1980s. Turner has also held numerous leadership roles in the ABA. He served as the state delegate for Michigan in the ABA House of Delegates, and as chair of the ABA House of Delegates Rules & Calendar Committee, the Committee on Issues of Concern to the Profession, and the Committee on Credentials and Admissions. He is a past chair of the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession and the Commission on the Lawyer’s Role in Assuring Every Child a Quality Education. He is also a past chair of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. He is a past president of both the National Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan. He serves on the board of directors of Comerica Inc. and Masco Corporation, and is active in a host of public service and civic and charitable organizations, including United Way for Southeastern Michigan, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Public Safety Foundation and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

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BIOGRAPHIES

Maya Watson is an attorney and the Director of the Maywood Medical-Legal Partnership in Maywood, IL. She is also a Clinical Teaching Fellow in the Health Justice Project at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she co-teaches a course entitled, “Health Justice Lab: Race and Health Equity.” Prior to joining Loyola University Chicago, she was a law firm partner for several years and practiced transactional law in Detroit, Michigan for 11 years. She left the law firm to obtain a Masters of Law degree in International Human Rights from Northwestern University School of Law and, since that time, her practice has evolved into public interest law, health law and poverty law. Her primary research interests relate to reparative justice, health equity and human rights.


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BIOGRAPHIES

Professor Stephen Wilks joined Detroit Mercy Law following two years as a Visiting Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University and tenure-track appointments at two other law schools. His cross-disciplinary research interests explore themes of governance and regulation within transactional spaces. He has examined government use of private payment networks to facilitate various forms of financial surveillance; the role of transnational networks in harmonizing critical segments of the world’s financial system; and the politicization of migrant remittance flows between developed and developing economies. Future projects will focus on digital currency adoption and the legal anthropology of money.

Wilks practiced law and gained his initial teaching experience in Canada. He holds a B.A. in history and a J.D. from Queen’s University; an M.S.W. from the University of Toronto; and an LL.M. and Ph.D. from York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School. His doctoral dissertation, titled, Swimming in the Crosscurrents: Rethinking the Dynamics of Remittance Regulation Within the Regulatory Dialectic of Networked Global Governance, examined the politicization of regulating migrant remittances. During his studies at Osgoode Hall, he was awarded the Harry Arthurs Fellowship (2008), the Willard Estey Teaching Fellowship (2009-2010) and the Nathanson Fellowship (2010). His student-edited and peer-reviewed writings have appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada Law Review, the Harvard Journal of Racial and Ethnic Justice, the Cornell International Law Journal, and other publications.


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