Constitutional Contagion

Wendy E. Parmet is a George J. and Kathleen Waters Matthews University Distinguish Professor of law at Northeastern University. Her books include The Health of Newcomers: Immigration, Health Policy and The Case for Global Solidarity with Patricia Illingworth (2017).

• Introduction: Disaster Awaits; 1. A New Approach; 2. Salus Populi Suprema Lex; 3. The End of Salus Populi; 4. COVID Comes to Court; 5. The Mandate Wars; 6. An Asymmetry of Rights; 7. An Unequal Pandemic; 8. The Infodemic; 9. An Unhealthy Polity; Conclusion: 'A Republic, If You Can Keep It'.

'Constitutional Contagion is undoubtedly the single most important book on the outsized influence of the judiciary in the COVID-19 pandemic. Wendy Parmet has no equal in American public health law. Her book contains a nuanced explanation of how an increasingly aggressive conservative judiciary has curbed important public health powers during the pandemic. Prof Parmet has always fought for a careful balance between strong public health powers and sensitivity to privacy and liberty of citizens. We need to learn the lessons she is teaching, not just for COVID-19 but also for the next health crisis, which might occur sooner then we think. This book is a tour de force-essential reading for scholars and citizens who care about good public health governance.' Lawrence Gostin, Georgetown University