Dr. Polly J. Price, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, Professor of Global Health, and Associated Faculty in the History Department, was recently chosen to serve on the Study Committee on Public Health Emergency Authorities of the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission describes the scope of the committee’s work as studying “the need for and feasibility of one or more uniform state laws addressing the authority of state governments to respond to epidemics, pandemics, and other public health emergencies.” Price’s areas of expertise include immigration and citizenship, U.S. legal history, legislation and regulation, public health law. She is currently authoring Plagues in the Nation (forthcoming from Beacon Press), a book about how epidemics have shaped U.S. law and continue to pose challenges for disease control in democratic societies.

A special episode of the podcast hosted by Dr. Hank Klibanoff, a veteran journalist and historian in Emory’s Creative Writing Program, was recently featured by the Emory News Center. Titled Buried Truths, Klibanoff’s award-winning podcast mirrors his undergraduate initiative, the Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project, in seeking to explain how racially-motivated killings went unpunished in the Civil Rights era. In the special episode, “Sallie Mama 1923-2020,” Klibanoff remembers Sallie Nixon, whose husband Isaiah was murdered in rural Georgia in 1948 for voting. Sallie Nixon died of COVID-19 in July 2020. The Nixon family was the focus of season one of “Buried Truths,” which won a Robert F. Kennedy Award in 2019 and the prestigious Peabody Award in 2018. Listen to the episode, which is produced by the Atlanta NPR affiliate WABE: “Sallie Mama 1923-2020.”

Jeffrey Lesser, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of History and Director of the Halle Institute for Global Research, was recently interviewed on an episode of the podcast for the Maria Sibylla Merian International Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences Conviviality-Inequality in Latin America. Lesser, whose current research centers on the history of public health in the city of São Paulo, discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing social inequalities for poor Brazilians. Listen to the episode (in Portuguese) here: “Ouvindo a Pandemia.”

Deborah E. Lipstadt, Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies and Associated Faculty in the History Department, was quoted in a recent The Media Line article about the growth of anti-semitism. The article examines how the growth of anti-semitism intersects with the COVID-19 pandemic. Read an excerpt that quotes Lipstadt below, along with the full piece: “Vaccinating Against the Virus of Anti-Semitism.”

“Lipstadt said that anti-Semitism should not be used as a political weapon to shield against legitimate criticism of certain Israeli policies.

“‘Be careful. Be strategic. Be tactical. This is a major moral problem, and we must fight it with all our strength. But we also must fight it smart. We have to fight it tactically with a scalpel, not with a bludgeon,’ Lipstadt said.”

Dr. Polly J. Price, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law and Professor of Global Health, was recently quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, “Kemp’s ban of mask mandates puts Georgia on collision course with its cities.” Price evaluates the probability of challenges to Kemp’s lawsuit and his political and public health strategy more broadly. Read the excerpt where Price is quoted below, along with another recent article (from TIME) where Price offers comment: “Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Sued to Block Atlanta’s Face Mask Ordinance. Here’s What to Know.”

“It’s not clear whether Kemp added the language to bolster a potential legal case, though some analysts questioned the constitutionality of the order. Polly Price, a professor of global health and law at Emory University, said she thinks the governor’s order wouldn’t stand up in a court battle.

“‘But rather than force the question, why not allow local decision-making, as Texas has done, rather than waste time and resources engaging in litigation?’ she said.”

Dr. Polly J. Price, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law and Professor of Global Health, recently commented on Georgia governor Brian Kemp’s lawsuit challenging a mask-wearing ordinance issued by Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Price, who is associated faculty in the History Department, offers additional context about the extent of Kemp’s suit, which extends beyond the mask ordinance alone. Read an excerpt from the TIME piece below, along with the full article: “Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Sued to Block Atlanta’s Face Mask Ordinance. Here’s What to Know.”

“The governor’s suit also goes beyond just Bottoms’ face mask ordinance. Polly Price, a professor of law and global health at Emory University, tells TIME that ‘the suit seeks an injunction from the court to prevent the mayor from issuing any more orders related to social distancing measures.’ In addition, it asks that the mayor and city council be required to state that whatever orders they have or may issue with respect to the pandemic are unenforceable, Price explains. Price says she’s not sure Kemp will win because the court might not buy his argument for an injunction, which a court only issues if there’s a threat of  ‘irreparable harm.'”

Dr. Carol Anderson, Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies and Associated Faculty in the History Department, was recently quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article “A moment became a movement as Georgians answered the calls for justice.” Anderson sheds light on how the COVID-19 pandemic has helped garner a broader base of popular support for the movement for racial justice. Read the excerpt quoting Anderson below along with the full piece here.

“More protests are happening in cities and towns where few Black people live, observers note. This is no coincidence, said Emory University historian Carol Anderson, an expert on the roles of race, justice and equality in domestic and international policy. More people are more willing to consider the toll policing has taken on Black lives amid a pandemic, widespread unemployment and deep political divisions, she said.

“White Americans are also suffering, Anderson said. Mom-and-pop businesses are losing out on federal emergency loans to large corporations. Essential workers are returning to their workplaces without adequate protections against COVID-19. It can take more than a month to get unemployment benefits. And while they’re stuck in their homes during the pandemic, they’re watching videos of the killings of Arbery and Floyd.

“‘The kind of disproportionate violence people are facing in all areas of their lives — that is what’s driving this moment. That’s what causing people to re-think America,’ Anderson said. ‘And we could be amazing.’

Dr. Polly J. Price, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law and Professor of Global Health, recently weighed in on the constitutionality of mandatory quarantines for travelers from out of state for NBC News. Price is Associated Faculty in the Emory History Department. Read an excerpt featuring her contribution below, along with the full article: “Demanding a 14-day coronavirus quarantine is one thing, enforcing it is another, experts say.”

“Polly Price, a professor of law and public health at Emory University in Atlanta, said the problem with such pronouncements is that they bump up against U.S. citizens’ constitutional right to travel from one state to another.

“‘No state can prevent you from coming in,’ Price said. ‘What these states are doing is imposing conditions on that travel. When it goes from ‘we’re going to request that you self-quarantine for a period of time’ to ‘we’re going to arrest you or fine you if you don’t,’ that’s when constitutional issues become tricky.'”