COVID-19 — Online Journal — Columbia Undergraduate Law Review

Hostile Architecture meets COVID-19: Why Anti-Homelessness Laws Must be Re-evaluated

In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Martin v. Boise (2018), which asserted that “an ordinance violates the Eighth Amendment insofar as it imposes criminal sanctions against homeless individuals for sleeping outdoors, on public property, when no alternative shelter is available to them.” [1] The Supreme Court’s refusal renders the Martin decision final, setting a national precedent for the civil rights of those experiencing homelessness. However, the increased presence of hostile, or anti-homelessness, architecture in urban areas still inhibits the homeless individuals’ access to public spaces, essentially placing criminal sanctions on one’s status of homelessness. The COVID-19 pandemic increases the vulnerability of the homeless population by increasing financial instability and limiting shelter capacity. The Martin v. Boise decision does not explicitly protect those experiencing homelessness from anti-homeless architecture; however, its basis on the Eighth Amendment’s protection from cruel and unusual punishment suggests that hostile architecture similarly violates the Eighth Amendment rights of those experiencing homelessness. Hostile architecture must be explicitly challenged in courts to protect the rights of those experiencing homelessness during this particularly exigent time.

Munirat SuleimanJanuary 18, 2022hostile architecture, homelessness, eighth amendment, COVID-19

COVID-19 and Intellectual Property Rights: The Promises and Limitations of a WTO Vaccine Intellectual Property Waiver

Over the past year and a half, COVID-19 has ravaged the planet. However, in the past few months, while the developed world, spurred by high-efficacy vaccines, has enjoyed relative normalcy, the developing world has suffered the worst of the pandemic. This disparity has sparked debate around whether the World Trade Organization (WTO) should grant an Intellectual Property (IP) waiver for technology related to COVID-19 vaccine production. This waiver would protect national governments that issue a compulsory license—the right to produce a patented product—to its companies for the vaccine from legal action by other members. The resulting increase in producers would theoretically fuel a decrease in vaccine prices, making vaccines available to poorer nations.

The Right to Safe Work: How COVID-19 Reveals Socioeconomic Gaps in Workers’ Protection Laws

As of mid-2021, the United States is struggling with a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic amid reports that the new Delta variant of the virus can infect fully vaccinated individuals. Consequently, many nonessential workers are hesitant to return to their workplaces in person. Their concerns about workplace safety during the pandemic’s resurgence call for legal scholars and policymakers to revisit the Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970 (OSH Act), which requires employers to ensure that workplaces are “free of recognized harms” and entitles employees to file a complaint to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) without retaliation from their employer.

Ilana GutAugust 22, 2021OSHA, COVID-19, Vaccines, Labor Law, Employees, Employers, Workplace Safety, Workplace Discrimination, ADA

Liability Immunity for Healthcare Providers Against Medical Malpractice Claims During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed jarring shortcomings in America’s healthcare system. Between the shortage of resources and exhausted health practitioners, all aspects of healthcare, even ones not directly related to COVID-19, have been impacted. Though the legal repercussions of one of the “largest medical disasters in [U.S.] history” have yet to fully unravel, over four thousand medical malpractice complaints are reported to have already been filed against physicians as of August 12.

Alison QiOctober 5, 2020COVID-19, liability, healthcare industry, state law

Economic Warfare During a Pandemic? A Legal Analysis of U.S. Sanctions on Iran

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge that requires multilateralism, cooperation among states, for the health of people of all nations. The United States' escalation of a near total economic blockade on Iran is incompatible with the goals of multilateralism. As the sanctions impede Iran's ability to fight COVID-19, the United States is breaching international law under the banner of national security.

Voter Rights Amidst Crisis: The Repercussions of COVID-19

According to an early projection by Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Irvine, “2020 [was set to] see a record level of election-related litigation.” That prediction was made long before the COVID-19 crisis left the nation scrambling to adapt to the realities of election season in the midst of a pandemic. In the recent weeks, a flurry of legal battles have erupted across the nation—in Nevada, Oklahoma, Arizona, Virginia, Florida, and various other states—over voting rights, absentee ballot requirements, and vote-by-mail protocol.

Alexander LiebeskindJune 27, 2020election law, voter rights, COVID-19, disenfranchisement

National Emergency Exemption: Patents in the Time of Coronavirus

What happens when a global emergency confronts intellectual property law? Medical companies obtain patents for innovative technology, which gives these companies legal ground for a lawsuit should another company produce the same good. But in a time of crisis, as we see now with the coronavirus pandemic, there is a need to produce essential equipment on a scale so massive and immediate that it necessitates removing a patent’s protections.

Rachel HalpernJune 20, 2020patent, intellectual property, patent law, national emergency, COVID-19, medical