Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Lainie Rutkow, JD, PhD •
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
The Attorneys General of the 50 states have considerable legal authority to protect the public’s health, yet their role in the development of health policy is often under-appreciated or misunderstood. This article analyses state Attorneys’ General current powers and provides a logic model that illustrates how the use of these powers can lead to the protection and promotion of the public’s health. The article then provides four brief case studies, to demonstrate how state Attorneys General have used their varied powers to influence policy-making and benefit the public’s health.
Center for Public Health Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania
Legal intervention to influence individual health behavior has increased dramatically since the 1960s. This paper describes the rise of law as a tool of public health, and the scientific research that has assessed and often guided it, with a focus on five major domains: traffic safety, gun violence, tobacco use, reproductive health and obesity. These topical stories illustrate both law’s effectiveness and limitations as a public health tool. They also establish its popularity by the most apt of metrics – the willingness of legislators to enact it.
Local integrated government could improve public health by streamlining activities and creating a more efficient and effective local government, according to Scott Hays, PhD, in his Critical Opportunities presentation.
