In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the balance between public health/safety and individual rights remains of utmost importance.

SALPAL panelists spoke on, among other issues, the federal public health laws governing quarantine and travel limits, the powers governors have to limit individual rights and to keep nonresidents out, and the constitutional principles on the right to travel, due process rights, and privileges and immunities.

Panelists included Esha Bhandari, Staff Attorney, ACLU Speech Privacy & Technology Project; Lawrence O. Gostin, University Professor, Faculty Director, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law; Jeffrey Locke, Homeland Security and Public Safety Program Director, National Governors’ Association (NGA); and Juliette Kayyem, Senior Belfer Lecturer in International Security, Harvard Kennedy School, former Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, CNN National Security Analyst. SALPAL Executive Director Meryl Chertoff served as moderator.

The event was held on Wednesday, April 8, 2020.