The Potential for State Attorneys General to Promote the Public’s Health: Theory, Evidence, and Practice

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 analyzes 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. In addition, this article offers a roadmap for research that could be conducted to better understand the association between state Attorneys’ General actions and the protection of the public’s health. The article concludes with a series of recommendations intended to enhance state Attorneys’ General ability to protect the public’s health, along with suggestions for future research in this area

How Cities Can Combat Illegal Guns and Gun Violence

Though gun violence peaked in American cities in the early 1990s, firearms are still used in more than 30 homicides per day in the U.S.One major challenge is how to stanch the flow of guns to criminals. Researchers from the School's Center for Gun Policy and Research have recently zeroed in on illegal sales by licensed dealers (the dominant means of diverting guns into illegal markets). These sales include unrecorded, "off the books" transactions and "straw purchases" in which a person unable to pass a federal background check relies on another individual for the purchase.Daniel Webster, MPH, ScD '91, Center co-director, wants to increase the accountability of gun dealers. This report outlines how to reduce illegal gun trafficking, reduce illegal gun carrying, and use technology to prevent gun violence

The Potential for State Attorneys General to Promote the Public’s Health: Theory, Evidence, and Practice

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 analyzes 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. In addition, this article offers a roadmap for research that could be conducted to better understand the association between state Attorneys’ General actions and the protection of the public’s health. The article concludes with a series of recommendations intended to enhance state Attorneys’ General ability to protect the public’s health, along with suggestions for future research in this area

Gambling with the Health of Others

The health and wellbeing of the public is, in part, a function of the behavior of individuals. When one individual’s behavior places another at a foreseeable and easily preventable risk of illness or injury, tort liability can play a valuable role in discouraging that conduct. This is true in the context of childhood immunization

Gambling with the Health of Others

The health and wellbeing of the public is, in part, a function of the behavior of individuals. When one individual’s behavior places another at a foreseeable and easily preventable risk of illness or injury, tort liability can play a valuable role in discouraging that conduct. This is true in the context of childhood immunization

The Case for Gun Policy Reforms in America

Debates about gun control often drift towards general arguments about whether guns make us safer or less safe, and gun control is equated with restricting gun ownership. However, with recent Supreme Court decisions overturning laws which ban firearm possession in the District of Columbia and Chicago, current gun control policies in the U.S. do not disarm lawabiding adults over the age of 21. Rather, gun control laws today focus on one or more of four general objectives. These laws aim to:Define conditions that prohibit a person from possessing firearms;Implement regulations to prevent prohibited persons from possessing firearms;Restrict carrying of concealed firearms outside the home; andRegulate the design of firearms to enhance public and personal safety.In this report we draw upon research evidence to suggest how improvements in each of these types of gun policies could enhance public safety in the United States