EVENT: An expert panel will present “The Constitutional Implications of Ebola: Civil Liberties & Civil Rights in Times of Health Crises.” Featured speakers are the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., UC Irvine dean of law Erwin Chemerinsky, UCI Chancellor’s Professor of law Michele Goodwin, UCI associate professor of public health Andrew Noymer, and Dr. George Woods Jr. of the American Psychiatric Association and president-elect, International Academy of Law and Mental Health.

WHEN/WHERE: 3:30-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, in Room 1111 of the UCI School of Law’s Education Building (grid F11, bldg. 3 on campus map: http://communications.uci.edu/documents/pdf/UCI_14_map_campus_core.pdf

INFORMATION: Media planning to attend should contact Michele Goodwin at 949-824-3897 or mgoodwin@law.uci.edu; or Colleen Taricani at 949-824-3063 or ctaricani@law.uci.edu; or Cathy Lawhon at 949-824-1151 or clawhon@uci.edu. Attendance and parking in the Social Science Parking Structure (grid F10 on campus map) are complimentary for media representatives who reserve a media pass here.

HIGHLIGHTS:

3:30 p.m. Panel discussion: Noymer will speak on “Public Health in Times of Emergency: A Look Back on HIV, Tuberculosis & Threatening Diseases.” Woods will talk about “Cognitive Biases & Fear in Times of Natural Disaster & Health Crises.”

4 p.m. Armchair discussion: Jackson and Chemerinsky, two of the foremost thinkers on civil liberties and civil rights, will discuss the law’s role in protecting, promoting and balancing those rights and liberties in times of perceived and actual national threat and disaster. Goodwin, director of the UCI School of Law’s Center for Biotechnology & Global Health Policy, will moderate.

5 p.m. Press conference

BACKGROUND: The Center for Biotechnology & Global Health Policy serves as a reference point for research, policy development and advocacy concerning science, biotechnology, bioethics and healthcare in the United States and abroad. The CBGHP engages multiple stakeholder communities – scholars, policymakers, civil society, healthcare providers, the judiciary and the public – highlighting the collaborative role and function of law in responding to state, federal and international healthcare concerns.