Harvard Law & Policy Review

Archives for March 2016

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Unhealthy Citizens, Unhealthy Democracy

 By Josh Carpenter* The United States has two distinct health systems for the poor: generally, one for blue states and one for red states. One system provides health insurance to the disadvantaged through Medicaid expansion. Over 30 states have elected to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act or opted for a modified version. Democrats in statehouses across the country have led this push, although Kentucky and Ohio are important exceptions.  Unfortunately, individuals in 19 states …

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The Unintended Uninsured: The Affordable Care Act’s Coverage Gap

By Julian Polaris* This is a golden age for access to healthcare in America. In 2015, over 90% of Americans had health coverage, the highest insurance rate in the 50 years the federal government has collected insurance data. This astonishing progress is due in large part to the Affordable Care Act (ACA): President Obama recently announced that 20 million people are covered thanks to the ACA. The victory is bittersweet, however: had the ACA been implemented as designed, an additional three …

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The Supreme Court Vacancy and the End of Capital Punishment

By Isaac Saidel-Goley* Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing on February 13 has fundamentally altered the ideological composition of the Supreme Court. The Court has for decades consistently leaned Right and suddenly finds itself leaning Left. This shift in the composition of the Court provides a rare opportunity for abolitionists to successfully challenge the constitutionality of capital punishment. For decades, the death penalty has been a deeply divisive issue, both politically and …

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The Business of Government

By Annise Parker* Governing is often an impracticable job performed with insufficient tools by inadequately prepared people, sometimes in a system designed to prevent progress. Yet it is necessary; human beings in community must have a method of decision-making. Why, after thousands of years of trying, have we not perfected the process? Certainly partisanship, ego, and ambition can taint any government body, but even factoring out those variables, governing is hard work. Cities are where …

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Smart Infrastructure Investment

By Annise Parker* Cities across America are facing a looming crisis caused by a failure to adequately invest in critical infrastructure. The water crisis in Flint was clearly a failure of leadership, but it was equally a failure to maintain a public infrastructure system necessary to sustain life. Ten years ago, we were having a related spasm of national outrage over the New Orleans levees that failed during Katrina. Metropolitan areas are the platform on which 85% of Americans build their …

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Why We Need National Water Affordability Legislation

By Sharmila L. Murthy* A growing number of water crises across the United States underscore the need to ensure that all Americans have access to safe and affordable water for drinking, sanitation, hygiene and other basic needs.  From lead-contaminated water in Flint and Jackson to the massive water shut-offs in Detroit and Baltimore, affected residents have demanded that water be treated as a basic right.  The U.S. never ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural …

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