Teresa Schmid

When our communities struggle with serious issues, leaders often turn to lawyers to be among those who solve problems in a crisis.
When Arizona offered refuge to Hurricane Katrina victims, Governor Napolitano turned to the State Bar of Arizona. The first survivors to arrive at the emergency facilities in Phoenix and Tucson met not only the Red Cross, but also Arizona lawyers who provided assistance for problems arising from loss of identification, child custody disputes, missed court appearances, and destroyed homes. Working directly with the Governor’s Office and the Red Cross, Arizona lawyers helped provide the victims with a measure of institutional stability essential to their recovery.
This model of close and immediate collaboration among government agencies, relief organizations, and Arizona lawyers may be put to the test again. On May 3, 2006, the White House released the Homeland Security Council’s Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan. The authors warned that the center of the pandemic response will be in the communities. The distributed nature of a pandemic and its geographical scope means that the federal government’s support to any particular state, tribal nation, or community will be limited, compared to the aid it can mobilize for disasters such as earthquakes or hurricanes. This time, Arizona and its communities will stand alone.
In a 1999 article entitled, “The Role of the Police Power in 21st Century Public Health,” authors Edward P. Richards and Katherine C. Rathbun noted that the central dilemma in public health is balancing the rights of the individual against those of society. They state that a disease-control program that includes personal restrictions needs to meet certain standards in order to survive a legal challenge. Such a program must:
• Address a real problem that poses a direct threat to third parties.
• Have a scientific control strategy.
• Implement that strategy with the fewest restrictions consistent with available resources.
• Provide for periodic evaluation to monitor its effectiveness.
• Phase out the program when it is no longer epidemiologically sound.
The success of any community-based response to a pandemic will depend upon the level of mutual trust that governmental and non-governmental actors can achieve and, by extension, inspire in those they serve. The United States Constitution was drafted during a yellow fever epidemic so virulent that a cordon sanitaire was thrown around the city of Philadelphia. From its inception, the concept of police power was an exercise in the suspension of distrust of government. The State Bar of Arizona stands ready to partner with government agencies and other non-governmental organizations to formulate a pandemic response that anticipates and addresses the inevitable questions that citizens will ask about fairness, transparency, and equitable access to limited resources.
When the call to action comes, in this potential crisis or others less serious, Arizona lawyers and the State Bar of Arizona will be there. Together, we can help solve problems, protect people’s rights, and balance the needs of society.