A judge’s decisions can have an enormous impact on a person’s property, their family, and even their freedom. But what about their health? What about the health of their community? A growing body of research shows that judicial decisions play a huge role in population health and health equity.
A judge’s decisions may affect factors that are critical to individual and population health, such as housing stability, socio-economic position (including education and income), access to health care, structural racism, and the quality of the environment. Yet, judges are rarely given guidance and training on the impact they may have on such social determinants of health. This has to change.
To address this critical need, the 2023 Washington State Supreme Court/Minority & Justice Commission Symposium is honored to welcome Salus Populi: Educating the Judiciary about the Social Determinants of Health, a project in collaboration with the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University School of Law and the Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research at Northeastern University.
