ABA Standing Committee on Law & National Security to release emergency response report
Emergency responsiveness issues after a disaster is the topic of "The Perfect Storm: Are the Roles and Authorities Adequate for Emergency Response?," being released by the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security. The release of the report will coincide with a program at the Midyear Meeting. It is the result of discussions during a two-day conference held in the spring of 2005 on "Law Amid the Ruins; Doing Business After Disaster" and is a follow-on to a report released in September 2005.
The travesty of Hurricane Katrina raised serious questions about government legal authority to act. A health emergency, such as an avian flu pandemic, could amplify these issues many times over. The new report and session at the Midyear Meeting will explore state, local and first responder issues; federalism and constitutional challenges; and military involvement and private sector integration.
The spring 2005 conference brought together experts from the government, business, legal, law enforcement, emergency responder, public health, public works and non-profit sectors to examine issues such as a national response plan, interdependency, private sector roles and responsibilities, and the development of a continuity of operations strategy. Unless specifically stated in the reports, recommendations they contain have not been adopted by the ABA House of Delegates and so do not represent official policy of the American Bar Association.
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