Turning science into legal briefs – why lawyers and public health experts need to work together

Guest speakers from Berkeley Law at the University of California shared their insights at our recent Public Health Law Community of Practice webinar ‘Model food environment laws and sugary drink taxes – experiences of successes and legal challenges in the United States’.

Marice Ashe and Ted Mermin discussed designing and implementing model laws and policies to promote health equity across the United States and their expertise working with governments and communities to defend them against litigation.

Marice Ashe is a Lecturer at Berkeley Law and Founder of non-profit ChangeLab Solutions. She has pioneered the use of law and policy to solve complex problems related to institutionalised inequities and poor community health, working with all levels of government and local communities. Ted Mermin is Executive Director of the Berkely Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice has spent over a decade assisting agencies in the development and defence of innovative policies in public health and consumer law and helping litigate consumer rights and public health cases.

Tobacco control is the proofing ground for policy changes and legal challenges. You need the public on your side and you need public awareness.

Ted Mermin

Lessons from the public health approach to tobacco control have been turned to tackle childhood obesity prevention, including an awareness of industry pushback and the need for engaging with non-health agencies. For example, partnerships with land use planners on smoke-free housing can be beneficial for active transportation or tackling the proliferation of fast food outlets in communities. From Michelle Obama’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign to menu labelling and soda-free schools, great progress has been made in obesity prevention initiatives in the United States.

Improving healthy school meals may be the single most important thing in childhood obesity prevention.

Marice Ashe

The webinar presentation also looked at the social determinants of health and the enormous disparities between low and high income communities across the United States where there are decades of difference in life expectancy.

View the recording of this webinar here. Find out more about joining our Public Health Law Community of Practice here.

Additional resources recommended by webinar speakers:

• Lindsay F. Wiley, Shame, Blame, and the Emerging Law of Obesity Control, 47 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 121 (2013).
• The Racialized Marketing of Unhealthy Foods and Beverages, 50 J. Law & Medical Ethics 52 (2022).
• Getting to Equity in Obesity Prevention: A New Framework, National Academy of Medicine Perspectives (2017).
• The Racist Roots of Fighting Obesity, Scientific American (June 4, 2020).