Alexander D. McCourt, JD, PhD, is an Assistant Scientist, and Lainie Rutkow, JD, PhD, is a Professor; both in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. Gregory Sunshine, JD, is a Public Health Analyst, Public Health Law Program, Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Health Secur. 2019 May/Jun;17(3):240-247. doi: 10.1089/hs.2018.0118.
This article describes and analyzes the body of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery litigation that has arisen since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Search terms were developed to identify judicial opinions related to emergency preparedness, response, and recovery activities. Using the Thomson Reuters Westlaw legal database, searches were conducted to collect judicial opinions related to disasters that occurred in the United States between September 11, 2001, and December 31, 2015. An electronic form was used for data abstraction. Cases that did not directly involve emergency response, preparedness, or recovery activities were excluded. Data were summarized with descriptive statistics. We identified 215 cases for data abstraction. Many of the cases stemmed from preparedness, response, and recovery activities related to hurricanes (57.7%) and terrorist attacks (16.7%). The most prevalent emergency response activities at issue were disaster mitigation (29.3%), disaster clean-up (21.9%), a defendant's duty to plan (14.4%), evacuation (12.6%), and conditions of incarceration (12.1%). Although it can be anticipated that litigation will arise out of all phases of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, policymakers can anticipate that the most litigation will result from pre-event mitigation and post-event recovery activities, and allocate resources accordingly.
本文描述并分析了自 2001 年 9 月 11 日恐怖袭击以来，与应急准备、应对和恢复相关的诉讼案件。开发了检索词来识别与应急准备、应对和恢复活动相关的司法意见。利用 Thomson Reuters Westlaw 法律数据库，针对美国在 2001 年 9 月 11 日至 2015 年 12 月 31 日期间发生的灾害进行了检索，以收集相关司法意见。使用电子表格进行数据提取。排除了与应急响应、准备或恢复活动无直接关系的案件。使用描述性统计方法对数据进行总结。我们共提取了 215 个案例进行数据抽象。这些案例大多源于与飓风（57.7%）和恐怖袭击（16.7%）相关的准备、应对和恢复活动。争议最多的应急响应活动包括灾害缓解（29.3%）、灾害清理（21.9%）、被告的规划义务（14.4%）、疏散（12.6%）和监禁条件（12.1%）。虽然可以预见，所有灾害准备、应对和恢复阶段都会引发诉讼，但政策制定者可以预计，最主要的诉讼将来自事前减灾和事后恢复活动，并相应地分配资源。
