Past Events

Join the Hall Center for Law and Health and the Indiana Health Law Review as they host their annual symposium on October 25, 2024 at Inlow Hall!

This year's symposium will examine how lack of access to health care contributes to mass incarceration and creates barriers to returning to life outside of correctional facilities.

This program will be offered in person for 5.0 CLE credit hours.

CEU Certificates for Indiana Behavioral Health & Human Services Providers available.

Certificates of attendance can be provided for those wishing to apply for CLE credit outside of Indiana.

Agenda

Event information

Parking

Parking is available for a nominal fee at the campus Gateway Garage, located on the corner of Michigan and California Streets (Address is 525 Blackford Street). Parking is also available for a nominal fee at the Sports Complex Garage two blocks west of the law school.

Special accommodations

On the registration, individuals with special needs should please indicate any special assistance you may need. Special arrangements can be made to accommodate most needs.

Registration options

You will not be fully registered until you've paid the registration fee.

Attorney Registration with CLE - $85.00
General Registration (no CLE) - $35.00
Faculty & Staff of Indiana University/McKinney School of Law - $15.00
Students of Indiana University/McKinney School of Law - Complimentary
 

Register for Event

(There is no virtual option for this event - must attend in person)

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Sandra A. Springer, MD
Professor of Medicine, Section of Infections Disease, Yale School of Medicine

Presentation Title:
The intersection of Criminal Justice and Public Health: What you need to know!

Sandra Springer, MD is a Professor of Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases at the Yale School of Medicine. She received an A.B from Harvard College; an MD from University of Massachusetts Medical School; and completed her internal medicine residency and infectious disease fellowship at Yale School of Medicine.  She is Board-Certified in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Addiction Medicine and is the Director of the Infectious Disease Clinic at the Newington site of the Veterans Administration Connecticut Healthcare System. She is an appointed member of the International Antiviral Society–USA (IAS–USA) Antiretroviral Guidelines Panel, and she has been appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on the Framework for the Consideration of Chronic Conditions in Women and to the Committee on the Examination of the Integration of Opioid and Infectious Disease Prevention Efforts in Select Programs. Her research centers on the integration of substance use and infectious diseases with a focus on opioid use disorder treatment and the treatment and prevention of HIV infection for persons in the criminal justice system and the community. In 2022, she was awarded a NIDA Avant Garde award for her innovative proposal to bring mobile health care for substance use and HIV prevention and treatment to where people live through the first legalized mobile retail pharmacy and clinic in the United States. She has published over 125 manuscripts and book chapters.  She is the director of her clinical research lab InSTRIDE (Integrating Substance use Treatment Research with Infectious Disease for Everyone) which encompasses a multidisciplinary team including research staff, clinicians, community health workers, and patient navigators. https://medicine.yale.edu/lab/springer/ 

Dr. Patricia Blair, PhD, LLM, JD, MSN, CCHP-RN, CCHP-A
Associate Professor – UTMB School of Nursing, Graduate School of Biomedical Science; Adjunct Associate Professor – School of Public and Population Health, University of Texas Medical Branch

Presentation Title:
Correctional Health Care: Why It Matters

Dr. Patricia Blair is a Registered Nurse and an Attorney with a Master’s in Laws (LLM) Health Law Degree. She received her PhD in Clinical Science Research (Health Services Research) from the University of Texas Medical Branch Preventive Medicine and Community Health Department, and LLM from the University of Houston Health Law and Policy Institute. Dr. Blair is a Certified Correctional Healthcare Professional – Registered Nurse and Advanced Correctional Health Care Practitioner. She is chair-elect for the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) Board of Representatives (American Bar Association (ABA) Representative) where she serves on the Policy & Research Committee and Chairs the Correctional Nurses Certification Committee. She is a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Correctional Health Care. She is a Founding Member and a Board Member for the American Correctional Nurses Association. She serves on the ABA Health Law (Policy Division), and Criminal Justice (Corrections Committee).

Currently, Dr. Blair is an Associate Professor at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston School of Nursing, Graduate Program. She teaches across Programs and is co-coordinator of the Graduate Program Public Policy Course. She consults with other faculty on the TDCJ Babies Behind Bars Program. She is consulting with health administrators in Texas Department Criminal Justice-Correctional Managed Care (TDCJ-CMC) to identify, prioritize, and develop strategies to address health care issues in correctional health care. In spring 2022, Dr. Blair was instrumental in revising the Hospital Galveston Nursing Student Orientation to focus on nursing care with an overlay of security rather than an orientation exclusively devoted to security issues. The revisions were accepted and adopted in their totality. She recently submitted an HRSA grant application to determine how simulation-based education and training of undergraduate nursing students will enhance their acute care skills when providing care to underserved justice-involved patients. Dr. Blair is also co-developing a Correctional Think Tank with health professionals from other disciplines on the UTMB Campus, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and community leaders. Blair has been actively involved in developing health care policies for underserved correctional populations both locally and nationally. She has been a consultant, presenter, and an expert witness on these issues with correctional healthcare providers and organizations.

Panelists

Mark W. Sniderman, JD
Sniderman Law

Presentation Title:
Prisoners, Healthcare, and Paradigm Shifts: Hepatitis C and DAAs

Mark Sniderman represents prisoners and detainees who seek appropriate medical care or challenge other conditions of their confinement. He also represents people asserting their voting rights, employees who have been wrongfully discriminated against at their workplace, and victims of medical malpractice or catastrophic injury. He has been practicing law since 2006. Mark earned his undergraduate degree in political science and philosophy from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He began law school at U.C. Hastings College of the Law, and then transferred to Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, from which he received his J.D.

Dr. Garland Gerber, PhD, MFT, MA, CADC-II
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Northeastern University School of Law; Psychotherapist in Private Practice

Presentation Title:
Finding Purpose from Difficulty: Using Lived Experience and Academic Expertise to Drive Change

Dr. Gerber's journey from incarceration to recovery, coupled with her roles as a clinician and researcher, offers a uniquely insightful perspective on addiction and mental health. Drawing on her wealth of personal and professional experiences, she aims to bridge the gap between academia, professional practice, and the public. She believes that by forging these connections, an alliance can be made- reducing stigma and improving outcomes in the addiction crisis.

Garland holds a PhD in substance use research and an MA in Clinical Psychology, specializing in addictive disorders and psychological trauma. Her community work focuses on educating legal professionals, clinicians, and the public about mental health and substance use. She researches mental health/substance use stigma and occupational burnout in the criminal legal system, advocating for trauma-informed, non-punitive approaches. Dr. Gerber aims to inspire policy changes and interventions that address these challenges in the legal system.

Jessica Den Houter, LLM, JD, MSW
Assistant Professor of Lawyering, Lewis & Clark Law School

Presentation Title:
(Lack of) Mental Health Care in the Juvenile Legal System

Jessica Den Houter is an Assistant Professor of Lawyering at Lewis and Clark. Prior to joining the faculty, she served as a visiting professor and the acting director of the Bronfein Family Law Clinic, an in-house live-client clinic providing legal representation in the area of family law at the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Before starting her teaching career, Den Houter worked as a high school social worker both before and during law school. After graduating from law school, she served as a public interest attorney at Disability Rights DC, where she advocated for and litigated on behalf of individuals with mental illness and developmental disabilities, including many youth involved in the juvenile legal system.

Dr. Carolyn (Carly) Camplain, PhD, JD
Assistant Professor, Indiana University School of Public Health - Bloomington

Presentation Title:
Indigenous Incarceration on Native Nations: Unique Challenges Call for Unique Solutions

Dr. Carolyn (Carly) Camplain is an Assistant Professor at Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington in the Applied Health Sciences Department. She is a scientific and legal researcher focused on social and structural determinants and health inequities, Indigenous sovereignty, healthcare while incarcerated, and Indigenous and western scientific and legal research methods and theoretical frameworks. Through community-based research focused on how law and policy impact health, Dr. Camplain fosters cross-sector collaborations with communities and institutions that currently are non-existent inorder to improve well-being among Indigenous people while incarcerated.

She has her JD from Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and her PhD in Interdisciplinary Health-Health Equity from Northern Arizona University.

Sarah Somers, JD, MPH
Legal Director, National Health Law Program

Presentation Title:
Medicaid and Justice-Involved Populations: Challenges and Innovations

Sarah Somers, JD, MPH is the Legal Director at the National Health Law Program. Sarah leads NHeLP’s legal and policy staff, overseeing multiple teams dedicated to preserving access to care, correcting disparities, promoting health policies that prioritize individuals, and providing training and support to advocates. 

Sarah has worked with advocates across the country, engaging in litigation, research, writing, and training on the Medicaid program, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Affordable Care Act, among other issues. She is a member of the State Bars of North Carolina, California, and Utah (inactive), and has represented clients in state and federal trial courts and courts of appeal around the country.

Her publications include the National Health Law Program’s flagship publication, An Advocates Guide to the Medicaid Program, the fifth edition of which will be released this fall. Her other publications include The Ongoing Racial Paradox of the Medicaid Program, 16 J. Health and Life Sci. L. 96 (2022); Medicaid’s Gold Standard Coverage for Children and Youth: Past, Present, and Future¸ 30 Annals Health L. & Sci. 153 (co-author) (2021); and The Supreme Court Reinforces Barriers to Court Access: Cases from the 2019-2020 Term 13 Ne. U. L. Rev. 575 (co-author) (2021). Among other places, she has lectured at the University of North Carolina Law School and School of Government, the Gillings Global School of Public Health at UNC, Duke University Law School, and North Carolina Central Law School.

Whit Washington, JD
Of Counsel, Diana Adams Law & Mediation; Staff Attorney, TGI Justice Project

Presentation Title:
Health Needs of Transgender People in Custody

Whit Washington (they/them) is a DC-barred attorney who advocates on behalf of transgender people in custody. In addition to their advocacy work, Whit lectures on the socio-historical evolution of criminal law and the carceral system in the United States.

Moderators

Morning Sessions Moderator: Renée Landers, JD, 2024-2025 Visiting Health Law Chair; Interim Faculty Director, Indiana University McKinney School of Law

Bio: Professor Renée Landers is a Professor of Law, Faculty Director of the Health and Biomedical Law Concentration and the Masters of Science in Law: Life Sciences program at Suffolk University Law School in Boston.

Professor Landers has worked in private practice and served as Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Justice during the Clinton Administration. Professor Landers served as Chair of the Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice of the American Bar Association in 2016 – 2017 and chaired the Section’s Nominating Committee in 2018 - 2019. She is a Trustee of the Massachusetts General Hospital and New England Donor Services and is a former Trustee of the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary. In 2019, she rejoined the board of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and became President of the Board beginning in July 2020. Recently, she co-chaired the Boston Bar Association’s Task Force on Judicial Independence which issued a report in August 2019. She was a member of the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct and served as Vice Chair of the Commission from 2009 to 2010. She also served on the task force that drafted the revised Massachusetts Code of Judicial Conduct effective in 2016 and currently is a member of the Committee on Judicial Ethics which advises judges on compliance with the Code. Previously, she was a member of the Supreme Judicial Court’s committees studying gender bias and racial and ethnic bias in the courts.

Renée is the author of articles on the potential for Massachusetts health care reform initiatives to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care and aspects of the Affordable Care Act. In addition to health care, Landers has written on diversity in the legal profession and privacy and is a regular commentator on legal developments in constitutional law, health law, and administrative law for media organizations.

Afternoon Sessions Moderator: Adam Mueller, JD, Executive Director, Indiana Justice Project
Bio: Adam Mueller is the Executive Director of the Indiana Justice Project here in Indianapolis, Indiana. Previously, Adam worked as an attorney for Indiana Legal Services. He obtained his B.A. from Wabash College and attended law school at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Adam’s expertise lies in health care access, Medicaid, and social determinants of health.