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Former Obama White House AIDS Czar Jeffrey S. Crowley lectured to students at Indiana University McKinney School of Law on April 12.

Professor Crowley, who is a leading expert on HIV and disability policy, addressed the opioid/HIV crisis in Scott County, Indiana. He spoke in the International Human Rights Law class, offered by Professor George Edwards, who is the Carl M. Gray Professor of Law and founding director of the law school’s Program in International Human Rights Law. Professor Crowley is the Distinguished Scholar and Program Director of Infectious Disease Initiatives at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Faculty of Law, and is an Adjunct Professor of Law. In the photo at left, Professor Crowley talks with students in Professor Edwards' class.

Professor Crowley addressed the 2015 opioid crisis and HIV outbreak in Scott County, Indiana, in which 185 county residents contracted HIV, principally from sharing needles to inject the opioid oxymorphone. He spoke about causes of the outbreak, and possible policy and other contributors. Professor Crowley discussed, for example, the then-unavailability of needle exchange programs in Scott Country, where intravenous drug users could acquire clean needles and not have to share needles with others, thus decreasing the spread of HIV. Professor Crowley mentioned that in 2013, the Scott County Planned Parenthood clinic closed due to de-funding, though it was the only free HIV testing site in that county.

Professor Crowley addressed pressing questions such as whether rural Indiana residents had adequate access to HIV, hepatitis C (HCV), and substance use disorder (SUD) services. He spoke about remedies for the outbreak and measures to possibly prevent future outbreaks, including free HIV/HCV testing and partner services, local HIV treatment services, SUD treatment, and immediate access to health insurance and immunization services.

IU McKinney students, who were in the final weeks of the semester, were challenged to brief Professor Crowley on whether they believed that international human rights law was applicable to the Scott County problems, and if so, what remedies were available.

“After Professor Crowley briefed the students on the opioid and HIV crisis in Scott County, Indiana, the McKinney law students began to apply the framework for analysis we developed this semester to address potential human rights law violations and remedies," Professor Edwards said. "The students asked whether there was a source of international law that addressed the Scott County issues, whether that source of international law was binding, how should that source of law be interpreted and applied to the facts of the case, and what remedies might exist for any international human rights law violations”

Students identified international human rights law treaties and norms of customary international law as binding sources of international law, and proceeded to analyze the crisis through the lens of international law.

Professor Crowley’s presentation was titled, “Does International Law Offer Remedies to Inadequate HIV, HCV, and SUD Services to Indiana Residents? Aftermath of a Scott County Outbreak”

From 2009 to 2011, Professor Crowley served as the Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy – a position known as the “White House AIDS Czar.” He also served in the White House as Senior Advisor on Disability Policy. As President Barack Obama’s chief HIV/AIDS advisor, Professor Crowley led the development of the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States. During his tenure at the White House, he also represented the Domestic Policy Council on the White House Health Team prior to enactment and during the early implementation of the Affordable Care Act. In addition to health issues, he was actively engaged in policy development related to Social Security, disability civil rights, LGBT civil rights, Alzheimer’s disease, teen pregnancy prevention, and numerous other issues. The photo at left shows Crowley, right, talking with President Obama.

Professor Crowley received his Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, and his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Kalamazoo College. He is an alumnus of the United States Peace Corps where he served as a Volunteer/High School Science Teacher in Swaziland.