HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (6) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gostin, L. O. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gostin, L. O. Related Collections Ethics Health Law Health Policy Immunization/Vaccines History Public Health Practice

Lawrence O. Gostin, JD

Lawrence O. Gostin is with the Center for the Law and the Public’s Health, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, 600 New Jersey Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20001 (e-mail: gostin{at}law.georgetown.edu).

A century ago, the US Supreme Court in Jacobson v Massachusetts upheld the exercise of the police power to protect the public’s health. Despite intervening scientific and legal advances, public health practitioners still struggle with Jacobson’s basic tension between individual liberty and the common good.

In affirming Massachusetts’ compulsory vaccination law, the Court established a floor of constitutional protections that consists of 4 standards: necessity, reasonable means, proportionality, and harm avoidance. Under Jacobson, the courts are to support public health matters insofar as these standards are respected.

If the Court today were to decide Jacobson once again, the analysis would likely differ—to account for developments in constitutional law—but the outcome would certainly reaffirm the basic power of government to safeguard the public’s health.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. R. Buchanan Autonomy, Paternalism, and Justice: Ethical Priorities in Public Health Am J Public Health, January 1, 2008; 98(1): 15 - 21. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Colgrove and R. Bayer Manifold Restraints: Liberty, Public Health, and the Legacy of Jacobson v Massachusetts Am J Public Health, April 1, 2005; 95(4): 571 - 576. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]