Black Lives Matter: A Conversation on Health and Criminal Justice Disparities

Abstract

This article is written as a series of letters between a law professor and a medical doctor in reaction to the events surrounding the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. The letters discuss the antebellum origins of health and criminal justice disparities and the cultural mistrust of doctors and law enforcement spawned by that history. The letters also briefly summarize institutional efforts undertaken to address both types of disparities, noting that these solutions have had limited efficacy due to their failure to address the symbiotic relationship between discretion, domination, and disparity. The article concludes with a recommendation to reduce both disparities and domination by establishing a non-discretionary minimum in health care and criminal justice.

Keywords: Black Lives Matter, Criminal Justice, Health Care, Cultural Distrust, Disparities, Institutional Effect, Discretion, Non-Discretion