Episode # 89

Police in the Emergency Room - The Less Discussed Angle of #defundthepolice with Ji Seon Song

Here’s something we’ve never thought about before, because we’ve taken privacy law HIPAA at face value. What happens with my private medical information if I’m in an emergency room of the hospital, and there is a police presence in that same emergency room?

And importantly, how is this situation even worse for people who aren’t as rich or White as some of us listening to this podcast?

Today we’re excited to have Ji Seon Song return to the podcast to talk about her new research (and soon to be published note in the Harvard Law Review!) regarding the problematic role and presence of police in emergency rooms, and what medical providers - and laypeople - may want to consider ab

out how patients’ information are handled in that setting.

Questions? Comments? Contact us at hello@dearwhitewomen.com

“When people are particularly vulnerable in a place like the emergency room, there are things that the police have access to. And if the hospitals and medical providers are just kind of generally letting them in, what does that mean for the people who are in there who are particularly vulnerable and politically powerless?” Ji Seon Song

What to listen for:

The gutting, real life experience of a teen who was shot in the head which got Ji Seon Song interested in this topic.
How police interact with medical providers - and patients - in the emergency room, often on their own authority.
How ERs are used differently in different communities, and which citizens are most at risk of violations.
Why patient privacy in the emergency room is an issue that should concern all of us.

About Ji Seon Song:

Ji Seon Song’s scholarship focuses on criminal law, criminal procedure, and juvenile law. Her current project examines policing in hospitals. She teaches Federal Litigation in a Global Context and Legal Research and Writing.

Ji Seon has been active in local, regional, and national juvenile justice reform. As the current president of the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center, she leads policy, litigation, training, and community outreach efforts focused on improving the juvenile justice system in California. Before joining Stanford, Ji Seon was a public defender in California where she represented youth and adults in delinquency and criminal proceedings. During her time at the public defender’s office, she expanded the officer’s capacity for its holistic representation of clients, and spearheaded a county-level multi-stakeholder initiative to improve conditions of confinement and reentry for youth. Previously, Ji Seon worked as a senior policy advocate at the National Juvenile Defender Center and as an E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center’s Juvenile Justice Clinic. Ji Seon clerked for the Hon. Deborah A. Batts of the Southern District of New York.

Ji Seon received her JD from Columbia Law School and an LLM from Georgetown University Law Center. Ji Seon holds a BA in East Asian Language and Cultures with a Minor in Music from Columbia College, Columbia University. Ji Seon was a founding member of the Asian American Criminal Trial Lawyers Association and the Bay Area Public Defenders for Racial Justice.

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