Attorney Jaimie Cavanaugh of the Institute for Justice will present the lecture “Political Obstacles & Legal Barriers to Increasing Mental Health Services” on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 1:30 p.m. at Hope College in the Maas Center auditorium.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The event will also be livestreamed via the Hope College YouTube channel and on hope.edu/live
As outlined in the presentation’s description, “The need for access to mental health services is at an all-time high. While some impediments, such as insurance coverage or the perceived stigma of seeking help, are well known, other barriers are less obvious. In fact, there are many laws that make it impossible for providers to increase health care services. This discussion will address some of the regulatory burdens that decrease access to mental health services in Michigan and nationwide. It will also explain some reasons that these outdated, anti-competitive laws remain on the books.”
Jaimie Cavanaugh is a litigator working out of the Minnesota office of the Institute for Justice. Her practice focuses on protecting economic liberty, private property rights, and free speech.
She joined the institute in 2018. Some of her current cases include challenges to occupational licenses in Georgia and Louisiana and a federal class-action seeking to end Wayne County, Michigan’s, vehicle forfeiture program. She also represents entrepreneurs in Kentucky seeking to eliminate a law that prevents them providing home health services to refugees and immigrants.
Before joining the Institute for Justice, Cavanaugh worked to defend private property rights as an attorney with Mountain States Legal Foundation. While there, her cases included constitutional challenges to municipal zoning ordinances and several challenges to agency decisions and rulemakings in federal and state courts.
Cavanaugh, who grew up outside Detroit, studied linguistics and German at the University of Michigan and earned her J.D. from the University of Colorado. Following law school, she completed a judicial fellowship with Justice Monica M. Márquez of the Colorado Supreme Court and interned for Exxon Mobil in Hanover, Germany.
The lecture is hosted by the college’s Markets & Morality student organization and co-sponsored by the college’s Department of Political Science, Pre-Law Society and chapter of the Pi Sigma Alpha national political science honor society.
The Markets & Morality student organization aims to support and celebrate freedom of expression in the context of the liberal arts by hosting speakers and films on topics spanning the economic, political and cultural aspects of human civilization, with a special concern for human flourishing as understood in Christian perspective.
Audience members who need assistance to fully enjoy any event at Hope are encouraged to contact the college’s Events and Conferences Office by emailing events@hope.edu or calling 616-395-7222 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Updates related to events are posted when available in the individual listings at hope.edu/calendar
Due to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, Hope is currently requiring that masks be worn by all individuals while indoors on campus unless in their living space or alone in their work space.
The Maas Center is located at 264 Columbia Avenue, between 10th and 13th streets.