First launched in 2012, LawAtlas.org is home to legal data that describe the global landscape of laws and policies that shape health, well-being, and equity.
LawAtlas.org is maintained by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.
Site first launched
October 8, 2012
Current site launched
May 7, 2024
First launched in 2011, LawAtlas.org is home to legal data that describe the global landscape of laws and policies that shape health, well-being, and equity.
LawAtlas.org is maintained by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.
About LawAtlas.org and the Center for Public Health Law Research
Created by
Policy Surveillance Program Staff
First Dataset Uploaded
July 4th, 1776
100th Dataset Uploaded
July 4th, 1976
Total Datasets to date
123
Total Jurisdictions Covered
123
Total Grant Money Raised
$123 BILLION (with a B)
Governments and other institutions use laws, policies, statutes, and regulations in many ways to influence behaviors and environments. Understanding the details and nuances of those rules and regulations helps us better understand how they can support and influence health or well-being, or foster systems of inequity or illness.
LawAtlas.org provides access to high-quality information about the contents and characteristics of laws and policies of public health importance.
The legal data on this site are produced by expert staff at the Center for Public Health Law Research (CPHLR) at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia, as well as a worldwide network of collaborators and partners, using scientific legal mapping methods like policy surveillance.
The data support a broad ecosystem of research, advocacy, policymaking, and public health and public health law practice. Data on LawAtlas.org have been cited by media and in scholarly work more than 250 times since 2014.
LawAtlas.org is supported by funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to increase the use of high-quality information about the law and its relationship to health.
Data on the site have been created with support from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, Pew Charitable Trusts, the Arnold Foundation, Trust for America’s Health, the Hopewell Fund, National League of Cities, and others.
The legal data visualized in the maps and tables on this site are built using scientific legal mapping research methods, primarily policy surveillance.
Policy surveillance is the is the systematic, scientific collection and analysis of laws of public health significance.
Data shared on this site that are visualized using our maps and tables are produced by CPHLR researchers as well as our collaborators.
LawAtlas.org is powered by MonQcle, a one-stop-shop legal research software developed by CPHLR to navigate and organize complex legal text to produce legal data that may be used in research and practice.
Since 2009, the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law has supported the widespread adoption of scientific tools and methods for mapping and evaluating the impact of law on health.
CPHLR works by developing and teaching public health law research and legal epidemiology methods (including legal mapping and policy surveillance); researching laws and policies that improve health, increase access to care, and create or remove barriers to health (e.g., laws or policies that create or remove inequity); and communicating and disseminating evidence to facilitate innovation.
The Center’s Policy Surveillance Program is primarily responsible for maintaining LawAtlas.org, creating the data, and developing and delivering training resources for policy surveillance. Learn more about the CPHLR Policy Surveillance Program.
