Law Commons^™

Targeting Civilians, Daniel Ivo Odon

SJD Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Legal Status Of Drones Under Loac And International Law, Vivek Sehrawat

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Pattern Of Criminalizing The Unknown Crime Of Rape In Global Scale, Sahar Jalili

SJD Dissertations

Rape is a crime globally condemned, yet it's one of the most controversial crimes at the time. What this research did was to gather the information of countries' rape laws in their penal codes from all over the world and create a pattern of how countries on a global scale criminalize rape and how far they have changed in the past century. The goal was to produce a rape criminalization map of the world to show which elements are playing the main factors and which factors are missing, how close countries define rape and how different their reactions are.

The …

Comparing Supreme Court Jurisprudence In Obergefell V. Hodges And Town Of Castle Rock V. Gonzales: A Watershed Moment For Due Process Liberty, Jill C. Engle

Journal Articles

“The nature of injustice is that we may not always see it in our own times. The generations that wrote and ratified the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment did not presume to know the extent of freedom in all of its dimensions, and so they entrusted to future generations a charter protecting the right of all persons to enjoy liberty as we learn its meaning. When new insight reveals discord between the Constitution’s central protections and a received legal stricture, a claim to liberty must be addressed.” -- Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584, …

Legal Formulations Of A Human Right To Information: Defining A Global Consensus, Kimberli Morris Kelmor

Law Library Faculty Works

There is a growing body of law across the globe that seeks to define a right to information. Any study of such laws quickly reveals a great diversity of definitions for both the type of information covered and the nature of the right. Access to various particular types of information is routinely granted in piecemeal fashion through all levels of government including national sub-constitutional laws, national constitutions, and regional and international treaties. In the hierarchy of individual rights, constitutionally granted rights are commonly perceived as the strongest and are most likely to be accepted as inviolable. Thus, the increasing number …

Reading (Into) Windsor: Presidential Leadership, Marriage Equality, And Immigration Policy, Victor C. Romero

Journal Articles

Following the demise of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor, the Obama Administration directed a bold, equality-based reading of Windsor to immigration law, treating bi-national same-sex couples the same as opposite-sex couples. This Essay argues that the President's interpretation is both constitutionally and politically sound: Constitutionally, because it comports with the Executive's power to enforce immigration law and to guarantee equal protection under the law; and politically, because it reflects the current, increasingly tolerant view of marriage equality. Though still in its infancy, President Obama's policy of treating same-sex beneficiary petitions generally the same as …

Application Of International Humanitarian Law By United States Courts

Penn State International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fighting For Human Rights: The Application Of Human Rights Treaties To United States' Military Operations, Patrick Walsh

Penn State International Law Review

No abstract provided.

On Armed Conflict, Human Rights, And Preserving The Rule Of Law In Latin America, Luz E. Nagle

Penn State International Law Review

No abstract provided.

U.S. Immigration Policy: Contract Or Human Rights Law?, Victor C. Romero

Journal Articles

The current immigration debate often reflects a tension between affirming the individual rights of migrants against the power of a nation to control its borders. An examination of U.S. Supreme Court precedent reveals that, from our earliest immigration history to the present time, our immigration policy has functioned more like contract law than human rights law, with the Court deferring to the power of Congress to define the terms of that contract at the expense of the immigrant's freedom.

Crossing Borders: Loving V. Virginia As A Story Of Migration, Victor C. Romero

Journal Articles

The struggle of binational same-gender partners today parallels the struggles of Mildred and Richard Loving during the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement - not only in the obvious parallels between race and sexual orientation as barriers to freedom, but also in the way the law uses these immutable characteristics to limit the freedom of movement. It is this freedom of movement - this migration or immigration - that I want to focus on in this essay. Lest we forget, the Lovings' story is, importantly, a story of migration: It's a story of the great lengths to which an interracial …

Asians, Gay Marriage, And Immigration: Family Unification At A Crossroads, Victor C. Romero

Journal Articles

Family unification has long been a significant component of U.S. immigration policy, and the Asian Pacific American (APA) community has long been a champion of laws that strengthen America's commitment to this goal. The recent emergence of same-gender marriages among state and local governments has caused society to consider more closely its definition of the family, challenging the traditional notion that only civil unions between heterosexuals should be celebrated. But because U.S. immigration law does not include a gay or lesbian partner within its statutory definition of spouse, binational same-gender couples may not legally remain in the country together, even …

The Child Citizenship Act And The Family Reunification Act: Valuing The Citizen Child As Well As The Citizen Parent, Victor C. Romero

Journal Articles

Leading civil rights advocates today lament the degree to which current immigration law fails to maintain family unity. The recent passage of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 is a rare bipartisan step in the right direction because it grants automatic citizenship to foreign-born children of U.S. citizens upon receipt of their permanent resident status and finalization of their adoption. Congress now has before it the Family Reunification Act of 2001, which aims to restore certain procedural safeguards relaxed in 1996 to ensure that foreign-born parents are not summarily separated from their children, many of whom may be U.S. citizens. …

Proposals To Expel Palestinians From The Occupied Territories As Catalyst For A Civil Adjudication Campaign, Catherine A. Rogers

Journal Articles

I begin in Part II with a brief sketch of the history of stated policies to expel Palestinians from what is now Israel and the Occupied Territories, and then examine recent proposals that have been made and actions that have been taken to implement modern re-articulations of those historic policies. In Part III, I then review the grounds on which international law proscribes mass expulsions of indigenous and occupied peoples. While international law governing this issue is clear in its application and has been overwhelmingly endorsed by the larger international community, international law seems to have little influence on Israel's …

Racial Profiling: Driving While Mexican And Affirmative Action, Victor C. Romero

Journal Articles

This Essay will focus on "racial profiling" not just in the way people think about the term - that is, with respect to stopping motorists for traffic violations based solely on their race, so-called "Driving While Mexican" or "Driving While Black" - but also in the context of "affirmative action - namely, using race as a factor in employment and educational decisions. More broadly, then, I want us to think of "racial profiling" as simply "the use of race to develop an understanding of an individual" which moves us slightly away from more pejorative notions of the phrase that have …

On Elián And Aliens: A Political Solution To The Plenary Power Problem, Victor C. Romero

Journal Articles

The poignant story of a little boy fished out of the sea after losing his mother to the elements captured the country's imagination and ignited a political firestorm. The Elián González saga drew conflicting opinions from nearly every branch of American local, state, and federal governments.

This article takes no specific position on Elián's situation. Rather, this artivle values the González story for putting a human face on often faceless legal issues. More specifically, Elián's saga raises the following important question: When should the right of the human being to be treated as an individual trump the right of government …

Expanding The Circle Of Membership By Reconstructing The Alien: Lessons From Social Psychology And The Promise Enforcement Cases, Victor C. Romero

Journal Articles

Recent legal scholarship suggests that the Supreme Court's decisions on immigrants' rights favor conceptions of membership over personhood. Federal courts are often reluctant to recognize the personal rights claims of noncitizens because they are not members of the United States. Professor Michael Scaperlanda argues that because the courts have left the protection of noncitizens' rights in the hands of Congress and, therefore, its constituents, U.S. citizens must engage in a serious dialogue regarding membership in this polity while considering the importance of constitutional principles of personhood. This Article takes up Scaperlanda's challenge. Borrowing from recent research in social psychology, this …

Guilty As Charged: Malcolm X And His Vision Of Racial Justice For African Americans Through Utilization Of The United Nations International Human Rights Provisions And Institutions, Charles Lewis Nier Iii

Penn State International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Women On The European Commission And Court Of Human Rights: Would Equal Representation Provide More Effective Remedies?, Kathleen M. Mccauley

Penn State International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Intercountry Adoption Today And The Implications Of The 1993 Hague Convention On Tomorrow, Susann M. Bisignaro

Penn State International Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Unnecessary Sacrifice: Restrictions On The Right Of Freedom Of Movement In An Effort To Establish An Effective Global Aids Policy, Cindy P. Nelson

Penn State International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Intervention In The Yugoslav Civil War: The United Nations' Right To Create An International Criminal Tribunal, Barbara M. Tocker

Penn State International Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Doctrine Of Sovereign Immunity-A Jurisdictional Shield For Foreign Nations And Their Accountability For Human Rights Violations, Saudi Arabia V. Nelson, 113 S. Ct. 1471 (1993), Michelle Fastiggi

Penn State International Law Review

No abstract provided.

International Politics In The 1990s: Some Implications For Human Rights And The Refugee Crisis, Dr. Ranee K.L. Pankabi

Penn State International Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of The Tiananmen Square Massacre Upon Negotiations For The Draft Basic Law Of The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Wendy Dullea Bowie

Penn State International Law Review

This Comment will examine the effect of the massacre and the Chinese government's subsequent actions upon the negotiation of certain provisions of Hong Kong's future laws. Section II will examine the massacre, China's subsequent denial of any massacre, and Hong Kong's reaction to those events. Section III will discuss Great Britain's acquisition of Hong Kong, and the China-Britain agreement regarding Hong Kong. Section IV will compare provisions for the protection of human and individual rights contained within the Constitution of the People's Republic of China (PRC Constitution), the China-Britain Joint Declaration, (Joint Declaration) and the Draft Basic Law (DBL) which …

Arrest First, Ask Questions Later: The Japanese Police Detention System, Christopher James Neumann

Penn State International Law Review

The Japanese police detention system enables police and prosecutors to detain criminal suspects for up to twenty-three days without a formal charge, thus posing numerous human rights problems. This comment concentrates on the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which provides a means for identifying the human rights abuses occurring under the Japanese police detention system, as well as a method for rectifying such abuses.

Saving Grace Or Saving Face: The Roman Catholic Church And Human Rights, John A. Onorato

Penn State International Law Review

The first part of this Comment examines the structure and organization of the Roman Catholic Church, the means of papal diplomacy, and the Vatican's participation in international organizations. Special attention is focused on the Code of Canon Law, the Lateran Agreements, and other important documents. The second part of this Comment examines the role the Church plays as a protector of human rights. This focuses on the Church's actions and recent history in two nations, Chile and Poland, and examines the effects of papal visits to these countries and the publication of papal encyclicals dealing with human rights.

The Dust Of Life: The Legal And Political Ramifications Of The Continuing Vietnamese Amerasian Problem, Ernest C. Robear

Penn State International Law Review

Vietnamese disparagingly refer to them as bui doi. Americans refer to them as persons "of particular humanitarian concern to the United States." In both cases the reference is to Amerasians, the children and young adults of mixed American/Asian parentage. For the purpose of this Comment, an Amerasian may be defined as one whose mother is Asian and whose father is American. Since the last United States forces pulled out of Vietnam on April 30, 1975, these Amerasians have been caught up in a bureaucratic tug-of-war between Washington and Hanoi. Despite positive legislation, the problems faced by Vietnamese Amerasians still …

The Principle Of Religious Liberty And The Practice Of States: Seek And Ye Shall Find A Violation Of Human Rights Obligations, Scott A. Burr

Penn State International Law Review

Is religious freedom a fundamental human right? This comment examines the theological and legal basis for this theory, and through a study and comparison of the laws of four nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Republic of India, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, determines the current status of this right. The author submits proposals for bridging the gaps between states' lip service to international law and actual compliance.

Indefinite Detention Of Cuban Aliens: Is The End In Sight?, Francis G. Troyan

Penn State International Law Review

In spite of the fact that international law dictates that a sovereign should be able to protect its borders, international law also dictates that every human being has the right to be free from unnecessary detention. For nearly eight years the United States has indefinitely detained Cuban aliens who arrived in the Mariel boatlift of 1980. This comment examines this policy and offers alternatives to improve the plight of the Cubans without sacrificing the safety of Americans in general.