Law Commons^™

Justice For Venezuela: The Human Rights Violations That Are Isolating An Entire Country, Andrea Matos

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

A Human Rights Crisis Under Our Roof, Aglae Eufracio

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Dignity Takings In Leviathanic Immigration Proceedings, Christopher Mendez

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Current immigration law in the United States is rife with racially motivated biases necessitating immediate correction. Among the many problems with current law, constitutional rights are withheld from a large populace. This article reflects upon the history of immigration law in the United States, noting key decisions which have formed the status quo. This article also proposes remedies such as the cessation of infringement by government agents on the property rights that affected immigrants have on their own bodies and a modern-day amnesty reflective of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. This article also introduces Bernadette Atuahene’s concept …

Building A Lifeline: A Proposed Global Platform And Responsibility Sharing Model For The Global Compact On Refugees, Sarnata Reynolds, Juan Pablo Vacatello

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

In 2016, the leaders of 193 governments committed to more equitable and predictable sharing of responsibility for refugees as part of the New York Declaration, to be realized in the Global Compact on Refugees. To encourage debate, this paper presents the first global model to measure the capacity of governments to physically protect and financially support refugees and host communities. The model is based on a new database of indicators covering 193 countries, which assigns a fair share to each country and measures current government contributions to the protection of refugees. The model also proposes a new government-led global platform …

Teach The Women Well: Education Equality Is Key To Preventing Modern Day Slavery Of Women And Girls., Katharine A. Drummong

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The key to ending modern-day slavery of women and girls requires placing further support for education initiatives in origin countries. A pro-education approach has yielded the greatest return. Since the beginning of civilization to the present, people have been trafficked and enslaved. Movements to abolish slavery gained momentum at the beginning of the nineteenth century: Great Britain outlawed slave trading in 1807, the United States abolished slavery in 1865, the League of Nations enacted a treaty calling for the end of slavery in 1926, and the efforts have strengthened in modern times. The United States’ Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) …

The United States' Failure To Ratify The International Covenant On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights: Must The Poor Be Always With Us., Ann M. Piccard

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The United States remains one of only half a dozen U.N. member states that have yet to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The treaty was signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, but no steps toward ratification have ever been taken. Meanwhile, the gap between the rich and the poor in this country continues to grow, and is among the highest of any democracy on earth. The United States is historically suspicious of even recognizing economic, social and cultural rights as “rights” that might be amenable to any method of enforcement. As a result, the …

Why We Do The Things We Do? The Role Of Ethics In Water Resource Planning, Amy Hardberger

Faculty Articles

Water provides a natural framework in the role of ethics because ethical issues are present in every facet of water management. The value of water and the creation of ethics dictate decisions regarding water resource management. Value can be assessed from factors including happiness, well-being, or intrinsic value. Once a value is assessed, obligations that dictate actions regarding this issue are generated, and an ethic is created.

Various domestic and international policies have, both explicitly and implicitly, called for a human right to water. The presence of domestic and international policies that recognize or protect a person’s right to water …

Panel: Ethics-Based Decision-Making In Societal Water Management, Amy Hardberger

Faculty Articles

There is an ethical overlay to water-related decision-making and management, frequently drawing on personal experiences with water and the ubiquitous need for water. The modern South African Bill of Rights, ensuring its people’s access to water; the movement towards recognizing water as a basic human right; and even occurrences in Texas, including the passage of “environmental flows legislation” and the efforts to preserve and protect the Edwards Aquifer, reflect the presence of ethics in decision-making with respect to water management. Ethics are a part of water management decision-making.

Are Americans Good Samaritans - How Martin Luther King's Example Can Empower American's Humanitarian Majority., Charles Martel

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The essay challenges the notion that the American conception of human rights is limited to civil and political rights and excludes internationally recognized principles that accord right status to economic, cultural and social justice. The author points to the U.S. civil rights movement and its societal transformative success as evidence that Americans support a comprehensive humanitarian agenda that conforms to international human rights law. The civil rights movement promoted economic and social rights and treated those issues as integrated with civil and political rights. Thus U.S. civil rights law - and the revolutionary transformation of the American socio-political landscape brought …

Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Water: Evaluating Water As A Human Right And The Duties And Obligations It Creates, Amy Hardberger

Faculty Articles

The Right to Water should be an independent, explicit human right. As such, the status of the right to water would be raised to the status of customary international law (jus cogens), imposing an affirmative, obligatory duty an all nations. Historically the right to water has been included in the right to life, limiting the right; however, that approach undermines the essential importance of water and causes enforcement problems that would be avoided by regarding water as an independent right.

Landmark international agreements, treatises, and the work of various international entities and other non-governmental organizations have made tremendous strides in …

Rethinking The Prohibition Of Death Row Prisoners As Organ Donors: A Possible Lifeline To Those On Organ Donor Waiting Lists., Donny J. Perales

St. Mary's Law Journal

Organ transplantation continually brings hope and new life to thousands of patients suffering from a myriad of diseases. Despite the advances in medical science and the increased survival rates of organ recipients, many are unable to receive an organ transplant because the demand for organs drastically exceeds the available supply. Much of the organ deficit lies in the current system of organ procurement. The altruism-based organ system leaves the donative decision to the individual; however, it is this system which hinders effective organ procurement. Under this system, the donor must give prior consent before a doctor can remove any organ. …

America And The World: Human Rights At Home And Abroad., Joe W. (Chip) Pitts Iii

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Multiple provisions in the Bill of Rights appear gutted around the last year. While abroad, Mr. Pitts received an outside perspective on American news which provided him with a new outlook on current events. The United Nations Social Forum brought voices into the United Nations which are not typically heard, such as poor and vulnerable populations not represented elsewhere. Concurrently, the Johannesburg Summit addressed similar issues. However, as of late, the American government suppresses the voices of the American people. The Patriot Act includes provisions which deter dissent, freedom of speech, and assembly. This Act also purported to give the …

Immunity Of Volunteer Health Care Providers In Texas: Bartering Legal Rights For Free Medical Care Comment, Gwendolyn Pulido

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Texas should not rely on Congress to cure the problem of indigent access to healthcare. Despite recent proposals to create a unified healthcare system, the United States continues to allow the welfare of its poor citizens to ride the wave of the free market. Unlike the U.S., several international declarations have acknowledged the inherent human right to healthcare including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the United Nations’ adoption of the Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (The Covenant). Despite the recognition of a right to healthcare, there is still no …

Strengthening Human Rights Protection: Why The Holocaust Slave Labor Claims Should Be Litigated, Justin H. Roy

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

A Special Forces Human Rights Policy, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

The use of the United States military to promote human rights values in foreign militaries has taken on a much added significance in the post-Cold War era. Emerging democracies often look to American soldiers to assist them in establishing a law-based military whose policies, rules, and practices are rooted in respect for human rights.

Major General Kenneth Bowra, United States Army Special Forces Command (Airborne) (USASFC(A)), has made the promotion of human rights in the militaries of the emerging democracies a top priority for the Army Special Forces. With regard to America’s desire to inculcate human rights values in friendly …

Legal Training Handbook For The Ukrainian Military, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

In May of 1995, a democracy building project between The Judge Advocate General of Ukraine and United States Army lawyers was completed in Kiev. Over the course of this eight-month project, from September 1994 to May 1995, United States Army judge advocates from the International and Operational Law Division, Office of The Judge Advocate General, worked directly with Colonel Alexander Bokov, Chief, Legal Service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in developing a legal training handbook for Ukrainian soldiers.

The handbook, entitled “Code of Conduct for Participants in Military Operations,” now serves as the primary training guide for instructing …

The Women's Convention And The Equal Protection Clause Symposium - Human Rights In The Americas., Michael J. Corbera

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Article addresses whether the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Women’s Convention) violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Because international treaties such as the Women’s Convention carry the same weight and are subject to the same treatment as U.S. federal law, the constitutionality of the Convention is dictated by U.S. jurisprudence. Part II of this Article outlines and discusses the origin and content of the Women’s Convention. Part III contains a historical review of gender jurisprudence in the United States, with particular emphasis on …

Jag Corps Poised For New Defense Missions: Human Rights Training In Peru, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

The National Command Authority has cited the dissolution of the Soviet Union as cause for the United States Military to expand its role. In addition to its traditional role of fighting wars, the military will take on new nontraditional roles promoting human rights and the rule of law throughout the world. These new military missions will include peacekeeping operations, humanitarian interventions, disaster relief missions, counter-drug activities, and nation-building activities.

As part of this initiative, the United States Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAGC) provides legal assistance to the militaries of several emerging and struggling democracies. A number of foreign armies and …