Digital Commons Network^™

Human Trafficking And Film: How Popular Portrayals Influence Law And Public Perception, Jonathan Todres

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

After Atrocity: Optimizing Un Action Toward Accountability For Human Rights Abuses, Steven R. Ratner

Michigan Journal of International Law

It is a great honor for me to be here to deliver the John Humphrey Lecture. Humphrey led one of those lives within the UN that shaped what the organization has become today—as one of the first generation of UN civil servants, he was to human rights what Ralph Bunche was to peacekeeping, or Brian Urquhart to UN mediation. To read his diaries, so beautifully edited by John Hobbins, is to see a world that has in many ways vanished, a nearly entirely male club, mostly of Westerners, that hammered out new treaties and mechanisms over fine wine and cigars …

Efektivitas Pelaksanaan Hak Warga Binaan Perempuan Dalam Mewujudkan Tujuan Pemasyarakatan: Studi Kasus Rumah Tahanan Klas Ii A Jakarta Timur, Cassandra Nadia Arviani, Achmad Fatony, Antonius Aditantyo, Dion Valerian, Dhurandhara Try Widigda, Kezia Minar Paladina

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

The writer(s) of this article try to explain the rights of protection for the people in detention center. Many legal rules made by the state. But practicaly, the authorities in the detention center focused on the liability and responsibility of the prisoners rather then considered about their rights. So, this research group found some findings in their research site at the detention center, about the unfair treatment, discrimination, rights violation, and other mistreatment.

Books Received, Georgia Journal Of International And Comparative Law

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Bringing Human Rights Home: The Birmingham Mayor's Office Human Rights Dialogue, Human Rights Institute, Office Of The Mayor Of The City Birmingham

Human Rights Institute

Human rights begin close to home. Local governments have jurisdiction over a range of human rights issues, including those related to housing, education, employment, and criminal justice. Indeed, local agencies and officials are essential to the promotion and protection of human rights in the United States. They work every day to create conditions under which all communities can flourish. Mayors are particularly well-situated to advance human rights and build a culture of human rights based on dignity, freedom from discrimination, and opportunity.

Corporate Complicity In Human Rights Violations Under International Criminal Law, Danielle Olson

International Human Rights Law Journal

This paper examines the main legal elements of corporate criminal responsibility for involvement in serious human rights violations, focusing specifically on the mens rea, or mental element requirement of a crime. It analyzes in detail what it means for a business to be complicit, the degree of knowledge corporations and their officials must have to be implicated in accomplice liability, and a case study demonstrating the consequences of such liability on corporations.

Human Rights Institute Annual Report 2014-2015, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

The Human Rights Institute sits at the heart of human rights teaching, practice, and scholarship at Columbia Law School. Founded in 1998 by the late Professor Louis Henkin, the Institute draws on the Law School’s deep human rights tradition to support and influence human rights practice in the United States and throughout the world. The activities of the Human Rights Clinic are included in the Institute’s work, enabling us to multiply our impact on the field and engage students more fully in our efforts. The Institute’s newly formed Columbia Advisory Committee provides input and feedback on the Institute’s activities and …

Extraterritorial Abductions: A Newly Developing International Standard, Martin Feinrider

Akron Law Review

It is these extra-legal extraterritorial apprehensions, and their status under international law, that will be the subject of this study. Here, the focus will be on the question of protection against acts of outright abduction. The conclusions reached in this study, however, would be applicable to any extra-legal extraterritorial abduction in which the apprehending State could be considered to be guilty of complicity. It is the problem of the extraterritorial violation of human rights that is to be addressed.

From Rescue To Representation: A Human Rights Approach To The Contemporary Anti-Slavery Movement, Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick

School of Peace Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Current efforts to end contemporary slavery represent a fourth wave of an Anglo-American abolitionist movement. Despite this historic precedent, there is little agreement on the nature of the problem. A review of current academic discourse, movement frames, and policy approaches suggests that six perspectives predominate: a prostitution approach focused on sexual exploitation of “women and girls”; a migration approach focused on the cross-border flow of migrants; a criminal justice approach focused on law and enforcement; a forced-labor approach emphasizing unfree labor; a slavery approach focused on trafficking in comparative-historical context; and a human rights approach centered on individual rights. This …

Another Casualty Of The War . . . Vagrancy Laws Target The Fourth Amendment, T. Leigh Anenson

Akron Law Review

This Comment will review the origins of the vagrancy law and its traditional abuses. It will then examine decisions discussing the vagrancy law's constitutionality under the Due Process clause void-for-vagueness doctrine and the courts' attempted remedy of explicit standards as to place, scope, or purpose. The remainder of this Comment will discuss the constitutionality of these revised vagrancy laws under the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable seizures.

Fleeing Cuba: A Comparative Piece Focused On Toro And The Options Victims Of Domestic Violence Have In Seeking Citizenship In The United States And Canada, Kiersten M. Schramek

Pace International Law Review

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided a case on February 4, 2013 that has undoubted international implications. Toro v. Sec’y dealt with the language of the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of 1966 (CAA) and the provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

This article focuses on how and why the court reached its decision. It analyzes the conflict between the “plain language” of the CAA and its statutory construction to rebut the court’s assertion that the VAWA self-petition was irrelevant in this case, and ultimately, offer an alternative analysis to this case.

This article …

The Projected Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Human Rights Record In The Post-British Era, Daniel C. Turck

Akron Law Review

On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong ceased to be a British Dependent Territory, and the People's Republic of China (PRC) resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong pursuant to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong (Joint Declaration). The Joint Declaration, in accordance with Article 31 of the PRC's Constitution, declares that Hong Kong is now a Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

Analyzing U.S. Commitment To Socioeconomic Human Rights, Philip C. Aka

Akron Law Review

This Article critiques the U.S. government’s approach to human rights. In particular, it assesses U.S. commitment to socioeconomic human rights. These guarantees encompass, among others, the right to work, including the securement of favorable conditions of work through participation in trade union activities, the right to social security, the right to food, the right to education, the right to adequate health care, and the right to housing, along with the general right to be free from extreme poverty. These rights were inspired by the Universal Declaration, and elaborated by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This …

Dangerous Diagnoses, Risky Assumptions, And The Failed Experiment Of "Sexually Violent Predator" Commitment, Deirdre M. Smith

Faculty Publications

In its 1997 opinion, Kansas v. Hendricks, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law that reflected a new model of civil commitment. The targets of this new commitment law were dubbed “Sexually Violent Predators” (SVPs), and the Court upheld indefinite detention of these individuals on the assumption that there is a psychiatrically distinct class of individuals who, unlike typical recidivists, have a mental condition that impairs their ability to refrain from violent sexual behavior. And, more specifically, the Court assumed that the justice system could reliably identify the true “predators,” those for whom this unusual and extraordinary deprivation of liberty …

Engaging U.N. Special Procedures To Advance Human Rights At Home: A Guide For U.S. Advocates, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

Social justice advocates in the United States are increasingly using the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations to advance their domestic advocacy on issues ranging from criminal justice to access to health care. These mechanisms offer unique opportunities for U.S. advocates to mobilize grassroots communities, raise public awareness, exert international pressure, and engage with local, state, and national government officials around local human rights concerns. The U.N. special procedures are among the more versatile of the U.N. human rights mechanisms.

This report explores ways in which U.S. advocates are making effective use of the U.N. special procedures. Based on …

The 2014 Farm Bill: Farm Subsidies And Food Oppression, Andrea Freeman

Seattle University Law Review

The 2014 Farm Bill ushered in some significant and surprising changes. One of these was that it rendered the identity of all the recipients of farm subsidies secret. Representative Larry Combest, who is now a lobbyist for agribusiness, first introduced a secrecy provision into the bill in 2000. The provision, however, only applied to subsidies made in the form of crop insurance. Until 2014, the majority of subsidies were direct payments and the identity of the people who received them was public information. In fact, the Environmental Working Group’s release of the list of recipients led to a series of …

Transitional Justice And Local Ownership: A Framework For The Protection Of Human Rights, Andrew B. Friedman

Akron Law Review

The focus of this paper will be only on prosecutions and other mechanisms with formality and ability to punish akin to a prosecution. Of the many such pseudo-prosecutions, particular focus will be paid to Truth and Reconciliation Commissions for their formality, their ability to grant amnesty, and the darling space they occupy in the collective public and scholarly imagination. Second, the importance of local ownership will be discussed. As previously mentioned, a great deal of work has been done on this particular topic. The discussion in this article will be limited to the problems associated with local ownership in transitional …

Summary And Initial Response To The Same-Sex Marriage Ruling, Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The primary components of this decision depend on both a narrative of continuity and change."

Posting about the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage ­­­­­­­­from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/a-summary-and-initial-response-to-the-same-sex-marriage-ruling/

Babies Behind Bars: An Evaluation Of Prison Nurseries In American Female Prisons And Their Potential Constitutional Challenges, Seham Elmalak

Pace Law Review

This note opens the prison doors and delves into the United States female prison system, primarily focusing on the positive and negative impact of nursery programs on mothers and children, along with potential constitutional claims that can be brought against these programs. Part I provides a general background about the American prison system, and briefly touches on the constitutional standards of prisoners’ rights. It also discusses the history and development of female prisons and illustrates the rapid increase of female incarceration. Part II focuses on the prevalence of mothers within the female population in prisons. Part III introduces prison nursery …

Stop Warehousing The Mentally Ill In Prisons, Lauren Carasik

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

Human Rights In The United States: Primer On Recommendations From The Inter-American Human Rights Commission & The United Nations, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

Over the past decade, U.S. social justice advocates have increasingly recognized that international and regional human rights mechanisms are important avenues for seeking human rights accountability. A broad and diverse range of advocates have mobilized, in particular, around United Nations human rights reviews, including treaty compliance reviews, Special Rapporteur visits to the United States, and the U.N. Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review process, increasing visibility of numerous domestic human rights concerns.

A smaller number of advocates and social justice groups have engaged with the Americas’ regional human rights system, the Inter-American Human Rights System, which offers additional and complementary …

Boys, Rape And Masculinity: Reclaiming Boys' Narratives Of Sexual Violence In Custody, Brenda V. Smith

Project on Addressing Prison Rape - Articles

This article examines a little studied area at the intersections of masculinity, feminist studies, and criminal justice – sexual abuse of boys in custody by female staff. Professor Smith will outline the scope of the problem and discusses competing narratives that attempt to explain the phenomena: (1) female staff as “mother, sister, friend”; (2) adolescent development theory; (3) complex early childhood trauma; and (4) female authority and power. There is a gap in both masculinity and feminist theory in analyzing sexual aggression and power by women over boys. The talk will colclude with policy and practice prescription and recommendations for …

Transitional Justice In Sri Lanka: Rethinking Post-War Diaspora Advocacy For Accountability, Mytili Bala

International Human Rights Law Journal

Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam came to a bloody end in May 2009, amidst allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity on both sides. Since then, Tamils in the diaspora, long accused of funding the war, have become vocal proponents for war crimes accountability. Some might label certain forms of diaspora advocacy as “lawfare” or “long-distance nationalism.” However, these labels fail to account for the complex memories and identities that shape diaspora advocacy for accountability today. In order for Sri Lanka to move forward from decades of conflict, transitional justice mechanisms to …

Impact Of The “Nirbhaya” Rape Case: Isolated Phenomenon Or Social Change?, Tina P. Lapsia

Honors Scholar Theses

In December 2012, a twenty-three year old college student, who was given the pseudonym “Nirbhaya” (“fearless”), was fatally gang-raped on a private bus in Delhi, India, galvanizing the country to swiftly adopt new legislative measures and catapulting the issue of violence against women in India into the international spotlight. Although assault and rape cases have made India infamous for its high volume of crimes against women, the reaction to this particular incident was much different from before. This paper investigates whether the governmental and societal responses represent social change, as indicated by changing attitudes towards violence against women in India. …

The Effects Of International Laws On Modern Day Slavery., Sadmira Ramic

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

Imagining The Unimaginable: Torture And The Criminal Law, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This article examines the use of torture by the U.S. government in the context of the late 20th-century preventive turn in criminal justice. Challenging the assumption that the use of “enhanced interrogation tactics” in the war on terror was an exceptional deviation from accepted norms, this article suggests that this deviation began decades before the terror attacks, in the context of conventional criminal procedure. I point to the use of the “ticking time bomb hypothetical,” and its connection to criminal procedure’s “kidnapping hypothetical.” Using case law and criminal procedure textbooks I trace the employment of that narrative over several decades, …

Cross-Racial Misidentification: A Call To Action In Washington State And Beyond, Taki V, Flevaris, Ellie F. Chapman

Seattle University Law Review

Research indicates eyewitness identifications are incorrect approximately one-third of the time in criminal investigations. For years, this phenomenon has significantly contributed to wrongful convictions all over the country, including in Washington State. But jurors, attorneys, and police remain unaware of the nature and extent of the problem and continue to give undue weight to eyewitness evidence. Experts have estimated that approximately 5,000–10,000 felony convictions in the United States each year are wrongful, and research suggests that approximately 75% of wrongful convictions involve eyewitness misidentification. The phenomenon of eyewitness misidentification is also amplified and most troublesome in the context of cross-racial …

Aiding Transitional Justice In Solomon Islands, Nicole Dicker

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

Overall in Solomon Islands, foreign aid donors have neither engaged effectively with transitional justice itself nor leveraged transitional justice in support of broader development outcomes. Transitional justice in Solomon Islands responds to the five-year period of violent civil conflict, the Tensions, which devastated the Pacific Island nation of Solomon Islands from 1998 to 2003. The Tensions resulted in the deaths of an estimated 200 people and left some 35,000 people displaced; many suffered abductions, illegal detentions, torture and ill-treatment, sexual violence, and property violations. To remedy past human rights abuses, several transitional justice measures have been implemented in Solomon Islands, …

Genocide Denial And The Law: A Critical Appraisal, Paul Behrens

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

Genocide denial carries particular relevance for international law: it is the negation of international crimes, and it can prepare the ground for new crimes of this kind. But its criminalization raises concerns as well. The danger of a clash with human rights, particularly with the freedom of ex- pression, cannot be dismissed lightly. This article explores reasons for and repercussions of the criminalization of denial. It also investigates alterna- tives, including the use of truth and reconciliation, and evaluates methods that focus on direct confrontation of the deniers.

The Legal Status Of Employees Of Private Military/Security Companies Participating In U.N. Peacekeeping Operations, Mohamad Ghazi Janaby

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

No abstract provided.