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The Charter And The Constitution: The Human Rights Provisions In American Law, Oscar Schachter

Vanderbilt Law Review

The United Nations has added new complications to the well-worn subject of treaties and the Constitution. The issues have arisen principally in the field of human rights and, inevitably, constitutional discussions have reflected the political as well as the legal complexities. One consequence has been an apparent shift in legal positions: bar association leaders, long devoted to strict construction, have been inclined recently to stress the broad and expansive character of the treaty power and the supremacy clause ; in contrast, U.S. Government officials normally expected to support federal power have increasingly emphasized constitutional limitations. In political terms, this turnabout …