Law Commons^™

Engaging Human Rights Norms To Realize Universal And Equitable Health Care In Massachusetts, April Jakubec, Mariah Mcgill, Gillian Macnaughton

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Massachusetts health care law served as the model in 2010 for the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). In 2006, Massachusetts adopted sweeping health care reforms. The law sought to increase health care insurance coverage for residents of Massachusetts by:

(1) Mandating that all adults in the state have health care insurance unless an affordable option was not available;

(2) Expanding Medicaid;

(3) Creating a new program of subsidized private insurance for low- and moderate-income residents; and

(4) Establishing a transparent health care insurance market exchange.

Previous studies on the Massachusetts health care reforms of 2006 have analyzed …

Where Do We Go From Here? Charting Perceptions Of The Impact Of The Human Rights City Boston Resolution, Kostas Koutsioumpas, Maggie Schneider, Matthew Annunziato

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as a common standard of achievement and called upon every individual and organ of society to promote the rights enshrined in the document. The UDHR has been applied in many ways around the world, including by the international Human Rights Cities movement, which began in Rosario, Argentina, in 1997.

Today more than two dozen Human Rights Cities have formed around the globe, including at least nine in the United States (Washington, DC; Eugene, OR; Pittsburgh, PA; Chapel Hill, NC; Columbus, IN; Jackson, MI; Seattle, WA; Mountain View, …

The Anglo-Latin Divide And The Future Of The Inter-American System Of Human Rights, Paolo G. Carozza

Paolo G. Carozza

A former President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Paolo Carozza draws on his personal experience to identify and propose solutions for a key flaw in the Inter-American Human Rights System: the division between English-language member states and states with Latin-based languages. Terming this division "The Anglo-Latin Divide," Carozza traces the division not only to linguistic difference, but also to differences in legal traditions. He explains how the differences between Anglo tradition of common law and the Latin tradition of civil law manifest in both substantive and procedural divides within the Inter-American Human Rights system, including in sensitive areas …

Beyond Vulnerability: Refugee Women’S Leadership In Jordan, Widad Hassan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

While both men and women are affected by conflicts and humanitarian crises, 80 percent of the world’s refugees and internally displaced persons are women and children, indicating that women experience conflict and war differently. The emphasis on women’s vulnerability during conflicts and humanitarian crises leads to their exclusion from leadership roles and decision-making on humanitarian programs and issues that impact them. Though women experience numerous socio-cultural barriers to exercising leadership in humanitarian settings, they have taken on important roles in emergency response and in refugee camps. This paper traces the progress of UN and humanitarian agencies recognition and development of …

Medicapt In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo: The Design, Development, And Deployment Of Mobile Technology To Document Forensic Evidence Of Sexual Violence, Karen Naimer, Widney Brown, Ranit Mishori

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This review essay provides an overview of the MediCapt app and the steps Physicians for Human Rights has taken to design, develop, and field-test the app in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It also explores advocacy opportunities that the app’s emerging technology may facilitate down the road. This review essay also identifies the many challenges and questions that we have grappled with and lessons learned as we seek to deploy MediCapt in a low-resourced and politically unstable context and take it to scale beyond DRC. Finally, in sharing the details of this case study, we hope to emphasize both …

No Lost Generations: Refugee Children And Their Human Right To Education, From The Holocaust To The Syrian Civil War, Jessica Warner

MAIS Projects and Theses

International law protects the right to education for refugee children, as is stated in multiple treaties and documents, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951), the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990). The purpose of this research is to highlight the historical development of education for refugee children, through programs led by Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs), as well as to emphasize the importance of education as part of current humanitarian interventions. This thesis examines a past example …

Human Rights In State Courts, India Thusi, Robert L. Carter

Books & Book Chapters by Maurer Faculty

Human rights are among society’s most powerful ideals. The notion that all people have rights, simply by virtue of their humanity, has sparked new nations, inspired countless freedom movements, and transformed the relationship between people and their governments in places big and small around the globe. The founders of our country declared that we are all created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that opinions of other nations are entitled to “decent respect.” In the aftermath of the Holocaust and World War II, the United States helped craft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the modern …

Prioritising Human Development In African Intellectual Property Law, J. Janewa Oseitutu

Faculty Publications

The global intellectual property structure has been criticised for requiring developing nations to adopt intellectual property standards that are appropriate for industrialised countries. Some commentators have observed that industrialised nations, such as the United States, developed their economies by borrowing from others, but that through the use of globalised intellectual property standards, they have effectively limited other nations from doing the same. This article does not aim to revisit the question of the suitability of the existing intellectual property standards for developing countries. Nor does it seek to analyse whether, as a general proposition, intellectual property rights should be expanded …

Human Rights Education In Patient Care, Joanna Erdman

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article explores how human rights education in the health professions can build knowledge, change culture, and empower advocacy. Through a study of educational initiatives in the field, the article analyzes different methods by which health professionals come to see the relevance of human rights norms for their work, to habituate these norms in everyday practice, and to espouse these norms in advocacy for social justice. The article seeks to show the transformative potential of education for human rights in patient care.

Ending The Excessive Use Of Force At Home And Abroad, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

In the mid-1980s the American Society of International Law (ASIL) launched an initiative to engage more women and minority members in the Society and international law more generally.' Professor Henry Richardson was there, encouraging all of the new aspirants, including me. He is still doing that, and this essay in his honor is an expression of gratitude, admiration, and affection. It develops themes Hank and I have both pursued for decades: human rights, peace and non-violence, and the promotion of international law and ASIL.

The Sprouting Of Human Rights Initiatives In The Midst Of A Storm Of Resistance To Refugees, Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak

Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak

No abstract provided.

When Does Cultural Satire Cross The Line In The Global Human Rights Regime?: The Charlie Hebdo Controversy And Its Implication For Creating A New Paradigm To Assess The Bounds Of Freedom Of Expression, Kwanghyuk Yoo

Dr. Kwanghyuk David Yoo