Law Commons^™

For The Greater Good: The Subordination Of Reproductive Freedom To State Interests In The United States And China, Marisa S. Cianciarulo

Akron Law Review

This Article provides a comparative analysis of two very different restrictions on reproductive freedom that have startling parallels and similarities. Both China and the United States impose limits on reproductive freedom: China restricts the number of children that families can have, often in ways that violate international law, while some U.S. states have attempted to restrict access to abortion in ways that violate the precepts of Roe v. Wade as well as international law. Both China and U.S. states impose restrictions on reproductive freedom in order to achieve compelling state goals: protecting development and sustainability in China, and protecting prenatal …

Liberty At The Borders Of Private Law, Donald J. Smythe

Akron Law Review

Liberty is both dependent upon and limited by the State. The State protects individuals from the coercion of others, but paradoxically, it must exercise coercion itself in doing so. Unfortunately, the reliance on the State to deter coercion raises the possibility that the State’s powers of coercion might be abused. There is, not surprisingly, therefore, a wide range of literature on the relationship between law and liberty, but most of it focuses on the relationship between public law and liberty. This Article focuses on the relationship between private law and liberty. Private laws are enforced by courts. Since the judiciary …

Third-Party Trial Observers: A Proposal For Codification And Implementation Of International Procedural Due Process In The Americas, Jay D. Terry

Akron Law Review

Over twenty years have passed now since Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt expressed the hope that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights "may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere." In the same breath, she recognized that the Universal Declaration did not "purport to be a statement of law or of legal obligation." But the members of the world community had unanimously enumerated the rights of men and all that remained was for men of good will to provide for the effective implementation of those rights.

Third-Party Trial Observers: A Proposal For Codification And Implementation Of International Procedural Due Process In The Americas, Jay D. Terry

Akron Law Review

OVER TWENTY YEARS have passed now since Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt expressed the hope that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights "may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere."' In the same breath, she recognized that the Universal Declaration did not "purport to be a statement of law or of legal obligation." But the members of the world community had unanimously enumerated the rights of men and all that remained was for men of good will to provide for the effective implementation of those rights.

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.

Human Rights As Comparative Constitutional Law, Jacob W.F. Sundberg

Akron Law Review

This was the background of the Akron symposium on human rights as comparative constitutional law. The purpose of the symposium was to expose U.S. constitutional and international law experts to the working of these human rights protection systems in which decisions under the U.N. Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights have arrived at an independent and influential, if not even precedent-setting role in relation to the national courts. Decision making by the U.S. Supreme Court is the focus of the teaching of Constitutional Law in the United States.

Having a number of European …

Judicial Enforcement Of International Human Rights, Edward D. Re

Akron Law Review

Lawyers are thinkers who must determine what are the fundamental human rights that must be legally enforced by a society worthy of being called civilized. Lawyers, therefore, devote their energies not only to human rights, but also to legal remedies designed to give effect to fundamental rights. Hence, for lawyers, the legal question presented deals with convening the ideals into legally enforceable norms. To phrase the inquiry in simple terms: what needs to be done to give legal effect to those moral norms which embody human rights and fundamental freedoms? What are the institutions of government that are charged with …

Coming Out Is A Free Pass Out: Boy Scouts Of America V. Dale, N. Nicole Endejann

Akron Law Review

This Note discusses the three Supreme Court cases that have delineated the battle between public accommodation laws and an organization’s freedom of expressive association: Roberts v. United States Jaycees, Board of Directors of Rotary International v. Rotary Club of Duarte, and New York State Club Association, Inc. v. City of New York. Specifically, this Note focuses on the development of the balancing test which courts use to protect these two constitutional freedoms. This Note then analyzes the Supreme Court’s decision in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, pointing out its deviations from the Roberts Trilogy. Finally, this Note explains the …

Sosa V. Alvarez-Machain And The Alien Tort Statute: How Wide Has The Door To Human Rights Litigation Been Left Open?, Carolyn A. D'Amore

Akron Law Review

This Note will explore the Alien Tort Statute from its origin in 1789 to the present interpretation of the Sosa Court. Part II will focus on the Framers’ language and intent, discuss the long lull in the use of the ATS and the impact of Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, and examine a line of cases that reawakened the ATS in the 1980s. Part III explores the elements of the Court’s decision in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain: the facts that gave rise to an ATS claim, the plurality’s denial of jurisdiction, its dicta regarding potential application of the ATS, and Justice …

An Analysis Of The Legality Of Television Cameras Broadcasting Juror Deliberations In A Criminal Case, Daniel H. Erskine Esq.

Akron Law Review

This work sets out the constitutional, statutory, and common law applicable to television’s intrusion into the jury room. The first section addresses federal constitutional considerations focusing on Article III Section 2, the Sixth Amendment, and the First Amendment. The second section analyzes certain federal rules and particular statutes applicable to televising federal judicial proceedings, as well as the rationale behind their enactment. Finally, the third section discusses comparative approaches addressing television’s intrusion into the courtroom, particularly focusing on recent jurisprudence from the European Court of Human Rights and the Scottish Court of Session.

The Right To Freely Have Sex? Beyond Biology: Reproductive Rights And Sexual Self-Determination, Yakaré-Oulé Jansen

Akron Law Review

Part I will briefly set out how sexual rights are approached in the national legal arena. The way the U.S. Supreme Court treats reproductive rights provides a good example as it has some analogies with the treatment of reproductive rights under international human rights law; the Court focuses primarily on the biological aspects of sexuality and has been reluctant to acknowledge rights that fall within the realm of sexual self-determination. This case study is followed in Part II by an analysis of to what extent the treaty bodies of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”), International Covenant …

United Nations Peacekeeping Operations And Security And Reconstruction, Muna Ndulo

Akron Law Review

This Article is in part based on a memorial lecture delivered by Muna Ndulo at The University of Akron School of Law in honor of the late Justice Tawia Modibo Ocran...In August 2000, a famous UN report, the Brahimi Report, acknowledged the shortcomings of the UN peacekeeping efforts and recommended wide-ranging reforms aimed at strengthening the operations and making them more effective. Since then there have been numerous other reports aimed at implementing reforms to strengthen UN PKOs...This Article builds on that report and discusses the broad challenges facing UN peacekeeping missions today and the role of the UN PKOs …

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 …

Privatizing Human Rights? Creating Intellectual Property Rights From Human Rights Principles, David S. Welkowitz

Akron Law Review

This article focuses on one human rights treaty, the Convention, and the possible uses of its provisions to secure and expand intellectual property rights (“IP rights”). Although the Convention does not contain any provision specifically referencing IP rights, it does contain several provisions that could be used to expand IP rights. Furthermore, the existence of a substantial body of interpretive case law from the ECHR affords us a more detailed perspective on the manner in which the Convention could be used to further IP rights. Finally, the group of countries adhering to the Convention, though all part of Europe, represent …