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Full-Text Articles in Law
Valuing Life: A Human Rights Perspective On The Calculus Of Regulation, William J. Aceves
Valuing Life: A Human Rights Perspective On The Calculus Of Regulation, William J. Aceves
Faculty Scholarship
How much is a human life worth? This is both a puzzling and subversive question for human rights advocates to consider. The concept of human rights is premised on the sanctity and inviolability of human life as well as the equality of all human beings. Indeed, the right to life and the corollary right to be free from the arbitrary deprivation of life constitute the defining human right. To place a price on the value of human life is, thus, unsettling. And yet, monetary valuation of human life occurs frequently. Governments use cost-benefit analysis and calculations regarding the value of …
Correcting An Evident Error: A Plea To Revise Jesner V. Arab Bank, Plc, William J. Aceves
Correcting An Evident Error: A Plea To Revise Jesner V. Arab Bank, Plc, William J. Aceves
Faculty Scholarship
In Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC, the Supreme Court held that foreign corporations are not subject to lawsuits under the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”). Written by Justice Kennedy, the highly fractured opinion offered several reasons for its holding. Although commentators have already criticized various aspects of Justice Kennedy’s opinion, one point has not received meaningful consideration and merits correction. In his plurality opinion, Justice Kennedy attached significance to the placement of the Torture Victim Protection Act (“TVPA”) as a statutory note to the ATS in the U.S. Code. In so doing, he disregarded longstanding practice and black letter law that …
Legal Pluralism And The Threat To Human Rights In The New Plurinational State Of Bolivia, James M. Cooper
Legal Pluralism And The Threat To Human Rights In The New Plurinational State Of Bolivia, James M. Cooper
Faculty Scholarship
Bolivia, the chronically poor, landlocked Andean country has long seen its indigenous populations marginalized, languishing in underdevelopment. Spanish colonialists destroyed any vestige of the vibrant, complex civilization that existed in the region – including the religious, political and legal systems in place for centuries. In December 2005, Evo Morales Ayma was the first elected President of indigenous descent. After leading the changes in the country’s Constitution, Morales continued to rule Bolivia until the writing of this Article. The New Political Constitution of Plurinational State of Bolivia of 2009 and a national law for community justice, signed into law by Morales, …
When Death Becomes Murder: A Primer On Extrajudicial Killing, William J. Aceves
When Death Becomes Murder: A Primer On Extrajudicial Killing, William J. Aceves
Faculty Scholarship
International law prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of life, which includes extrajudicial killing. This norm is codified in every major human rights treaty and has attained jus cogens status as a non-derogable norm in international law. In the United States, the Torture Victim Protection Act ("TVPA") establishes civil liability for extrajudicial killing. As evidenced in the TVPA's text and legislative history, the definition of extrajudicial killing is based on international law. Despite the clear meaning of the TVPA's text and the clarity of international law, the TVPA's definition of extrajudicial killing is still contested in litigation, and some courts express uncertainty …