Law Commons^™

Immigration Detention & Human Rights In The Lone Star State, Liane N. Noble

Liane N Noble

Every year, almost 400,000 individuals are held in immigration detention in the United States. These individuals—men, women, and even children—are held in a patchwork of federal, local, and private contract facilities. Surprisingly, one-third of all U.S. immigration detention beds are located in the state of Texas. Given the concentration of detention space in Texas and thus the unique issues facing that state, this report seeks to elucidate the key human rights issues surrounding immigration detention with a focus on the situation in Texas.

The information contained in this report was gathered using a variety of research methods, including: (1) review …

The Ballot As A Bulwark: The Impact Of Felony Disenfranchisement On Recidivism, Guy P. Hamilton-Smith, Matt Vogel

Guy P Hamilton-Smith

Felony disenfranchisement – the exclusion of individuals convicted of felonies from the voting rolls – is a practice that is commonplace in the United States. In 2010, approximately 5.3 million Americans were ineligible to vote because of a prior felony conviction. Despite the fact that the justifications for disenfranchisement in a democratic society could be characterized as dubious, disenfranchisement has withstood various legal challenges and remains a widespread practice in almost every state. One argument which has never been examined empirically is the notion that disenfranchisement hampers efforts to rehabilitate offenders, which is what this article does. First, this article …

Torture, Customary International Law, Promulgative Articulation, And Jus Cogens: Why And How Some United States Government Conduct Violates International And United States Law, Christopher L. Blakesley

Christopher L. Blakesley

This essay exposes the confusion over the meaning of customary international law and jus cogens that infests the writing of many international jurists, including scholars, and judges, especially those from the Common Law world. The essay shows how the essential idea behind customary international law, especially jus cogens in relation to crime is basic and easy to grasp, although some scholars claim that it is impenetrable. On the edges, of course, there is valuable disputation over nuance and the breath of the concepts. At bottom, however, the essence of the concepts is as basic as the deepest and most dearly …

Moral And Legal Dilemma: A Legal Analysis Of The Criticisms Leveled Against Arizona Sb 1070, Michael K. Marriott

Michael K Marriott

The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, more commonly known as Arizona SB 1070, is a recently passed bill targeting unlawful immigration. Touted to be the strongest piece of immigration legislation passed in America's recent history, the bill has come under fire on state, national, and international levels.

This paper begins by setting the stage for why SB 1070 was passed, and what legislators sought to accomplish. It then provides a basic overview of the bill, with an emphasis towards its more controversial aspects. From there it groups together certain classes of criticisms that have been publicly leveled …

Stateless, Jay Milbrandt

Jay Milbrandt

Traveling to Southeast Asia to research human trafficking, I encountered scores of “stateless” women and children—citizens of no country and wanted by no country. By operation of law, they were denied citizenship. Left stateless, these individuals quickly became vulnerable to human rights abuses, exploitation, and trafficking.

The United Nations estimates that as many as 12 million people worldwide are victims of statelessness. From South East Asia to the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, denial of citizenship takes form as both a failure of law and tool for oppression.

Fortunately, this problem was solved before. After World War I, Europe …