Law Commons^™

Are Rights A Reality? Evaluating Federal Civil Rights Enforcement, International Association Of Official Human Rights Agencies (Iaohra), Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

This comment draws upon prior submissions to UN human rights experts, and past resources and scholarship, as well as independent research conducted by the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, in partnership with state and local actors, including a 2018 survey of IAOHRA member agencies.

Columbia Law School Think Tank Provides Testimony To New York City Council On Gender And Racial Equity Training, Public Rights/Private Conscience Project

Center for Gender & Sexuality Law

April 27, 2017 — On Monday, April 24, Ashe McGovern, Legislative and Policy Director of Columbia Law School’s Public Rights/Private Conscience Project (PRPCP) testified before the New York City Council Committee on Women’s Issues on a bill that would require several city agencies to undergo training on “implicit bias, discrimination, cultural competency and structural inequity, including with respect to gender, race and sexual orientation.”

Human Rights Recommendations To The United States: A Desk Reference For State And Local Human Rights Agencies, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

State and local human rights and human relations agencies play a pivotal role in promoting and protecting human rights across the country. Indeed, state and local agencies work on a daily basis to foster equality and eradicate discrimination. Through education, monitoring, and addressing human rights issues, they ensure the ability of the United States to make human rights a reality in local communities.

To assist state and local agencies in doing this work, this resource distills the core human rights principles that fall under the jurisdiction of many state and local agencies, and offers guidance to strengthen the culture of …

Bringing Human Rights Home: The Birmingham Mayor's Office Human Rights Dialogue, Human Rights Institute, Office Of The Mayor Of The City Birmingham

Human Rights Institute

Human rights begin close to home. Local governments have jurisdiction over a range of human rights issues, including those related to housing, education, employment, and criminal justice. Indeed, local agencies and officials are essential to the promotion and protection of human rights in the United States. They work every day to create conditions under which all communities can flourish. Mayors are particularly well-situated to advance human rights and build a culture of human rights based on dignity, freedom from discrimination, and opportunity.

The Need For Comprehensive Federal Outreach And Mechanisms To Support State And Local Implementation Of The Convention, Human Rights Institute, International Association Of Official Human Rights Agencies (Iaohra)

Human Rights Institute

Compliance with the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) requires effective federal coordination with, and education of, state and local governments. In ratifying the CAT, the United States indicated that state and local governments share authority to implement the treaty. This includes the over 150 state and local civil and human rights agencies that enforce federal, state and local human and civil rights laws and/or conduct research, training and education, and issue policy recommendations within the United States (“Human Rights Agencies”). It also includes the full array of state and local officials with decision-making and enforcement authority, including governors, state attorneys general, …

Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute Joins Delegation At United Nations For Review Of U.S. Human Rights Record, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

New York, August 11, 2014 – This week, Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute (HRI) will travel to Geneva, Switzerland this week to participate in a significant review of the United States’ human rights record by the United Nations.

The Need For Effective Federal Outreach And Mechanisms To Coordinate And Support Federal, State And Local Implementation Of The Convention, Human Rights Institute, International Association Of Official Human Rights Agencies (Iaohra)

Human Rights Institute

As this Committee has consistently recognized, compliance with the CERD requires effective coordination between federal, state, and local governments. In ratifying the CERD, the United States indicated that state and local governments share authority to implement the treaty. This includes the over 150 state and local civil and human rights agencies that enforce federal, state and local human and civil rights laws and/or conduct research, training and education, and issue policy recommendations within the United States (“Human Rights Agencies”). It also encompasses the full array of state and local officials with decision-making and enforcement authority, including governors, state attorneys general, …

Closing The Gap: The Federal Role In Respecting & Ensuring Human Rights At The State And Local Level, Human Rights Institute, International Association Of Official Human Rights Agencies (Iaohra)

Human Rights Institute

This report offers an overview of the domestic landscape for human rights implementation and recommends action the United States must take to respect and ensure Covenant rights at the state and local level. This information responds directly to questions posed by the Human Rights Committee as part of the fourth periodic review of the United States, and offers a more complete picture of how the lack of institutionalized support impacts state and local governments. The report further describes a number of promising state and local human rights initiatives and details the myriad barriers that impede more comprehensive and effective state …

The Court's Denial Of Racial Societal Debt, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw

Faculty Scholarship

In this year of civil rights anniversaries, the narrative of racial progress has been tempered by the Supreme Court’s game-changing decisions this past summer. The notion that “we’ve come a long way and we have much more work to do” sounds ever more like wishful thinking in the face of a Supreme Court that is no longer an active contributor to the cause. Having abandoned its unprecedented insistence that white supremacy be upended root and branch, the current Court’s boldness is measured by its audacious efforts to reverse engineer the transformative mechanisms these anniversaries celebrate.

Bringing Human Rights Home: How State And Local Governments Can Use Human Rights To Advance Local Policy, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

State and local governments play an essential role in promoting and protecting human rights. Within the United States, agencies and officials at the municipal, city, county and state levels can help fulfill human rights by ensuring dignity, equality and opportunity for everyone in their jurisdiction.

Recognizing the value of human rights, state and local agencies and officials across the United States are incorporating international human rights standards in their daily work. As illustrated by examples throughout this report, integrating human rights into local law, policy and practice can enhance government decision-making and respond directly to local needs. It also allows …

Implementing Recommendations From The Universal Periodic Review: A Toolkit For State And Local Human Rights And Human Relations Commissions, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

The United States’ international leadership in promoting human rights around the world is strengthened by state and local officials’ efforts to employ and advance human rights close to home. Indeed, state and local human rights and human relations commissions can play a pivotal role in help- ing the U.S. meet its own human rights obligations by ensuring fairness, dignity and opportunity for all in their communities.

This Toolkit provides information about a recent review of the United States’ human rights record under the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review (“UPR”), which revealed a number of areas in which the United States …

Using Human Rights Mechanisms Of The United Nations To Advance Economic Justice, Risa E. Kaufman, Joann Kamuf Ward

Human Rights Institute

As a growing number of social justice lawyers employ human rights standards and strategies to advocate for their clients. human rights mechanisms of the United Nations have become a promising way for lawyers to work toward economic justice. These mechanisms are not only an alternative to traditional litigation and administrative advocacy but also unique opportunities for collaboration among U.S. civil society groups and engagement with policymakers. Because they are grounded in international human 1ights norms. human rights mechanisms have the potential to deal with social and economic issues beyond the reach of traditional domestic protections. By strategically using these mechanisms. …

Gender Justice In The Americas: A Transnational Dialogue On Violence, Sexuality, Reproduction, And Human Rights University, Human Rights Clinic, Centro De Derechos Humanos De La Universidad Diego Portales, Center For Reproductive Rights

Human Rights Institute

On February 23-25, 2011, over 100 women's rights, gender, and sexuality advocates and scholars from twenty countries in North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean gathered at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida to attend a groundbreaking convening, Gender Justice in the Americas: A Transnational Dialogue on Violence, Sexuality, Reproduction, and Human Rights. The Convening, hosted by the University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic, University of Diego Portales Human Rights Center, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, brought together key players in the region to exchange views and …

Human Rights And Domestic Violence: An Advocacy Manual, Human Rights Clinic

Human Rights Institute

Though international law is traditionally called “the law of nations,” it governs far more than relations between the countries of the world. International human rights law pushes the boundaries of State responsibility and allows individuals to directly demand accountability for both governmental action and inaction that violates basic human rights. International human rights treaties declare the minimum standards by which States (i.e. nation-states, or countries) are expected to comply. The theme of the 2010 Fourteenth Annual Domestic Violence Conference at Fordham Law School, “Expanding Our Vision: Human Rights, Victims’ Rights, and Approaches to Diverse Families,” for which this manual was …

The Road To Rights: Establishing A Domestic Human Rights Institution In The United States, Leadership Conference Education Fund, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

While human rights are often discussed as international standards, they are realized first and foremost at home. Respect for human rights is a domestic endeavor — the promotion, protection and fulfillment of these rights falls to national and local governments, not to international bodies. Because the front line of human rights is domestic, full realization of these rights requires coordination and dialogue between civil society, national policy-making bodies and local institutions.

U.S. human rights advocates have continually emphasized that “human rights begin at home,” and it is only when the full spectrum of rights are recognized and protected in local …