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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.

Engaging U.N. Special Procedures To Advance Human Rights At Home: A Guide For U.S. Advocates, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

Social justice advocates in the United States are increasingly using the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations to advance their domestic advocacy on issues ranging from criminal justice to access to health care. These mechanisms offer unique opportunities for U.S. advocates to mobilize grassroots communities, raise public awareness, exert international pressure, and engage with local, state, and national government officials around local human rights concerns. The U.N. special procedures are among the more versatile of the U.N. human rights mechanisms.

This report explores ways in which U.S. advocates are making effective use of the U.N. special procedures. Based on …

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. …

Human Rights, Social Justice And State Law: A Manual For Creative Lawyering, Program On Human Rights And The Global Economy, National Economic And Social Rights Initiative (Nesri), Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

This manual is written to help lawyers consider the role of transnational law as an interpretive tool in state constitutional and other state law litigation to protect economic and social rights.9 In Chapter I, the manual provides an overview of the relationship between state law and transnational law. In Chapter II, the manual covers key economic and social rights and provides examples of how courts have found those rights to be justiciable in a range of contexts. The principal economic and social rights discussed in Chapter II are:

• The right to health
• The right to housing
• The right to food …