Human Rights Law Commons^™

Dean Melanie Leslie’S Office Hours With Professor Peter Markowitz, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

2025 Event Invitations

Join Dean Leslie and Professor Peter Markowitz for the Dean's Office Hours on November 12. They will discuss the shifting immigration landscape in the United States. The scale and nature of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agency's enforcement practices have been evolving rapidly in recent months. The shifts have had profound impacts on immigrants, their families, and the communities in which they live. The changes have also impacted the work of immigration lawyers, who are rapidly evolving their practices to meet the moment and best protect the immigrants they represent. The two will also answer questions raised by …

The Perlmutter Center For Legal Justice At Cardozo Law Secures Release Of Ernest Taylor After Serving 22 Years In Prison For A Minor Theft, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Archive

Announcement of the Perlmutter Center securing Ernest Taylor's release after resentencing.

Dismantling Hate: The Power Of Dialogue, Kukin Program For Conflict Resolution, Tamara Meyer, Arno Michaelis, Daryl Davis

2025 Event Invitations

Join us for an inspiring conversation with three extraordinary individuals who have turned painful histories into catalysts for change:

• Tamara Meyer – daughter of German Jewish Holocaust survivors who now builds dialogue and healing across generational trauma
• Arno Michaelis – former leader in the White nationalist movement, who now works to prevent radicalization and promote compassion
• Daryl Davis – Black musician and racial justice advocate known for fostering friendships with members of the Ku Klux Klan, confronting hate with curiosity

Kwanza Jones & José E. Feliciano Commit $6 Million To Name Clinical Education Program At Cardozo School Of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Archive

Cardozo School of Law announced a $6 million gift from alumna Kwanza Jones and José E. Feliciano to renovate and expand its clinical education facilities. The gift will establish the Kwanza Jones and José E. Feliciano Program for Clinical Education, supporting experiential legal education and increasing access to justice through Cardozo's nationally recognized clinical programs.

2025 Fall - Clihhr Newsletter, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr)

CLIHHR Newsletters

This Fall 2025 issue of the CLIHHR Newsletter highlights the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights’ continued work in advocacy, research, and education. It features the Institute’s landmark report on Indigenous land rights in the Brazilian Amazon, major events including the 2025 Lemkin Award Ceremony, faculty and student achievements, alumni spotlights, and engagement with international human rights mechanisms. The newsletter reflects CLIHHR’s ongoing commitment to supporting marginalized communities and advancing human rights and atrocity prevention efforts.

Twenty-Fourth Annual International Advocate For Peace Award, Honoring Dr. Zafra Lerman, Zafra Lerman, Andrea K. Schneider, Felix Wu, Armando Gonzalez

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

On March 6, 2025, the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution presented the twenty-fourth annual International Advocate for Peace Award to Dr. Zafra M. Lerman. The following is a transcript of the event.

Pursuing Restorative Justice For The Legacy Of Federal Indian Boarding Schools, Jilly Horowitz

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

This Note examines the United States’ federal boarding school policy, designed to eliminate Native populations, and the federal government’s efforts from June 2021 to December 2024 to acknowledge and address its harms. For 150 years, Native children were subjected to this brutal policy and were removed from their communities and placed in boarding schools. These schools were focused less on providing education and opportunity for Native students, and instead were tools to carry out a concentrated federal policy of cultural assimilation and forcible removal from Native lands. The federal government implemented this policy throughout the country, operating or funding 451 …

Can The Free Speech Clause Protect Transgender Expression From The Trump Administration?, Daniel Cooper

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

This Article explores how the Free Speech Clause can provide protection to speakers implicated by the Trump administration's executive orders restricting gender-related speech. Part I will provide an overview of how the Trump administration has directed executive authority to stifle gender-non-conforming identity and expression, how those efforts fit within the larger context of right-wing efforts to marginalize transgender people, and why the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is not currently a useful tool for the protection of trans rights. Part II will examine efforts to regulate government employees' pronoun usage, focusing on whether …

Free, Prior, Informed Consent And Power Imbalances: Upholding Indigenous Rights On The Anniversary Of Undrip, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr), Fernanda Frizzo Bragato

2025 Event Invitations

Guest Speaker: Fernanda Frizzo Bragato - Professor of Law at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and a CNPq-funded researcher.

On the anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), this discussion addresses its crucial role in reshaping Indigenous rights across the Americas. Adopted in 2007, UNDRIP marked a historic shift by affirming Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination, autonomy, and free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) — challenging centuries of assimilationist policies. Yet, 17 years later, gaps persist. While UNDRIP inspired regional frameworks like the 2016 OAS Declaration, its promises often clash …

Free, Prior, Informed Consent And Power Imbalances: Upholding Indigenous Rights On The Anniversary Of Undrip, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr)

2025–2026 Flyers

On the anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), this discussion address its crucial role in reshaping indigenous rights across Americas.

Recognizing And Reclaiming Indigenous Peoples’ Constitutional Land Rights In Brazil, Fernanda Frizzo Bragato, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum

Book Chapters

In 2011, the Brazilian Government began dismantling the country’s robust framework for Indigenous land rights by enacting measures to deny Indigenous Peoples’ access to their ancestral lands. From 2019 to 2022, the government did not recognize or title a single hectare of Indigenous lands, despite more than 700 pending requests for demarcation (or formal designation and titling). A change in government and six land demarcations in 2023, however, show signs of a new era for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and relationship with the state. This chapter analyzes evolving Indigenous land rights pre- and post-constitutionalization in 1988, the result of intense political …

Ben Ferencz’S Pioneering Transitional Justice Legacy, Including And Beyond Accountability, Federica D'Alessandra

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The article argues that Benjamin Ferencz was a foundational figure in the field of transitional justice, extending beyond his recognized contributions to international criminal justice. His work laid the groundwork for the four pillars of transitional justice: truth, accountability, reparation/restitution, and memorialization. Ferencz’s efforts in investigating war crimes, prosecuting perpetrators, advocating for victim-centered justice, and preserving historical records demonstrate his pivotal role in shaping modern transitional justice frameworks.

Benjamin Ferencz In The Cold War, Noah Weisbord

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The article explores Benjamin Ferencz's advocacy for international law and his role in shaping the legal frameworks of the post-World War II era, particularly his efforts to define aggression and establish the International Criminal Court. It contrasts Ferencz's idealism with the pragmatic approaches of Henry Kissinger and the diplomatic strategies of Dag Hammarskjold, highlighting the challenges of the Cold War international order and its failure to address individual threats, exemplified by A.Q. Khan's nuclear proliferation.

In Congress, A Welcome, But Flawed, Step To Stop Trump’S Transfers To Torture, Scott Roehm, Rebecca Ingber

Online Publications

Senate Democrats are demanding the Trump administration provide information on its transfers to torture in El Salvador, including actions it has taken in response to court orders. On May 1, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Alex Padilla (D-CA), introduced legislation outlining the questions they want answers to. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX) is leading companion legislation in the House.

The First Of All Freedoms: Free Speech, Antisemitism, And Lessons For The Jewish Community From The Dreyfus Affair, Jacob Burns Center For Ethics In The Practice Of Law, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr), Joel Swansin

2025 Event Invitations

Join us for a thought-provoking talk with Professor Joel Swanson of Sarah Lawrence College as he explores the intense debates over free speech and its boundaries within the French Jewish community during the Dreyfus Affair. At this pivotal time, French Jews debated extensively the question of whether there should be limits on speech in the name of protecting the Jewish community. By examining these historical debates and their outcomes, Professor Swanson will highlight parallels with the current discussions surrounding American Jews, pointing to historical precedents for lessons about how to approach current controversies. This event

Justice, Human Rights, And The New Charisma Of Anti-Democratic Ideologies, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr), Floersheimer Center For Constitutional Democracy, Matthias Mahlmann

2025 Event Invitations

Democracies are under pressure worldwide – externally by authoritarian states and internally by political forces that spread anti-democratic ideologies even if masked by avowed concern for the people. While reasons are intensely debated, this talk critically revisits explanations for the charisma of post-democratic ideologies by (1) investigating normative foundations of the exacting and fragile project of democracy and its relation to human rights and (2) discussing human rights theory in times of widespread human rights skepticism and its meaning for crises of democracy. How can we defend the project of democracy in theory and practice?

2025 Spring - Clihhr Newsletter, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr)

CLIHHR Newsletters

This Spring 2025 issue of the CLIHHR Newsletter highlights the Institute’s work in human rights education, advocacy, and atrocity prevention. It features student fieldwork in Brazil, national recognition at the Clara Barton Humanitarian Law Competition, major public events, faculty scholarship, and international engagement through the United Nations and academic partnerships. The newsletter reflects CLIHHR’s commitment to survivor-centered justice, Indigenous rights, and preparing future human rights practitioners.

Mapping State Reactions To The Icc Arrest Warrants For Netanyahu And Gallant, Rebecca Ingber

Online Publications

On Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced it had issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, the former defense minister, in connection with alleged crimes committed in the ongoing armed conflict between Israel and Hamas. In doing so, the Court rejected as premature Israel’s challenge to the Court’s jurisdiction. The Court’s decision to issue a warrant for the sitting Prime Minister of a state, which is notably not a party to the Rome Statute, also demonstrates the Court’s embrace of its prior controversial decision on immunity, namely that customary international law does …

Seeking The Cayuse Five: Imagining Reparations And Reconciliation In Oregon, Kukin Program For Conflict Resolution, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr), Michael Moffitt, Roberta Conner

2025 Event Invitations

In the mid-1840s, American settlers flocked westward on the Oregon Trail, unknowingly bringing with them measles and other foreign diseases to which the Cayuse peoples along the trail had no immunity. Hundreds of Cayuse children were brought to Narcissa and Marcus Whitman at the Whitman Mission for treatment, but ultimately these children could not be saved. In 1847, members of the Cayuse Tribe, acting under Cayuse law to dispose of false doctors (medicine men, or tewat), participated in an attack on the Presbyterian Whitman Mission in Walla Walla Washington, killing the Whitmans and eleven others. After a two-year pursuit, the …

The Cardozo Center For Public Service Law Invites You To: P*Law 2025, Cardozo Center For Public Service Law

2025 Event Invitations

Cardozo's commitment to public service is highlighted every January during Public Interest Law Advocacy Week (P*LAW), a series of events that includes daily panels and workshops featuring inspiring conversations about the practice of public interest law. Join us for P*LAW 2025, which will feature panels discussing immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive freedom, human rights, labor relations, and more.

Resistance: The Mura Struggle Against Canadian Potash Mining In Brazil’S Amazon, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr), Federal University Of Rio Grande Do Sul, Graduate Program In Law (Ppgd/Ufrgs), International Human Rights Program (Ihrp), University Of Toronto Jackman Law, Observatory Of Socio-Environmental Law And Human Rights In The Amazon (Odsdh/Ufam)

CLIHHR Reports & Policy Submissions

A comprehensive human rights and environmental report documenting the Mura Indigenous people’s resistance to Brazil Potash’s Autazes Potash Project in the Brazilian Amazon. The report details environmental risks, human rights violations, failures in consultation processes, litigation history, corporate accountability, and the ongoing struggle for land demarcation.

Having Fun Is Not As Hard When You Have An Arbitration Clause: The Current Benefits And Possible Changes To The Arbitration Agreements Of Amusement Parks And Recreational Resorts For Consumers, Cynthia Spitzer

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

This Note will evaluate options that are more favorable for consumers to bring their injury claims against amusement parks and recreational resorts when the route for resolution is limited by an agreement. For instance, the option of an arbitration agreement would be more preferable when faced with only the option of a liability waiver. However, with possible future changes of consumer contracts from the FAIR Act, opt-in provision, or mandatory arbitration imposed on the corporations, the route for resolution can drastically change and improve the realm of possibility for consumers of amusement parks and recreational resorts.

Anticolonial Rights Advocacy, Christopher M. Roberts, Michelle M. Ong

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

It is often asserted that human rights discourse and practice principally originated following the Second World War, or as late as the 1970s, and that human rights claims are inherently Western and liberal. None of these assertions are true. In fact, both rights-based critiques and rights claims were frequently articulated prior to the Second World War. They were articulated not only by Western liberals, but also by anticolonial advocates from every part of the world. This article explores anticolonial rights claims advanced between the end of the First World War and 1930. Rights claims were extensively made by numerous groups …

Book Review Of “Nuclear Weapons And International Law: Existential Risks Of Nuclear War And Deterrence Through A Legal Lens”, By Professor Charles J. Moxley Jr., John Kierulf

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Case For A New International Instrument On Copyright Limitations And Exceptions, Faith O. Majekolagbe

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

A new international instrument on copyright limitations and exceptions (L&Es) is pertinent to fostering education and research and enhancing the work of educational, research, and cultural institutions, including libraries, archives, and museums. The existing international instrument on L&Es, the Marrakesh Treaty, sits alone amongst many international copyright instruments for the protection of rightsholders, the Marrakesh Treaty only covering exceptions for print-disabled persons. There is currently no international obligation on countries to guarantee the interests of copyright users in education and research through a set of copyright limitations and exceptions. This has signficant negative effects on access to education and research …

Rectifying The Rome Statute And Draft Articles On Prevention And Punishment Of Crimes Against Humanity To Include The Slave Trade, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum

Articles

The slave trade is commonly misperceived as a historical crime. Yet, the scourge of the slave trade is present throughout the world today. Combatting these ongoing atrocity crimes is essential to ensure that human rights are upheld by the international community. The crime of the slave trade fills an impunity gap, especially in light of recentharms perpetuated by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) against the Yazidi in Iraq. Revitalization of the conceptualization of the slave trade as a crime under international law might ensure greater enforcement of one of the oldest core international crimes. Critical proposed amendments …

Recognition Policies, Self-Determination, And Access To Legal Redress For Indigenous Peoples In The United States, Australia, And Canada: A Comparative Study, Christian Zavardino

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The note examines recognition policies and self-determination frameworks for Indigenous Peoples in the United States, Australia, and Canada, arguing that the U.S. federalist system of tribal recognition offers a potential model for addressing Indigenous rights in other countries, particularly Australia. It emphasizes the importance of international law, such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), in guiding domestic policies and promoting Indigenous sovereignty.

Police Brutality As Democide In The United States: The Supreme Court’S Acquiescence To Police-Civilian Violence, Jillian Fantuzzi

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

"Never again" is a power phrase used by survivors, observers, scholars, and descendants of survivors when reflecting on the mass casualties of innocent civilians resulting from government methods, like Nazism, ethnic cleansing, communism, and genocide, to exterminate groups deemed different or less than. Many blame dictatorial regimes for these mass atrocities, making democracy appear as a sound solution due to its attractive system ofchecks and balances. However, where the government agents responsible for mass killings of unarmed civilians remain unchecked by the judiciary, the product is not democracy but "democide." This unchecked power serves as a method of persecution of …

Russia’S Foreign Agent Law And Its Consequences For Civil Society And Human Rights, Karen Gilkman

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protection Of Male And Female Sexed Children From Genital Cutting: Making Sense Of Recent Legal Developments, J. Steven Svoboda

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article critically examines the disparate legal treatment of female genital cutting (FGC) and male genital cutting (MGC), arguing for a more consistent approach that recognizes both practices as violations of bodily integrity. It highlights the ethical and legal inconsistencies in how these practices are viewed and regulated, advocating for a unified legal framework that prioritizes consent and the rights of the individual.