Human Rights Law Commons^™

Liberty And Justice For All? Protecting The Right To Privacy For Incapacitated Individuals: The Need For Comprehensive Sterilization Legislation In All Fifty States, Mindy K. Fersel

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note examines the intersection of disability rights and reproductive rights, highlighting the legal confusion and human rights violations that arise from the lack of comprehensive federal guidance on the sterilization of individuals with disabilities. While landmark Supreme Court decisions like Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade established constitutional protections for reproductive autonomy, the legacy of cases such as Buck v. Bell and inconsistent state statutes continue to undermine the rights of individuals with disabilities. The article argues that the absence of clear legislative frameworks leaves vulnerable populations at risk of exploitation and discrimination, necessitating urgent reform to ensure …

Taking The Bloody Linen Out Of The Closet: Menstrual Hygiene As A Priority For Achieving Gender Equality, Inga T. Winkler, Virginia Roaf

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

Regular menstruation signals a woman's health and fertility. menstruation is surrounded by shame, secrecy, embarrassment, fear, humiliation, silence, taboo, and stigma. Linked to this taboo, many cultural and religious norms-often grounded in patriarchal assumptions-seek to prevent contact with menstruating women and girls in order to avoid 'contamination' or 'becoming impure'. To some extent, this perception of menstruation is a paradox, given that motherhood is glorified. However, menstruation is not perceived as feminine', and it does not conform to the stereotypical role and behavior of women. Such stereotypes require women to be beautiful and beautified, deodorized and fresh, not bloody and …

Guilty Of Homelessness: Evaluating The Criminalization Of Homelessness Through A Human Rights Framework, Cristina M. Semi

Departmental Honors Projects

Several international treaties and declarations affirm adequate housing as a fundamental human right. However, the United States, while a signatory to several of these agreements, does not recognize this right. Homelessness violates the right to housing. Moreover, homelessness often subjects individuals to additional rights violations. These additional violations often occur because governments criminalize homelessness.

Public order laws that criminalize basic life-sustaining behaviors, such as sitting, lying, and sleeping in public spaces, violate several constitutional rights when applied to unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness. Devoid of any accommodation aside from the public streets, such individuals must necessarily perform the prohibited conduct in …

When Speech Isn't Free: Legal Barriers And Consequences Of Reporting Sexual Violence, Kevin M. Fleming

Departmental Honors Projects

Incidents of sexual violence continue to be a serious problem for society. Likewise, acts of sexual violence impose severe consequences for survivors. The consequences initially begin at the onset of the survivor’s journey to psychological recovery following the traumatic sexual assault. The consequences take on a unique set of characteristics when the survivor attempts to use the justice system to confront the perpetrator who committed the offense. These characteristics can transform an adversarial process into an isolated battle for the survivor. In the worst cases, the justice system empowers individuals who wish to silence survivors with free speech restrictions instead …

Governing For Health As The World Grows Older: Healthy Lifespans In Aging Societies, Lawrence O. Gostin, Anna Garsia

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

So much of global health governance focuses intensely on a brief moment in the human lifespan—from a safe birth to infant and child survival. Yet, with all the attention to this early window of life (infancy to age five), the opposite end of the life spectrum is comparatively neglected. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) do not mention a healthy lifespan or a healthy old age. This inadequate attention to the older years of the life appears to be a glaring omission given the universal challenges posed by aging societies. Aging is a demographic fact in almost all countries, but it …

Sacred Trust Or Sacred Right?, Jeffrey Shulman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This is the first chapter from The Constitutional Parent: Rights, Responsibilities, and the Enfranchisement of the Child (Yale University Press, 2014.)

It is commonly assumed that parents have long enjoyed a fundamental legal right to control the upbringing of their children, but this reading of the law is sorely incomplete. What is deeply rooted in our legal traditions is the idea that the state entrusts parents with custody of the child, and the concomitant rule that the state does so only as long as parents meet their legal duty to take proper care of the child. This book looks at …

When Do Human Rights Treaties Help Asylum Seekers? A Study Of Theory And Practice In Canadian Jurisprudence Since 1990, Stephen Meili

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article supports a new theoretical approach to the utilization of human rights treaties in refugee status adjudications in domestic courts. The existing literature on treaty effectiveness is divided between several optimistic and pessimistic perspectives, none of which adequately predict the circumstances under which domestic courts in Canada reference treaties in ways that help refugees obtain relief. This new theoretical approach adds to the literature on treaty effectiveness in the litigation context by suggesting that the extent to which Canadian domestic courts reference treaties in ways that help refugees depends on several factors, including the manner in which those treaties …

Table Of Contents, Public Interest Law Reporter

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Fixing Education Spending In Illinois Through Efficient Targeted Funding, Conor Desmond

Public Interest Law Reporter

Educational attainment has been tied to income levels, employment, health, and numerous other benefits. Economic research indicates that if we focus our funding on programs targeting children from birth to age five, the returns on the public investment will result in higher returns than if it was invested in the open market. In fact, fifteen US States spent over $400 million on pre-k education alone in 2013. Illinois spent approximately $300 million in the 2014 Fiscal year. Through this paper, it will be shown that through effective funding of programs that develop cognitive skills in children aged three to four, …

To Whom Should The Job Of Solving Inequity In School Funding Schemes Fall?, Calli Leigh Burnett

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Illinois School Funding Reform: An Overview Of District Variance, Jordan Fries

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

A Step In The Right Direction, But Sb16 Bobby Otter Comes Up Short, Ralph Martire, Bobby Otter

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

¡Peligro! Si Usted No Entiende La Etiqueta, Busque A Alguien Para Que Se La Explique A Usted En Detalle: The Need For International And Domestic Implementation Of Bilingual Pesticide Labeling To Enhance Protection Of Migrant Farmworkers In Florida, Vanessa Calcano Thomas

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Where Has Their Innocence Gone?" Addressing Child Sex Tourism, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

If someone thinks that slavery is a thing of the past, they are simply unaware of what is going on around them. It is amazingly easy to “buy” a child. Given the incredible advances in technology and the pervasiveness of the Internet, one could obtain practically any product with a simple click of a mouse. While these technological advances have made life easier in many respects, it has also made it easier for sex predators to have access to buy and sell children. These children are exploited sexually just as easily as ordering a pizza. Children around the world are …

The Judge And The Drone, Justin Deystone

Publications

Among the most characteristic issues in modern jurisprudence is the distinction between adjudication and legislation. In the some accounts, a judge's role in deciding a particular controversy is highly constrained and limited to the application of preexisting law. Whereas legislation is inescapably political, adjudication requires at least some form of impersonal neutrality. In various ways over the past century, theorists have pressed this conventional account, complicating the conceptual underpinnings of the distinction between law-application and lawmaking. This Article contributes to this literature on the nature of adjudication through the resuscitation of a structuralist mode of legal interpretation. In the structuralist …

Sex Trafficking Laws In East Tennessee, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

There was a time in U.S. history when opponents of the trans-Atlantic slave trade had to convince the watching world that slavery was horrid and against the laws of humanity. Today, modern-day abolitionists are attempting to make a sleeping world aware that slavery still exists. There are approximately 27 million people currently enslaved in the world today. It is a problem that our own community cannot ignore, because slavery exists in East Tennessee and is thriving. Slavery in East Tennessee takes the form of sex trafficking, in which women and children are bought and sold as property for the sexual …

Preface: Policy-Oriented Jurisprudence And Contemporary American Legal Education, Tai-Heng Cheng

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Hiv, Violence Against Women, And Criminal Law Interventions, Aziza Ahmed

Faculty Scholarship

The growing calls for the “securitization of body and property,”[ii] documented by Jonathan Simon in his book Governing Through Crime, illustrates a deep tension in our understanding of the role of criminal law as a tool for societal transformation.[iii] For some, including communities of color, the criminal legal system is a place where inequality flourishes;[iv] for others, including those feminists who have support criminal law interventions, it has become a tool to realize equality.[v] The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, reauthorized in 2013 as an amendment to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA),[vi] relies heavily on the criminal law to obtain …

Kiobel's Broader Significance: Implications For International Legal Theory, Austen L. Parrish

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Making The World In Atlanta's Image: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Morris Abram, And The Legislative History Of The United Nations Race Convention, H. Timothy Lovelace

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Domestic Wells, Paul Bossert, Sarah Armstrong

Water Matters!

The domestic well statutes direct that the State Engineer “shall” issue a permit for certain types of temporary or low volume wells, including wells for household use. For the past fifty-five years, the Office of the State Engineer (OSE) has interpreted this to mean that such permits are granted with no evaluation, public notice, or hearing.

Taos Pueblo Water Rights Settlement, Paul Bossert, Darcy S. Bushnell

Water Matters!

In November of 2010, the Congress passed the Claims Resolution Act and on December 8, President Obama signed it into law. Title V of the Claims Act, the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, settles the Pueblo portion of the Abeyta case and approves an agreement signed in 2006 by officials from Taos Pueblo, the State of New Mexico, and other interested water rights owners in the Taos area. The settlement act also helps resolve the non-Indian portion of Abeyta. The measure quantifies Taos Pueblo’s water rights and protects the interests of local acequias, the Town of Taos, and …

Water Trust Board, Joanne Hilton, Darcy S. Bushnell

Water Matters!

In 2001, the New Mexico legislature passed the Water Project Finance Act. The stated purpose of the Water Project Finance Act is to provide a financing mechanism to promote water use efficiency, water resource conservation and protection, and fair distribution and allocation of water to all users. The Water Trust Board was created in the Act. Its purpose is to: 1) oversee and administer the Water Trust Fund and Water Project Fund; 2) review and recommend funding for qualifying water projects to the legislature; and 3)pursue additional funding opportunities.

Informed Consent In Mediation: Promoting Pro Se Parties' Informed Settlement Choice While Honoring The Mediator's Ethical Duties, Michael T. Colatrella Jr.

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

In explaining the proper role of informed consent in mediation, this Article will proceed as follows: Part II will examine mediation's core ethical values of self-determination, impartiality and promoting a quality process. Part III will explore the meaning and origins of the informed consent doctrine; and, in Part IV, analyze the application of informed consent policies and principles to mediation in the light of mediation's core ethical values. Part V will explore ways that mediators can promote informed outcome consent within the existing ethical framework and recommend legislative reform that will help clarify the mediator's proper role of promoting fair …

Symposium: Building The Arc Of Justice: The Life And Legal Thought Of Derrick Bell: Foreword, Matthew H. Charity

Faculty Scholarship

The four articles in this Symposium issue pay tribute to the work of Professor Derrick Bell by building on his challenges to the permanence of racial domination, to the potential limitations of good will inherent in the concept of interest convergence, and to the question of permanence not just of racism, but of other systemic biases since recognized, written on, and litigated. The articles range from the 19th century to the hegemonic war on terror, from Latin identity as a disruptive force, to recognition of subjugated identities allowing for the creation of coalitions to end oppression.

Ending Silence: Demanding Safety From Sexual Assault - Don't Touch Me, Brenda V. Smith, Caleb J. Bess, Rebecca I. Heinsen, Jaime M. Yarussi, Michael J. Auger

Research Reports & White Papers

Ending Silence: Demanding Safety from Sexual Assault & Youth Speaking Up about Sexual Abuse in Custody are a series of graphic novels for adult and juvenile inmates in custodial settings. These graphic novels are intended to educate inmates about how to identify and address incidents of sexual assault. The plot lines in these graphic novels dramatize situations we know occur in custodial settings. The use of graphic novels in community education projects is well established. By presenting information through an illustrative medium, these novels aim to disseminate information about the sexual abuse reporting process to inmates at all literacy levels. …

Trafficking In Human Beings: Partial Compliance Theory, Enforcement Failure, And Obligations To Victims, Leslie P. Francis, John G. Francis

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Trafficking—the coerced exploitation of people—is a major global concern. Primary forms of trafficking include sex trafficking, labor trafficking, trafficking in organs, trafficking in reproduction, and trafficking in child soldiers. This paper explores whether “host” countries — destinations for trafficking — have special obligations to provide trafficked persons with support needed to escape trafficking and to deal with the damage it has caused. This support includes asylum, healthcare, food, and shelter, at least for an initial period of time.

To Be Male: Homophobia, Sexism, And The Production Of “Masculine” Boys, Clifford Rosky

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

This chapter is about the relationship between homophobia and sexism in family law. By conducting an empirical analysis of custody and visitation cases, it shows that stereotypes about the children of lesbian and gay parents are both sexist and homophobic. In some cases, the relationship between homophobia and sexism becomes especially obvious, when stereotypes explicitly conflate the sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender roles of children and parents. By looking more closely, however, we can find more subtle evidence of this relationship in a much wider range of cases, wherever stereotypes of the children of lesbian and gay parents appear. …

Women, Water & Privatization: A Human Rights-Based Approach To Global Water Governance, Tara Pistilli

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note argues that recognizing and clearly defining the human right to water is essential for ensuring equitable access, particularly for women and children, who are disproportionately affected by water scarcity and privatization. It emphasizes that a human rights-based approach to water governance is necessary to prevent conflicts and protect vulnerable populations, as demonstrated by the Cochabamba Water War. This approach, supported by international law, provides a legally binding framework to hold states and corporations accountable for fulfilling the right to water.

Aboriginal Food Security In Northern Canada: An Assessment Of The State Of Knowledge, Harriet Kuhnlein, Fikret Berkes, Laurie Hing Man Chan, Treena Wasonti:Io Delormier, Asbjørn Eide, Chris Furgal, Murray Humphries, Henry Huntington, Constance Macintosh, Ian Mauro, David Natcher, Barry Prentice, Chantelle Richmond, Cecilia Rocha, Kue Young

Reports & Public Policy Documents

As the world’s population increases, as global markets become more interconnected, and as the effects of climate change become clearer, the issue of food insecurity is gaining traction at local, national, and international levels. The recent global economic crisis and increased food prices have drawn attention to the urgent situation of the world’s 870 million chronically undernourished people who face the number one worldwide risk to health: hunger and malnutrition. Although about 75% of the world’s undernourished people live in low-income, rural regions of developing countries, hunger is also an issue in Canada. In 2011, 1.6 million Canadian households, or …