Human Rights Law Commons^™

The Presence Of Racial Disparities At Every Decisional Phase Of The Criminal Legal System, Nadia Woods

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Public Interest Law Reporter

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

The Legal And Constitutional Consequences Of U.S. Police Departments Collaborating With Israeli Security Forces, Cruz Rodriguez

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Defunding The Police: A "Snappy Slogan" Or A Way Forward For People Of Color?, Adonis Totten

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Use Of Force In Unsuccessful Arrests: Torres V. Madrid Tests Scope Of Fourth Amendment Protections, Alexis O'Connor

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

A New Frontier For Ending Qualified Immunity: State Civil Rights Acts, Kyle Johnson

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Don't Let The Label Fool You: A Closer Look At Less-Lethal Weapons In Policing, Annie Mann

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Can We Help Without Knowing It's There: The Importance Of Trauma Screening In The Youth Justice Systen, Sarah Ryan

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

A Pandemic Behind Bars, Camila Kaplunov

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Education Challenges During A Global Pandemic, Colleen Ahern

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Environmental Racism In The Age Of Covid-19, Eli Woods

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Disenfranchisement Of People With Felony Records And The Racial Discrimination Behind It, Giovanni Padilla

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Right To Counsel For Asylum Applicants, Romina Nemaci

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

1986 Mass Legalization: How The Irca Can Guide A Modern-Day Amnesty Act, Louisa Carhart

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Thirty Years Later: Recalling The Gender Bias Report And Asking What's Next In The Legal Profession, Pamela J. White

Maryland Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

North Carolina's H.B.2: A Case Study In Lgbtq Rights, Preemption, And The (Un)Democratic Process, Mark Dorosin

Journal Publications

In 2014, community advocates in Charlotte, North Carolina, began organizing to press the city to amend its antidiscrimination ordinance to add several new protected classes, including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. After a contentious hearing where opponents argued that the change-which would allow transgender people to use public restrooms according to their gender identity-would subject women and children to "sexual predators," the city council voted down the amendment. Undaunted, advocates worked over the next several months to elect new council members and a mayor who supported LGBTQ rights. The amendments to the civil rights ordinance were then brought …

Doctrine Of Dignity: Making A Case For The Right To Die With Dignity In Florida Post-Obergefell

Florida A & M University Law Review

The discussions about the right to privacy have evolved, and the national landscape on physician-assisted suicide has changed since Krischer. Surely, it is time Floridian citizens are given the opportunity to decide whether the right to privacy guaranteed by the Florida constitution includes the right to die with dignity. Numerous states across the nation have adopted legislative provisions which afford those within that state’s borders the ability to die with dignity through physician-assisted suicide. In addition, the seemingly unrelated decision of the United States Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges has reopened the discussion of Glucksberg and its holding. In …

Ban Child Marriages: Florida Is Not Acting In The Best Interest Of The Child

Florida A & M University Law Review

This Note argues that Florida must follow Delaware and New Jersey and ban all minor marriages, without exception. Although the right to marry is a fundamental right, the states have the power to set the age requirements to obtain a marriage license. Permitting any minor to marry, even with specific limitations, is harmful to a child. Thus, Florida must ban all marriages of any person under the age of eighteen. Florida’s current marriage statute sets the minimum age to marry at seventeen, once specific exceptions are met. The statute is an improvement from Florida’s previous marriage statute, which is now …

Third Country Deportation, Sarah R. Sherman-Stokes

Faculty Scholarship

The large-scale deportation of noncitizens from the United States is not new. However, the speed, and secrecy, by which many of these deportations are carried out is unprecedented. Deportations are, increasingly, executed not through a legal court process, but rather, extrajudicially—in detention centers and at border crossings, outside the purview of judges or neutral adjudicators. One kind of this “shadow deportation” is what I term “third country deportation”—the removal of noncitizens to a country other than that designated by an Immigration Judge, after relief to the designated country has been granted, and after the court proceeding has concluded.

This article …

Ranking For Good?: A Comparative Assessment Of The Performance Of French Corporations In Human Rights Rankings, Erika George, David Restrepo Amariles

Faculty Scholarship

This article proceeds as follows. First, it will define well-being and discuss the ways in which a range of human rights must be protected to promote well-being. Next, it will explain the ways businesses can impact well-being, for good or for ill. This will be followed by a discussion on the relevant legal and policy frameworks in France that regulate information relevant to the social and environmental impacts of business, including the Duty of Vigilance Law and the National Action Plan of France for Implementing the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Using examples of leading French multinational …

Disaggregating Corporate Liability: Japanese Multinationals And World War Ii, Timothy Webster

Faculty Scholarship

The past two decades have witnessed unprecedented attention to corporate legal liability for human rights abuses. Yet the supporting jurisprudence is relatively thin. Scholars generally agree that corporations can incur legal liability for serious violations of international human rights law. But courts find any number of ways to avoid such a result. This Article finds qualified support for an emergent norm of corporate civil liability from recent litigation in Japan. Specifically, the transnational war reparations litigation of the past three decades has yielded a consistent jurisprudence of qualified liability. Courts detail the abuses committed by Japan's largest multinational corporations, and …

The Long Tail Of World War Ii: Jus Post Bellum In Contemporary East Asia, Timothy Webster

Faculty Scholarship

The shadow of World War II still looms over East Asia. Unlike the West, issues of state accountability, corporate liability, and individual reparation roil the victims, governments, and civil society organizations. It stills form a critical, often controversial, backdrop for international relations among China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian nations. This chapter fills an important gap by focusing on jus post bellum outside of the West. The chapter examines the results, motivations, and achievements of civil litigation, namely approximately one hundred World War II reparations lawsuits filed in Japan. In so doing, it answers three related questions. Why does World …

Alston And Heyns On Unlawful Killings: A Compendium Of The Jurisprudence Of The United Nations Special Rapporteurs On Extrajudicial, Summary Or Arbitrary Executions From 2004-2016, Philip G. Alston, Christof Heyns, Sarah Knuckey, Thomas Probert

Faculty Books

This book provides a detailed overview of the law and policy related to unlawful killings and the right to life. It is organized into the key thematic issues and types of killings that arose during the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions between 2004-2016. Each chapter contains an introductory overview and selected extracts from UN Special Rapporteur reports to the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council and other normative work, and covers the applicable international law, policy considerations, and common fact scenarios.

Philip Alston held the mandate of United Nations Special …

Plant-Based Diets And Covid-19: Those Who Harvest Crops Are At High Risk, Jarret S. Lovell

Animal Sentience

This commentary extends Wiebers & Feigin’s (2020) plea to adopt diets that are less dependent on animals by calling on experts and activists to work for change with regard to farm worker labor conditions. Already doing among the most dangerous jobs, farmworkers are at increased risk of COVID-19. As we increasingly transition to plant-based diets, we must all ensure that farmworkers have safe and just working conditions to meet the demands of our changing diets.

The Complexities Of Democracy, Development, And Human Rights In China's Belt And Road Initiative, Diane Desierto

Journal Articles

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)-a dense network of China-funded multi-year infrastructure projects in over 65 countries from the Western Pacific to the Baltic Sea, collectively aiming to establish China's strategic "Maritime Belt" and "Silk Road" connectivity using an estimated range of USD$1 Trillion to USD$8 Trillion--is as unprecedented phenomenon in sovereign project financing and bilateral investment lending, since the United States' grant of USD $800 Billion for the Marshall Plan was for Europe's post World War II reconstruction. The scale, scope, and terms of BRI projects remain shrouded in relative opacity, with China as of this writing only incrementally …

China's Belt And Road Initiative Is Reshaping Human Rights Norms, Mikkaela Salamatin

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Since its birth in 2015, the Belt and Road Initiative has garnered significant attention for its benefits and its detriments. Much of the current scholarship in this area is focused on particular pieces of the Belt and Road Initiative, with few in legal scholarship considering the impact of the relationship between China's growing soft power and its effect on international law and international institutions. Every state has the right to pursue power and influence, but this Note specifically examines how China's methods of obtaining this power and influence--specifically through the Belt and Road Initiative and related actions within United Nations' …

Why China Should Unsign The International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights, Margaret K. Lewis

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In March 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Council finalized its periodic review of China's human rights record just as human rights in China were under intensified attack. As during prior reviews, China was criticized for its human rights practices. And, once again, China was urged to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which China signed over twenty years ago. It is time to reevaluate this approach.

This Article argues that the international community should change tack and instead call on China to remove its signature from this foundational human rights treaty. While this would be …

Redefining Lgbtq And Abortion Rights In Latin America: A Transnational Toolkit, Alyssa Julian

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Throughout Latin America, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer (LGBTQ) and abortion rights movements have progressed at divergent strengths and speeds, with significant variation among countries. The region is home to some of the most restrictive and discriminatory laws when it comes to these contentious issues. This Note explores some of the reasons behind the variation in LGBTQ and abortion rights throughout the region.

This Note traces the economic and political history of Latin America to illustrate the climate in which these social movements are operating. Further, this Note offers a brief snapshot of recent global developments in LGBTQ …

The International Law Commission's First Draft Convention On Crimes Against Humanity: Codification, Progressive Development, Or Both?, Charles C. Jalloh

Articles

In 2017, the International Law Commission ("ILC") which was established by the UN General Assembly in 1947 to assist States with the promotion of (1) the progressive development of international law and (2) its codification, adopted on first reading a draft convention on crimes against humanity which it transmitted to States for comments. The draft convention seeks to help fill the present gap in the law of international crimes since States criminalized genocide in 1948 and war crimes in 1949, but missed the opportunity to do so for crimes against humanity. This Article examines the first reading text, as submitted …

Copyright Exceptions Across Borders: Implementing The Marrakesh Treaty, Laurence R. Helfer, Molly K. Land, Ruth L. Okediji

Faculty Scholarship

This article reviews state ratification and implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty since its conclusion in 2013. We find that most states have adhered closely to the Treaty’s text, thus creating a de facto global template of exceptions and limitations that has increasingly enabled individuals with print disabilities, libraries and schools to create accessible format copies and share them across borders. The article argues that the Marrakesh Treaty’s core innovation—mandatory exceptions to copyright to promote public welfare—together with consultations with a diverse range of stakeholders, may offer a model for harmonising human rights and IP in other contexts.