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Abstract:
This article focuses on the sentencing of child offenders (those convicted of crimes when younger than eighteen years of age) to a term of life imprisonment without the possibility of release or parole ("LWOP"). It argues that the LWOP sentence condemns a child to die in prison, is cruel and ineffective as a punishment, has no deterrent value, contradicts our modern understanding that children have enormous potential for growth and maturity in passing from youth to adulthood, prevents society from ever reconsidering a child's sentence, and denies the widely held expert view that children are amenable to rehabilitation and redemption.

The article asserts that the United States is the world's only remaining practitioner of LWOP sentencing of juveniles, and that in the United State the sentence is applied disproportionately among youth of color. The article analyzes international human rights standards and international law to demonstrate that imposing sentences of LWOP for child offenders is a violation of law. The article identifies several juvenile justice and rehabilitation models of other countries and United States states that can serve as alternatives to harsh and inappropriate sentencing for children, and it makes recommendations to governments and policy-makers for remedying violations of international human rights standards, and for improving the opportunities for juvenile rehabilitation.

The authors conclude by recommending that: countries should continue to denounce as a violation of international law the practice of sentencing juveniles to LWOP, to condemn the practice among the remaining governments which allow such sentencing, and to call upon those where the law may be ambiguous to institute legal reforms confirming the prohibition of such sentencing. The authors further recommend that the United States should abolish the juvenile LWOP sentence under federal law and undertake efforts to bring the United States into compliance with its international obligations to prohibit this sentencing.

life imprisonment without the possibility of release or parole, LWOP, juvenile justice, child offenders, juvenile rehabilitation, human rights, customary international law, sentencing, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, United

Abstract:
This article argues that women's equal participation in all levels of peacemaking and peacekeeping, as required by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325, is vital to the elimination of trafficking in women and children. This article: describes and analyzes U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 [which addresses the unequal and detrimental effects of armed conflict on women and children and seeks to foster women's participation in all levels of decision-making in peace processes]; presents the unique, disparate impact that armed conflict has on women and children and discusses the role that militaries have in perpetuating trafficking during times of conflict; demonstrates how trafficking thrives in the post-conflict period because of peacekeepers' complicity in the practice and a lack of specific protections for trafficked victims; establishes that women's absence from peace processes perpetuates trafficking because immunity for trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and girls during conflict is often included in peace accords and post-conflict laws; and discusses how the growing militarization and the war on terror have aided the perpetuation of trafficking outside of typical armed conflict scenarios.

The article concludes: that the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking should investigate and make recommendations regarding the role peacekeeping forces have in creating a demand for trafficked victims, and that implementation of the mandate of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 must also be considered when investigating the causes of and solutions to trafficking; that peacekeeping personnel must be held to strict codes of conduct that protect the physical security and ensure the freedom of movement of women and children during and after conflict; that member states must provide effective mechanisms to guarantee the physical security of women and children during the transitional period following any armed conflict (including specific guarantees of prosecution for violations of sex exploitation and trafficking); that post-conflict reconstruction governments must adopt and implement standards to eliminate the trafficking of women and children; that all U.N. peacekeeping operations should include a gender unit within the military operation for monitoring compliance with established, strict codes of conduct; and that peacekeeping commanders should be required to report to the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking any violations by peacekeepers as part of standard U.N. peacekeeping mission reporting.

trafficking of women, trafficking of children, U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325, sex exploitation, Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, United Nations, human rights, peacekeeping

Abstract:
This article addresses the experiences of the continuing racial inequality and the experiences and results from affirmative action in the United States and South Africa, arguing that these experiences point to the need for more guidance from the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination regarding the special measures mandate of the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, and in particular on affirmative action.

The article first reviews the Convention's mandate of special measures, arguing that special measures are distinct from measures aimed at remedying past discrimination - that they are a separate obligation of states parties tied to the states parties' duty to develop and protect racial groups and individuals, and that they are necessary to guarantee equality in the enjoyment of rights and fundamental freedoms and to address the effects of economic structural inequality. The article asserts that special measures need not always benefit those who suffered specific discrimination or who are the most disadvantaged in the affected groups, so long as they are designed to "ensure the adequate development and protection" of those groups.

The article then focuses on the experience of the United States and South Africa - each a party to the Convention - in addressing affirmative action programs or special measures. It argues that the experiences of both countries with structural racial inequality and the ongoing existence of bias provide the greatest justification for the continued need for race-based special measures, despite the call for moving affirmative action programs to those based on class. Drawing from the experiences of both countries with efforts to address bias and inequality, the article proposes language for more comprehensive definitions and standards that might be enacted by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in order to provide more guidance for all countries trying to implement their obligations under the Convention.

The article proposes a new General Recommendation from the Committee that would address the following points: that the special measures obligation under article 2(2) of the Convention is mandatory; that special measures are not considered discriminatory if they are within the scope of fulfilling the obligations of the treaty; that special measures should have the goal of guaranteeing to all groups the full enjoyment of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights; that special measures should be taken to eliminate structural inequalities within a country; that special measures should not abrogate the rights of any group after the purposes for which they were adopted have been achieved; that special measures should benefit all groups that have not attained equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms; and that special measures should be undertaken to address both de facto as well as de jure discrimination. A new recommendation by the Committee should also acknowledge: that while there may be other means for addressing inequality such as those based on social status or wealth, so long as racial disparities exist in education and other rights, race-based measures should continue to be used; that bias needs to be addressed, both as a reason for using race based measures as well as something that needs to be the focus of special measures; that the use of diversity as a goal might be helpful as a means for achieving equality, but it should not replace the goal of attaining equality in the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms; that it is important that the special measures enacted be carefully tailored to the specific goals being sought; and that measures such as affirmative action are only one means for addressing discrimination.

human rights, International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), special measures, affirmative action, equality, South Africa, United States, United Nations, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Abstract:
This article reviews the international human rights standards relevant to protecting and promoting economic, social, and cultural rights in the United States, focusing particularly on those norms that would assist advocates of welfare and education rights. It discusses three ways in which these norms can be used in litigation before federal and state courts in the United States and argues that, in order to make more effective use of these standards, parties should raise the standards themselves, and not rely solely on amici curiae briefs or on courts' raising the standards sua sponte. This article also asserts that civil rights advocates can effectively advance their clients' rights by raising international human rights standards in legislative and administrative fora as well. Finally, the article suggests that the failure of the United States to promote economic, social, and cultural rights (as exemplified by its refusal to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights) may violate principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

international human rights law, welfare, education, economic social and cultural rights, Charter of the United Nations

Abstract:
In San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1 (1973), the United States Supreme Court held that wealth discrimination was not illegal discrimination and that the right to be educated was not a fundamental constitutional right. This article contends that international human rights law provides broad authority for a right to equal opportunity to education and is a useful tool for those seeking to develop theories that that right exists under either the state or federal constitutions.

This Article provides a brief introduction to those cases in which courts have been asked to look at international human rights standards for guidance in cases affecting economic, social and cultural right, and it discusses the use of customary international law in the United States. It criticizes the prevailing view in the United States that economic, social and cultural rights are not part of customary international law and provides overwhelming evidence that many of these rights are universally accepted. It examines that body of international human rights law that prescribes, as a basic tenet, equal opportunity to education, it asserts that this tenet has risen to the level of customary international law that is binding on United States, and it argues that international standards should be used to persuade state courts that there is a right to equal opportunity to education under state constitutions. Finally, it examines the theories being developed for establishing a federal right to equal educational opportunity, and it argues that application of international standards would be useful in developing those theories and would yield a different result from that reached in Rodriguez. It maintains that the use of human rights law could help change the focus of the discussion, which up to now has highlighted the right to education rather than the right to equal opportunity to education.

San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, international human rights, customary international law, equal educational opportunity, right to education

Abstract:
Over the past sixty years a dichotomy has developed in the United States' involvement in international agreements, subjecting treaties based on economic concerns to a different ratification mechanism than those relating to human rights abuses. That dichotomy has resulted from actions by all three branches of the federal government that increasingly place greater emphasis on business interests over protection of individual rights - often under the guise of federalism concerns, foreign policy preemption, and the commerce clause, which are questioned in the article. The emphasis placed on economic treaties at the expense of human rights initiatives is contributing to the deterioration of the United States' role as the promoter of human rights.

This article assesses the effect of the increasing gap between the protection of investor interests and human rights, and suggests that international human rights and trade agreements should be subject to the same procedures for ratification. It is clear in this age of globalization that human rights are important to the international community and thus an essential component of effective US foreign policy. To continue on the present path will only worsen the gap between the enforcement of economic interests and human rights and subject the United States government to increasing charges of duplicity, both domestically and internationally.

human rights and trade, treaty law, international law, international trade law, international trade and federalism, NAFTA, executive-congressional agreements

Abstract:
This article is an adaptation of an amici curiae brief filed in support of the petition for writ of certiorari in Beazley v. Johnson, 242 F.3d 248 (5th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 945 (2001), application of stay of execution denied, 533 U.S. 969 (2001). It asserts that the prohibition against the execution of persons who were under eighteen years of age at the commission of the crime is not only customary international law, it has attained the status of a jus cogens peremptory norm of international law which must be taken into account by the court. It also argues that the Court should reconsider the execution of juvenile offenders because otherwise the United States will continue to bring itself under increasing international scrutiny, tainting its image as a leader in the protection of human rights.

International law, juvenile death penalty, international human rights, Beazley v. Johnson, jus cogens, capital punishment

Abstract:
This article seeks to provide migrant rights advocates with international legal arguments that can be used to address domestic human rights abuses when domestic law is inadequate and in violation of U.S. treaty obligations. It discusses applicable international law and suggests how these standards may be used to protect migrant workers. The article: describes the working conditions of undocumented migrants in the United States, highlighting recent violations of their human rights. It discusses Hoffman Plastics Compounds, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 535 U.S. 137 (2002), which limited the rights of undocumented workers, and its aftermath and in which there were no briefs detailing relevant international legal obligations and binding treaty law that might have affected the outcome. This law and the methods for raising it in the United States are covered, with a specific focus on violations of the right to organize in order to be free from exploitative conditions, the right to equality before the law, and the right to legal recourse.

undocumented immigrants, migrant workers, farm workers, Immigration Reform and Control Act, Hoffman Plastics Compounds v NLRB, international law, human rights, labor law

Abstract:
This article provides a substantive discussion of international human rights law and how it can be used in federal and state courts to protect human rights within and outside the United States. It provides a comprehensive analysis of cases and examples of possible areas in which international human rights standards may be used to interpret United States laws. Specifically, the article seeks to promote more extensive use of international human rights laws by United States lawyers.

State and federal courts have traditionally used international law for the application and enforcement of treaties to which the United States has been a party. But because the United States ratified few human rights treaties, protection of human rights in this manner has proved difficult. Nonetheless, federal and state court decisions have provided promising precedents for additional applications of human rights law. This article identifies two significant developments: federal courts have held that allegations of violation of customary international law state a cause of action; and federal and state courts have relied upon international human rights laws and standards to defend and expand individual rights. This article addresses the developments in these cases and in cases involving direct application of human rights treaties.

international human rights, federal courts, state courts, customary international law, treaties, individual rights

Abstract:
This article argues that ratification by the United States of two major international human rights treaties (the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)) should have an impact on civil rights issues in this country. It contends that although many of the rights enumerated in the treaties are similar to those provided for in state and federal constitutions and statutes, there are many areas where the treaty clauses are more protective of individuals' rights. It also asserts that even though the United States ratified both treaties with reservations, civil rights advocates have many avenues available to make use of the treaty provisions in order to protect and to promote human rights in the United States. This is exemplified by issues surrounding affirmative action, which is not only endorsed, but required by both treaties.

This article begins by describing the major substantive provisions and enforcement mechanisms of both treaties. It then discusses the legal standards affecting use of treaties in litigation and includes an analysis of the doctrine of self-executing treaties as well as the validity of the reservations, understandings, and declarations attached to the ratification of both treaties. It concludes by analyzing what effect the treaties can have on the specific constitutional issues affecting affirmative action.

international human rights, human rights treaties, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, affirmative action, special measures

Abstract:
This article examines the United States' use of the death penalty for juvenile offenders in the context of international human rights. It provides an overview of the development and status of United States law regarding the juvenile death penalty, and it briefly reviews the traditional arguments against the United States death penalty in general, with an emphasis on the application of these arguments to the juvenile death penalty in particular. It then reviews a number of international agreements dealing with the juvenile death penalty, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ("ICCPR"), and it explores the validity of the United States reservation to the ICCPR's prohibition of the juvenile death penalty in relation to international treaties, customary international law and the doctrine of jus cogens. Finally, it reviews international scrutiny of the United States juvenile death penalty laws, and concludes that it will mount until the United States conforms to international norms on this issue.

juvenile death penalty, death penalty, international human rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, customary international law, jus cogens doctrine, Convention on the Rights of the Child, capital punishment

Abstract:
This article summarizes the arguments made against the juvenile death penalty in a U.S. Supreme Court amici curiae brief in Domingues v. State, 961 P.2d 1279 (Nev. 1998), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 963 (1999), and rebuts some of the State's propositions made in its response. It argues that United States' obligation to faithfully comply with its treaty obligations (particularly under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), as well as the customary international law and jus cogens norm do not permit the execution of juveniles for crimes committed while below the age of eighteen.

Juvenile death penalty, Domingues v. State of Nevada, capital punishment, cruel and unusual punishment, international law, human rights

Abstract:
This article reviews Migrant Workers in International Human Rights Law: Their Protection in Countries of Employment by Ryszard Cholewinski, a comprehensive look at the rights of migrant workers containing a thorough analysis of the various treaties applicable to migrant workers and a detailed description of the international laws and procedures covering migrants in Europe. The review observes that the lessons that can be gleaned from the book provide helpful tools for scrutinizing the progress of the Working Group on Migrants as well as providing suggestions for making the Working Group more effective.

The review concludes that, despite the exclusion of discussion of serious violations faced by migrant workers (i.e., protection before they leave their countries; the right to life; and the right to freedom of thought and religion), and despite the limited focus on a European system, the book provides a valuable look at the laws and mechanisms that are available to protect migrant workers in the countries of employment.

Ryszard Cholewinski, Migrant workers, international human rights law, International Labour Organisation, Convention on Migrant Workers, Working Group on Migrants

Abstract:
This article provides an overview of international human rights law for legal services lawyers, and seeks to encourage advocates to use this body of law to help expand and protect the rights of legal services clients. It describes the basic documents comprising international human rights law (e.g., the Charter of the United Nations, the International Bill of Human Rights, and the American Convention on Human Rights) and discusses how international human rights law might help expand human rights under state and federal law, offering examples from the areas of anti discrimination law, women rights, economic rights, social and cultural rights and the rights of prisoners and other institutionalized persons.

international human rights, legal services, Charter of the United Nations, International Bill of Human Rights, American Convention on Human Rights

Abstract:
This article provides a brief synopsis of the 35th Session of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, which took place in Geneva, August 16 - September 10, 1982. At the 35th Session there were advances in several areas, particularly regarding the setting of international standards and the improvement of information-gathering procedures. Also promising for the promotion and protection of human rights was that the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples were allowed to present information to the Sub-Commission. At the same time, several dangerous precedents were set which appeared to make it more difficult for non-governmental organizations to play a role in the work of the Sub-Commission. Additionally, the Sub-Commission appeared weak in addressing violations of human rights by specific countries.

United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, international human rights, Working Group on Indigenous Peoples, non-governmental organizations

Abstract:
This article responds to and comments on an Application of International Human Rights Law in State Courts: A View from California, an article by Paul L. Hoffman appearing in the Symposium on International Human Rights Law in State Courts. It agrees that the most promising use of international human rights law is as an aid in interpreting federal and state civil liberties and civil rights laws. The article primarily outlines ways in which and that certain provisions treaties or of customary law may be invoked as arguably binding on state and federal courts.

international human rights, treaties, customary international law

Abstract:
This article reviews Diarmuid Rossa's Revolt or Revolution: The Constitutional Boundaries of the European Community, which explores the interrelationship between European Community (EC) law and the constitutional law of its members.

The review concludes that Revolt or Revolution will be of likely interest to anyone studying European law, comparative legal systems and the philosophy of law, and to North Americans interested in the birth of a federal system and the problems that have arisen from it, and in questions regarding the constitutionality of recently enacted trade agreements.

This review also notes that Revolt or Revolution provides a valuable comparison between the application of public international law and the application of EC law in the EC Member States' legal systems, and that the author's focus on the French and the Irish makes the book a useful resource for persons interested in those systems (though the concentration on two countries only leads to the omission of decisions from other countries that contribute important developments in the application of EC law).

Diarmuid Rossa, Revolt or Revolution: The Constitutional Boundaries of the European Community, European Community law, public international law, French legal system, Irish legal system