Human Rights at Home Blog

Event 2/28: Webinar on Police Accountability as Transitional Justice in the US

On Monday February 28, 2022, from 12:00 - 1:30 pm EST online via Zoom, the AALS International Human Rights Section will host a webinar on Police Accountability as Transitional Justice in the US. 

The webinar will explore the role of police accountability in racial reckoning in the United States and discuss both the potential benefits and limitations of prosecuting police for racial violence and explores whether criminal accountability has lived up to its promise in other transitioning contexts to offer possible lessons for quests for retributive justice in the United States. In particular, the webinar will explore whether criminal accountability has lived up to its promise in other transitioning contexts and what lessons we can learn from those examples that might be applicable in the United States.

MODERATOR:

*Rachel Lopez - Associate Professor of Law, Drexel University, Thomas R. Kline School of Law

PANELISTS:

* Roxanna Altholz - Clinical Professor of Law and Co-Director, International Human Rights Law Clinic, Berkeley Law School
* Nikki Grant - Policy Director and Co-Founder, Amistad Law Project
* Darryl Heller - Director of the IU South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center and Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, Indiana University South Bend
* Helen Mack Chang - President and Founder, Myrna Mack Foundation

Register now: https://bit.ly/33PFo8f

Event: 1/31 Dialogue on Global Impact of US Regression in Access to Abortion

On Monday January 31, 2022, the Center for Reproductive Rights' President and CEO Nancy Northrup is hosting a webinar to provide first-hand information on the cases and context for attacks on reproductive rights in the US, and a global human rights dialogue on how we can work across borders to protect and advance reproductive rights.

The Center’s Enid Muthoni Ngida will moderate a panel featuring:
- UN Special Rapporteur on Health, Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng
- Chancellor’s Professor, UC Irvine and elected member The American Law Institute, Michele Bratcher Goodwin
- CEO Fòs Feminista, Gisel Carino

RSVP here: https://bit.ly/3qJyWIU

New Article: There Is No Such Thing As A “Legal Name”

Austin A. Baker and J. Remy Green, There Is No Such Thing As A “Legal Name”, 53.1 Columbia Human Rights Law Review 129 (2021). Abstract below.

The phrase “legal name” appears everywhere. And wherever it appears, it seems to come with an assumption that it picks out one, clear such name for each person. So, do “legal” names as the phrase is commonly understood really exist? As far as federal and most state law is concerned, it turns out the answer is a clear no.

This article seeks to highlight the legal, moral, and philosophical wrongness of the notion that people have one uniquely identifying legal name. To do that, we survey the status of names in various legal domains, highlighting that legal consensus tends to be that there is no one “correct legal name” for individuals (if anything, people often have many “legal” names). We argue this common notion that every person has a single, clearly defined “legal” name is a kind of collective delusion we all seem to share (emerging somewhere in the late twentieth century), but is not grounded in legal or social reality. To address this harmful delusion, we present a series of ready-to-cite conclusions about the current state of the law and introduce a normative framework for how institutions and individuals ought to choose between people’s various legal names. Engaging with legal theory, feminist philosophy, and philosophy of language, we discuss the social function of names and argue that names enable people to communicate important social information about themselves—which can include their gender, religion, and familial relations. Thus, we conclude by arguing that individuals and legal institutions have a normative responsibility to respect peoples’ preferred legal names, thereby allowing them to authentically represent these facets of their social identities.

Event: 1/19 Current Human Rights Developments and Challenges in Europe: A conversation with the European Commissioner for Human Rights

On Wednesday January 19, 2022, from 12:30 – 1:30 pm EST, the American Society of International Law's Human Rights Interest Group invites you to join the next installation of the series "Human Rights Talks", in which the presidents or heads of regional and universal human rights bodies are invited for keynote speeches and conversations on current human rights developments and challenges, and on the response from the institutions that they lead. This event will focus on Europe. Some of the important current human rights themes in Europe include immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers; safety of journalists, freedom of expression and media freedom; human rights of LGBTQI+ persons; children's rights; the rights of Roma; and Transitional Justice.

In this context, the mandate of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe includes: fostering the effective observance of human rights, and assisting member states in the implementation of Council of Europe human rights standards; promoting education in and awareness of human rights in Council of Europe member states and identifying possible shortcomings in the law and practice concerning human rights.

During this event, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe will refer to the main current human rights developments and challenges in Europe, and the response of the institution, in terms of priorities and work plan.

New Article: Mental Health as a Basic Human Right and the Interference of Commercialized Science

Lisa Cosgrove and Allen F. Shaughnessy, Mental Health as a Basic Human Right and the Interference of Commercialized Science, Health and Human Rights Journal (2020), https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2469/2020/06/Cosgrove.pdf. Abstract pasted below.

Although there is consensus that a rights-based approach to mental health is needed, there is disagreement about how best to conceptualize and execute it. The dominance of the medical model and industry’s influence on psychiatry has led to an over-emphasis on intra-individual solutions, namely increasing individuals’ access to biomedical treatments, with a resultant under-appreciation for the social and psychosocial determinants of health and the need for population-based health promotion. This paper argues that a robust rights-based approach to mental health is needed in order to overcome the effects of commercial interests on the mental health field. We show how commercialized science—the use of science primarily to meet industry needs—deflects attention away from the sociopolitical determinants of health, and we offer solutions for reform.

January-March Deadlines - Calls for Inputs by UN Human Rights Mechanisms

The following calls for inputs have been issued by the UN Human Rights Mechanisms with deadlines in January-March 2022 and law professors whose practice, research, and/or scholarship touches on these topics may be interested in submission:

Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence – Call for inputs on roles and responsibilities of non-state actors in transitional justice processes. Deadline January 14, 2022. Read more.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – Call for comments and textual suggestions on Draft Convention on the Right to Development. Deadline January 16, 2022. Read More.

Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health – Call for contributions for report on violence and its impact on the right to health. Deadline January 18, 2022. Read more.

Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions – Call for input on the state of knowledge and implementation of the United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions [The Minnesota Protocol]. Deadline January 30, 2022. Read more.

Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – Call for submissions. Report on the militarization of indigenous land. Deadline January 31, 2022. Read more.

Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – Call for submissions for study on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements, between indigenous peoples and States, including peace accords and reconciliation initiatives, and their constitutional recognition. Deadline January 31, 2022. Read more.

Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children – Call for inputs on report on trafficking of persons in the agricultural sector. Deadline January 31, 2022. Read more.

Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity – Call for inputs on report on the realization of the right of persons affected by violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, in relation to Sustainable Development Goals. Deadline January 31, 2022. Read more.

Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association – Call for inputs on the trends, developments, and challenges to the ability of civil society organizations to access resources, including foreign funding. Deadline February 2, 2022. Read more.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - Call for inputs for report on internet shutdowns and human rights. Deadline February 10, 2022. Read more.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – Call for inputs on the issue of child, early and forced marriage. Deadline February 15, 2022. Read more.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – Call for inputs on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the realization of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl. Deadline February 18, 2022. Read more.

Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights – Call for inputs on “secondary sanctions, civil and criminal penalties for circumvention of sanctions regimes, and over-compliance with sanctions” and “Unilateral sanctions in the cyber world”. Deadline February 28, 2022. Read more.

Working Group on the use of mercenaries – Call for inputs on victims of mercenaries, mercenary related actors, and private military and security companies. Deadline February 28, 2022. Read more.

Special Rapporteur on the right to development – Call for inputs on the right to development COVID recovery plans and policies and the right to development. Deadline March 1, 2022. Read more.

Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights – Call for inputs on Mercury, artisanal and small-scale gold mining and human rights. Deadline March 7, 2022. Read more.

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Shadow reports for review of the U.S. due March 21, 2022. Read more.

This information was compiled by Khala Turner, a 3L at St. Louis University School of Law, from https://ohchr.org/EN/Pages/calls-for-input.aspx.

Human Rights Offerings at 2022 AALS Annual Meeting

The 2022 AALS Annual Meeting is being held this week January 5-9, 2022. The following human rights-related sessions may be of interest to law professors attending the meeting:

Wednesday January 5, 2022

11am-12:15pm

Did Democracy Stumble? Pandemic Lessons from Around the Globe

Sponsored by Comparative Law, Co‐Sponsored by East Asian Law & Society, International Human Rights, and Law, Medicine and Health Care Sections

 

Thursday January 6, 2022

11am-12:15pm

International and Comparative Legal Research

Sponsored by Law in the Americas, Co‐Sponsored by Comparative Law

 

4:45-6pm

New Voices in Human Rights

Sponsored by International Human Rights Co‐Sponsored by International Law

 

Friday January 7, 2022

11am-12:15pm

Is Climate Stability a Human Right?

Sponsored by International Human Rights, Co‐Sponsored by Children and the Law, Natural

Resources and Energy Law

 

Saturday January 8, 2022

4:45-6pm

The Agony and Ecstasy of Teaching Human Rights Law in the Field

Sponsored by International Human Rights, Co‐Sponsored by New Law Professors

 

4:45-6pm

The Challenges and Opportunities of Teaching International Law Responses to the Climate Change Crisis

Sponsored by International Law, Co‐Sponsored by Environmental Law, and Natural Resources
and Energy Law