Renewing the Commitment to the Rule of Law and Human Rights in the United States

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Mary Robinson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Rule Of Law

The Psychosis of Permanent War

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-51
Author(s):  
Chris Hedges
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pulitzer Prize ◽  
Jewish State ◽  
The Rule Of Law

In this no-holds-barred essay, former New York Times Middle East correspondent and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Chris Hedges examines how the United States’ staunch support provides Israel with impunity to visit mayhem on a population which it subjugates and holds captive. Notwithstanding occasional and momentary criticism, the official U.S. cheerleading stance is not only an embarrassing spectacle, Hedges argues, it is also a violation of international law, and an illustration of the disfiguring and poisonous effect of the psychosis of permanent war characteristic of both countries. The author goes on to conclude that the reality of its actions against the Palestinians, both current and historical, exposes the fiction that Israel stands for the rule of law and human rights, and gives the lie to the myth of the Jewish state and that of its sponsor, the United States.

Does Kant Justify Liberal Intervention?

2011 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Lindley Wilson ◽  
Jonathan Monten
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Military Interventions ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Tradition ◽  
Foreign State ◽  
Electoral Democracy

The recent US occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan have renewed the debate over whether military interventions intended to impose democracy in a foreign state are consistent with liberal principles. The liberal political tradition within the United States has often been divided over this question. At issue is what place, if any, military force should have in a foreign policy dedicated to promoting goals such as the spread of electoral democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule of law.

Rule of Law in the United States. Stability is one of the World’s Most Valued Commodities

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-165
Author(s):  
Joshua W. Dansby
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
Definition Of

Summary “The rule of law is like the notion of ‘the good’. Everyone is for the good, although we hold different ideas about what the good is.” 1 Two primary ways of viewing the Rule of Law have developed over the years: the “thick” theory of the Rule of Law advocates that, in addition to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced, and independently adjudicated, participation in government decisions (democracy) and consistency with international human rights law are essential for the Rule of Law in a society; the “thin” theory of the Rule of Law asserts that democracy and consistency with human rights law, while nice, are not essential for the Rule of Law. While the Rule of Law is often talked about in the context of developing countries that are coming out of conflict, there is little talk about the Rule of Law and its application to countries such as the United States. The past two years have seen the Rule of Law in the United States threatened as it has never been before, with Senators refusing to do their constitutional duty, a President that threatens to disregard the rulings of the judiciary, and judges both politicizing and abdicating their role as the interpreters of the law. Using a definition of the “thin” theory of the Rule of Law formulated by Brian Tamanahan, I ultimately argue that it not only is, but should be the case that a product of the Rule of Law, stability, a combination of security and predictability, is one of the world’s most valued commodities; and that Rule of Law, rather than the Rule of Man, is and should always be the bedrock of the United States of America.

scholarly journals Shifting Standards of Judicial Review During the Coronavirus Pandemic in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1039-1059
Author(s):  
Wendy K. Mariner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Judicial Review ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
The United States ◽  
Reproductive Health Services ◽  
Executive Orders ◽  
The Rule Of Law

AbstractEmergencies are exceptions to the rule. Laws that respond to emergencies can create exceptions to rules that protect human rights. In long lasting emergencies, these exceptions can become the rule, diluting human rights and eroding the rule of law. In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted states to change rules governing commercial and personal activities to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Many governors’ executive orders were challenged as violations of the constitutionally protected rights of those affected. Judges are deciding whether emergencies can justify more restrictions than would be permitted in normal circumstances and whether some rights deserve more protection than others, even in an emergency. This article analyzes ongoing litigation involving emergency restrictions on religious freedom and access to reproductive health services. These cases suggest that some judges are altering the standards of judicial review of the state’s emergency powers in ways that could permanently strengthen some rights and dilute others in normal circumstances.

Lawyers as Activists

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Dorf ◽  
Michael S. Chu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Court Action ◽  
The Government ◽  
Trump Administration

Lawyers played a key role in challenging the Trump administration’s Travel Ban on entry into the United States of nationals from various majority-Muslim nations. Responding to calls from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which were amplified by social media, lawyers responded to the Travel Ban’s chaotic rollout by providing assistance to foreign travelers at airports. Their efforts led to initial court victories, which in turn led the government to soften the Ban somewhat in two superseding executive actions. The lawyers’ work also contributed to the broader resistance to the Trump administration by dramatizing its bigotry, callousness, cruelty, and lawlessness. The efficacy of the lawyers’ resistance to the Travel Ban shows that, contrary to strong claims about the limits of court action, litigation can promote social change. General lessons about lawyer activism in ordinary times are difficult to draw, however, because of the extraordinary threat Trump poses to civil rights and the rule of law.

scholarly journals Obama's National Security Exceptionalism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudha N. Setty
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Security ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Norms ◽  
Global Community ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
War Criminals ◽  
The World ◽  
International Obligations

Published: Sudha Setty, Obama's National Security Exceptionalism, 91 CHI.-KENT L. REV. 91 (2016).This Article discusses how continued national security exceptionalism engenders a view of the United States as considering itself to be above international obligations to investigate and prosecute torturers and war criminals, and the view by the global community that the United States is willing to apply one standard for itself, and another for the rest of the world. Exceptionalism not only poses real challenges in terms of law, morality, and building useful relationships with allied nations, but acts as a step backward for the creation of enforceable international norms and standards, and in efforts to restore a balance in the rule of law when it comes to national security matters.

scholarly journals The Rule of Law in the Middle East and the Islamic World

2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 167-171
Author(s):  
Mohammad Fadel
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Average Length ◽  
The United States ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Varying Length ◽  
The Government

This work grew out of a series of lectures that were delivered over atwo-year period between 1996 and 1998 at the Centre of Islamic andMiddle Eastern Law (CIMEL) at the School of Oriental and AfricanStudies (SOAS), University of London, on the genera] subject of the rule oflaw in the Middle East and Islamic countries. Subsequently, materials wereadded dealing particularly with issues relating to human rights law. Thecontributors to this work are a combination of legal academics, human rights activists, lawyers and judges, who hale from various countries in theArab world, Iran, the United States, Great Britain and Germany.There are a total of fourteen separate chapters, of varying length andquality. The book is not lengthy - including notes and authors’ biographies,it is 180 pages long. The average length of each chapter is between ten andfifteen pages. Despite the diversity of countries surveyed, all the essays areconcerned with generic questions regarding the rule of law, whether in atheoretical sense, viz., whether the notion that legitimate governmentalaction is limited to those acts that are deemed lawful by a pre-existing setor rules, or in a practical sense, viz., assuming that the formal legal regimeof a given state recognizes the rule of law in a theoretical sense, whetherthe coercive apparatus of the state in fact recognizes legal limitations onits conduct.Perhaps the most interesting (it is certainly the most lengthy, at 35 pages),and most important, essay in this work is the very fiit one, authored byAdel Omar Sherif, an Egyptian judge, wherein the author provides a digestof the landmark decisions of the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court.While the work can be criticized for taking on the appearance of a meresurvey of decisions, without taking a critical perspective to the Court’sprecedents, it is nonetheless a very valuable contribution for those lawyersand scholars who cannot read Arabic but nonetheless wish to gain insightinto Egypt’s legal culture. The modest task of relating the decisions ofEgypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court is especially important given thecliches regarding the absence of effective judicial institutions in the Arabworld. Sherifs contribution effectively dispels that myth. His article revealsthe Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court to be a vibrant institution thattakes its constitutional duties seriously, and discharges those duties withintegrity, and when it finds that the government has acted unlawfully, it willstrike down the offensive legislation, or rule against the government ...

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