scholarly journals The issue of developing animal legal subjectivity

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 187-200
Author(s):  
Klara Walkowicz
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
United States ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
The United States ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Legal Subjectivity ◽  
The Right ◽  
Almost All

Currently almost all democratic countries grant legal protection to animals, guaranteeing them the right to life and freedom from suffering as a basis. Nevertheless, in certain countries, such as the United States and India, attempts are made to grant select species a package of rights which predisposes them to be called subjects instead of objects of law, and distinguishes them from other animals. Such activities are most commonly explained by the development of biological sciences, allowing for a better understanding of the abilities of animals in the intellectual and social spheres. Such demands, due to the still unclear legal status of animals in certain countries, are perceived as equating the position of humans and animals.

Disentangling contributions of demographic, family, and socioeconomic factors on associations of immigration status and health in the United States

2020 ◽  
pp. jech-2020-214245
Author(s):  
Adrian Bacong ◽  
Heeju Sohn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Undocumented Immigrants ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Characteristics ◽  
California Health Interview Survey ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Individual Level

BackgroundIn the United States, immigration policy is entwined with health policy, and immigrants’ legal statuses determine their access to care. Yet, policy debates rarely take into account the health needs of immigrants and potential health consequences of linking legal status to healthcare. Confounding from social and demographic differences and lack of individual-level data with sensitive immigration variables present challenges in this area of research.MethodsThis article used the restricted California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) to assess differences in self-rated health, obesity, and severe psychological distress. Between US-born citizens, naturalised citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPR), undocumented immigrants, and temporary visa holders living in California.ResultsResults show that while immigrant groups appear to have poorer health on the surface, these differences were explained predominantly by older age among naturalised citizens and by lower-income and education among LPRs and undocumented immigrants. Favourable family characteristics acted as protective factors for immigrants’ health, especially among disadvantaged immigrants.ConclusionImmigration policy that limits access to healthcare and family support may further widen the health disadvantage among immigrants with less legal protection.

Compassion for Immigrants and the Sanctuary Movements

2019 ◽  
pp. 127-145
Author(s):  
Sharon Erickson Nepstad
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Immigration Laws ◽  
The Right ◽  
Mixed Status Families ◽  
Mixed Status

This chapter depicts some of the current debates and pressing issues around immigration reform and the treatment of refugees in the United States. It provides an overview of the Catholic Church’s teachings on immigration, which emphasize that all people have the right to emigrate when their lives are threatened or when they are unable to survive in their homelands. These teachings strongly mandate that all immigrants should be welcomed, assisted, treated with dignity, and given their basic human rights, regardless of their legal status. This chapter explores how American Catholics have responded to immigration concerns and crises. It documents the actions of the Sanctuary movement of the 1980s, which defied immigration laws to help Salvadorans and Guatemalans who were fleeing civil war violence in their homelands. Sanctuary activists assisted these refugees across the border and protected them in churches and synagogues throughout the United States. The chapter concludes with a summary of the New Sanctuary Movement in the twenty-first century, which is focused on reforming immigration policy and preventing the deportation of members in “mixed-status” families.

The Right to Avoid Procreation and the Regulation of Pregnancy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Sepper
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Reproductive Freedom ◽  
American Perspective ◽  
Statutory Law ◽  
The Right

This chapter considers the right to avoid procreation and the regulation of pregnancy from an American perspective. In the United States, the right to avoid procreation finds protection in constitutional and statutory law. The Supreme Court’s decisions to recognize contraception and abortion as constitutional rights have permitted generations of women a measure of reproductive freedom. However, the constitutionalization of contraception, and abortion in particular, has brought to the fore deeper contestation about the moral (and legal) status of the fetus, women’s place in society, and the meaning of motherhood. These same issues play out in decisions about the protection and regulation of women during their pregnancies. Within the framework of Supreme Court precedent, the fifty states have adopted varying approaches to the right to abortion. The trend, however, has inclined toward greater restrictions in a growing number of states. At the same time, the current Court seems likely to dilute or reject the right to abortion, with consequences for contraception, protections for pregnant women at work, and criminal intervention during pregnancy.

Safety Service Patrol Uniforms: Technology, National Practices, and Operator Preferences

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (11) ◽  
pp. 456-465
Author(s):  
Grady Carrick ◽  
Katherine Belmore
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
National Level ◽  
Past Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Control Devices ◽  
The Right ◽  
Almost All

Safety service patrols operate in more than 40 states and territories in the United States and each program operates with unique vehicles, uniforms, and equipment. Despite the variety of operator uniforms, legal and technical requirements at a national level dictate some choices, though color and style are largely at the discretion of states. Past research confirms that high-visibility safety apparel (HVSA) increases visibility. Biomotion markers on the joints further enhance visibility. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices specifies that personnel working in the right-of-way wear a Class 2 or 3 HVSA. A survey of states where service patrols operate found the majority use high-visibility yellow-green over red-orange, and Class 3 garments are preferred over Class 2. In relation to the base uniform, there is a mixture of maintenance-type uniforms, polo shirts, and no uniform specification at all. In a survey of Florida service patrol program managers and operators, conveying professionalism, comfort, and safety were the most valued aspects of uniforms. Operators understand the need to care and maintain HVSA, but may overestimate their ability to be seen at night by between two and four times the actual distance they are visible. When given a choice, operators preferred dark trousers with biomotion markers, though they were roughly split between the polo shirt/vest option and the integrated HVSA shirt that does not require use of a vest. A uniform protective outerwear was favored by almost all operators, and a ball cap was the headwear of choice.

Bentham on Presumed Offences

Utilitas ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
FREDERICK SCHAUER
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
The United States ◽  
Penal Code ◽  
Jeremy Bentham ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Almost All

In the Principles of the Penal Code, Jeremy Bentham described offences that he labelled presumed or evidentiary. The conduct penalized under such offences is punished not because it is intrinsically wrong, but because it probabilistically indicates the presence of an intrinsic wrong. Bentham was sceptical of the need to create offences, but grudgingly accepted their value in light of deficiencies in procedure and the judiciary. These days the scepticism is even greater, with courts and commentators in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere believing that such ‘proxy’ offences deny a defendant the right to establish that he did not engage in the conduct that the presumed offence probabilistically but not necessarily indicates. On closer analysis, however, such scepticism appears unjustified. Almost all offences, and indeed almost all legal rules, are premised on a probabilistic relationship between the behaviour the rule encompasses and the behaviour that is the rule-maker's real concern. Presumed offences may make this relationship especially obvious, but it is a relationship that exists whenever the law operates by the use of rules.

More than victims: Resiliency of undocumented Latinas near Chicago, United States, and the strategic use of psychological suffering in obtaining legal status

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-368
Author(s):  
Stephanie Jean Kohl
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigration Law ◽  
Application Process ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Psychological Suffering ◽  
Visa Application ◽  
Biological Citizenship

Caught between abusive partners and restrictive immigration law, many undocumented Latina women are vulnerable to domestic violence in the United States. This article analyzes the U-Visa application process experienced by undocumented immigrant victims of domestic violence and their legal advisors in a suburb of Chicago, United States. Drawing on theoretical concepts of structural violence and biological citizenship, the article highlights the strategic use of psychological suffering related to domestic violence by applicants for such visas. It also investigates the complex intersection between immigration law and a humanitarian clause that creates a path towards legal status and eventual citizenship.

Lending to the Borrower from Hell

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Drelichman ◽  
Hans-Joachim Voth
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Risk Sharing ◽  
The United States ◽  
Philip Ii ◽  
Loan Contracts ◽  
The Right ◽  
Intelligent Model ◽  
New Evidence

Why do lenders time and again loan money to sovereign borrowers who promptly go bankrupt? When can this type of lending work? As the United States and many European nations struggle with mountains of debt, historical precedents can offer valuable insights. This book looks at one famous case—the debts and defaults of Philip II of Spain. Ruling over one of the largest and most powerful empires in history, King Philip defaulted four times. Yet he never lost access to capital markets and could borrow again within a year or two of each default. Exploring the shrewd reasoning of the lenders who continued to offer money, the book analyzes the lessons from this historical example. Using detailed new evidence collected from sixteenth-century archives, the book examines the incentives and returns of lenders. It provides powerful evidence that in the right situations, lenders not only survive despite defaults—they thrive. It also demonstrates that debt markets cope well, despite massive fluctuations in expenditure and revenue, when lending functions like insurance. The book unearths unique sixteenth-century loan contracts that offered highly effective risk sharing between the king and his lenders, with payment obligations reduced in bad times. A fascinating story of finance and empire, this book offers an intelligent model for keeping economies safe in times of sovereign debt crises and defaults.

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