Publications Archive

2011

In the Fall of 2011, PHRGE Executive Director Gillian MacNaughton authored an article, "The Human Right to Health Care in the United States" in the September/October 2011 Clearinghouse Review's special issue on human rights and poverty law. Ford Foundation Fellow Mariah McGill authored a companion piece to the article, “Everybody In, Nobody Out: Vermont’s New Plan for Universal Healthcare” that provided updates on Vermont's campaign for universal health care.

In the Fall of 2011, PHRGE Co-Director and Professor of Law, Martha Davis authored an article, "Oklahoma's Anti-Sharia and Other Antitransnational Law Proposals" in the September/ October 2011 Clearinghouse Review's issue on human rights and poverty law.

On October 20, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Jillian Tuck co-authored “Alabama’s Anti-Immigrant Law Denies Basic Human Right to Water” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On October 14, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Jillian Tuck co-authored “Asylum Seeker Released After Years of Indefinite Detention” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On October 7, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Jillian Tuck co-authored “Massachusetts Legislature Considers Imposing Fees on Inmates” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On October 6, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Jillian Tuck co-authored “Legal and Political Challenges Inhibit Mexican Asylum Seekers” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On October 4, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Jillian Tuck co-authored “Troubling Alabama Immigration Law Upheld by Federal Judge” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On September 12, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Sari Long co-authored “Iran’s Barbaric Execution of Three Gay Men Signals Dangerous Direction” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On August 12, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Sari Long co-authored “Balancing National Security Concerns with the Right to Seek Asylum” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On August 11, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Sari Long co-authored “Secure Communities Goes Yet Another Step Too Far” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On August 2, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Sari Long co-authored “ “Keep Our Communities Safe Act” is Dangerous and Unconstitutional” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On August 2, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Sari Long co-authored “LGBT Detainees at Increased Risk for Abuse and Mistreatment” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On July 14, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Sari Long co-authored “Strauss-Kahn's Accuser Deserves Her Day in Court” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On June 29, 2011, PHRGE fellow Sari Long co-authored “As Gay Marriage is Legalized in New York, LGBT Immigrants are Cautiously Optimistic” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

In Summer 2011, PHRGE Ford Fellow Mariah McGill published "The Human Right to Health Care in the State of Vermont" in the Vermont Bar Journal.

On June 29, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Sari Long co-authored “Secure Communities Threatens Asylum Seekers” on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On May 24, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Giovanni DiMaggio published Limited Rights of Immigrant Detainees Must Be Protected on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On May 19, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Giovanni DiMaggio posted Immigration Detention: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On May 11, 2011, PHRGE Fellow Giovanni DiMaggio published "Refugee" Status Should Protect Victims of Gang Violence on the Physicians for Human Rights Blog.

On May 8, 2011, Ford Foundation Fellow Mariah McGill posted Vermont Health Campaign Success on Int Law Grrls Blog.

On May 1, 2011 Professor Hope Lewis posted a blog about the Boston Principles on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Noncitizens on Int Law Grrls.

On April 21st 2011, PHRGE founder Professor Hope Lewis published an article on the Huffington Post Can the U.S. Afford Economic Rights in an Economic Crisis?

April 15, 2011, Gillian MacNaughton and Diane F. Frey published an article in the American University International Law Review entitled "Decent Work for All: A Holistic Human Rights Approach."

Professor Margaret Woo, PHRGE Faculty Co-Director, co-authored the book "Chinese Justice: Civil Dispute Resolution in Contemporary China." Chinese Justice analyzes whether China’s thirty years of legal reform have taken root in Chinese society by examining how ordinary citizens are using the legal system in contemporary China.  It is an interdisciplinary look at law in action and at legal institutions from the bottom up – that is, beginning with those at the ground level who are using and working in the legal system.  It explores the emergent Chinese conception of justice – one that seeks to balance Chinese tradition, socialist legacies, and the needs of the global market.  Given the political dimensions of dispute resolution in creating, settling, and changing social norms, this volume contributes to a greater understanding of political and social change in China today and of the process of legal reforms generally.

On April 15^th, 2011, Professors Lewis and Rosenbloom co-authored an article for the Notre Dame Journal of International, Comparative and Human Rights Law titled “The Boston Principles: An Introduction.

On March 9, 2011 PHRGE Co-Director Professor Martha Davis published an article which appears on the Amercian Constitutional Society's blog. The article, A Supreme Court Opportunity to Cap Off 100 Years of Gender Equality Progress, examines the pending Flores-Villar v. United States decision, for which Professor Davis filed an amicus brief. 

On February 28, 2011, The Equal Rights Review published an article by PHRGE Executive Director Gillian MacNaughton entitled "Healthcare Systems and Equality Rights."

In a blog posting on IntLawGrrls on February 19, Mariah McGill, Ford Foundation Fellow, wrote the entry "Vermont Reform and the Human Right to Health" This post explains the human rights principles underlying Vermont's efforts to enact a universal healthcare system.  In addition, it contains information about the three universal healthcare system models proposed by an independent expert hired by the State of Vermont.

In 2011, PHRGE collaborated with the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau to author a series of articles on human rights in domestic advocacy.  Peter Sabonis, the Assistant Director of Advocacy for Income Security at the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau wrote an article entitled "Using Human a Rights Framework at the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau."  The article was published in the January/February 2011 issue of the Clearinghouse Review. 

Mariah McGill, PHRGE Ford Foundation Fellow, has recently published an article in the January-February 2011 issue of Clearinghouse Review, "Using Human Rights to Move Beyond the Politically Possible." The article discusses the May 2010 passage by the Vermont Legislature of Act 128, which declared healthcare to be a "public good" for all Vermonters, established a commission charged with hiring an independent consultant to develop three universal healthcare models, and required that any universal healthcare system adopted by Vermont incorporate key human rights principles.

Executive Director Gillian MacNaughton has an article entitlted "Human Rights: Frameworks, Strategies, and Tools for the Poverty Lawyer's Toolbox" in the January-February 2011 issue of Clearinghouse Review.

In the January/February 2011 issue of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council newsletter, Poverty & Race, Professor Martha Davis has written an article entitled "A Human Rights Lens on Civil Legal Assistance." 

In January 2011,Professor Martha Davis co-authored an issue brief for the American Constitution Society; Oklahoma State Question 755  and An Analysis of Anti-International Law Initiatives.

2010

We are pleased to announce the Launch of the Draft Boston Principles on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Noncitizens, Friday, December 10, International Human Rights Day.

Report of the Workshop on the Justiciability of Socio-Economic Rights; Bogota, Columbia; May 15-16, 2010

2009

In December 2009, PHRGE submitted testimony to the first-ever Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on US compliance with international human rights treaties. PHRGE’s testimony focuses on federalism issues and uses Civil Gideon — and the right to counsel for immigrants in removal proceedings — as an example of where the federal government might provide leadership on international human rights implementation. In making this argument, PHRGE relies on the statement of the CERD Committee on Civil Gideon that came out of the advocacy of Professor Jim Rowan and students at the 2008 CERD meeting in Geneva.

Report of the Workshop on the Justiciability of Socio-Economic Rights, March 2009

In 2009, The University of Pennsylvania Press published an abridged version of Professor Martha Davis' Bringing Human Rights Home.

Professor Martha Davis files amicus brief arguing international law applies in domestic force feeding case.

In January 2009, Professor Martha Davis weighed in on the US human rights agenda in Mandate for Change, a blueprint for the Obama administration.

Human Rights and Racial Justice in the U.S. A Study Guide to Accompany the 15th Annual Valerie Gordon Lecture at Northeastern University School of Law, entitled "A Twenty-first Century Global View of Racial Justice," delivered by Gay McDougall, United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues (mp3 audio file available). The March 3, 2008 lecture examined racial injustice in education, health and civic participation, globally and locally through the lens of international human rights law. With the support of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, PHRGE made the lecture and study guide available to social justice activists throughout Massachusetts to stimulate discussion on ways local communities can advocate for racial equality using international human rights standards.

Human Rights, Social Justice and State Law: A Manual for Creative Lawyering published by the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy, Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute and the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative in 2008.

Professor Martha Davis is Bringing Human Rights Home (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007) with her new edited, three-volume set chronicling the history of human rights in the United States from the perspective of domestic social justice. With coeditors Cynthia Soohoo and Catherine Albisa, Davis examines the political forces and historic events that resulted in the US’ failure to embrace human rights principles at home while actively (albeit selectively) championing and promoting human rights abroad. It then considers the current explosion of human rights activism around issues within the United States and the way human rights is transforming domestic social justice work. The set also chronicles current domestic human rights work, and covers everything from globalization to terrorism and the erosion of civil rights protections that led to a renewed interest in human rights; human rights versus civil rights strategies; and the different ways human rights can support social activism.

On International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2007, PHRGE issued its report, “Access to Civil Justice,” assessing the racially discriminatory impact of the US civil justice system through a human rights lens. The report has been submitted to the United Nations, which will review it in February 2008.

Progressive Lawyering, Globalization, and Markets: Rethinking Ideology and Strategy (Clare Dalton, Editor 2007) The essays collected offer a multi-disciplinary and multi-generational approach to the challenges and opportunities presented by globalization and the spread of neo-liberal market ideology. The volume’s contributing authors represent three generations of progressive thinkers, teachers, policymakers and activists. The contributors search for innovative understandings and blueprints for action. They seek to sharpen analysis of some of the key issues we face as a national and global society, generate fresh debate, and expand the repertoire of strategies available in the fight for human opportunity and well-being.

Professor Martha Davis Leads PHRGE Efforts to Establish Civil Gideon in King v. King (2007).

“Human rights at home” Op-ed by Professor Martha Davis in The Boston Globe, May 20, 2007

Northeastern Law Magazine: “The International Law Issue” (Winter 2007)

“In the Interests of Justice: Human Rights and the Right to Counsel in Civil Cases” (Dec. 2006): This timely and ground-breaking report reviews the status of the right to civil counsel under international law, focusing specifically on those international treaties and conventions pertinent to the United States. Among other things, the report notes that heightened need for counsel in those instances where fundamental economic, social and cultural rights are at issue. Hard copies of the report are available upon request, for the cost of shipping.

“We need a civil 'Gideon'” Op-ed by Professor Martha Davis in The National Law Journal, Aug. 2006

Human Rights and the Aftermath of Disaster

Realizing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Communities, Courts and the Academy (117 pages). This report summarizes PHRGE's two-day conference in June 2005, including a major symposium, held at Harvard Law School, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the South African Freedom Charter, and a consultation at the School of Law focused on "Realizing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Communities, Courts and the Academy." The Honorable Pius Langa, chief justice of the South African Constitutional Court, delivered remarks as did other members of the judiciary, NGOs and academics.