Human rights advocacy in the United States

This pedagogically innovative book is the first of its kind to focus on human rights advocacy in the United States, illuminating a range of important theoretical and doctrinal issues while equipping students to thoughtfully engage these tools in their own practice of law. Readings and case studies expose students to the history, tools, and critiques of the domestic human rights movement and the legal and practical challenges of human rights implementation in the United States. Skills exercises introduce practice-oriented approaches to engaging human rights-based strategies, including practice before international treaty bodies as well as domestic policymakers. Additionally, the appendices offer the text of relevant human rights treaties.

Appropriate for introductory and advanced seminars, as well as clinical and other experiential offerings, the materials engage students on a remarkable range of issues, including immigration, rights of indigenous peoples, counterterrorism and human rights, disparities in access to health care, and the right to housing, while also exploring fundamental issues of federalism, sovereignty, judicial review and legal ethics.

A framework for U.S. human rights advocacy -- The place of "human rights" in the United States -- The United States and the U.N. human rights treaties -- Customary international law in U.S. courts -- Using foreign and international law as persuasive authority -- State and local implementation -- The interdependence of rights : advancing economic, social and cultural rights alongside civil and political rights in the U.S. -- Engaging international and regional mechanisms for domestic advocacy -- Human rights fact-finding and reporting -- Mobilizing communities -- Ethics and domestic human rights lawyering -- Appendix A. Select human rights instruments of the United Nations -- Appendix B. Select instruments of the Inter-American human rights system.