Human Rights in the United States

Human rights are deeply American in their history and in the values that they represent—they are vital to ensuring opportunity for all.  The Opportunity Agenda is dedicated to promoting a human rights approach to efforts for social change and integrating these ideals in both policy and public discourse.

This month, we highlight some recent work from both The Opportunity Agenda and our partners in advancing the cause of human rights at home.

2008 Update to Human Rights in State Courts Report

Increasingly, legal advocates are incorporating human rights arguments into their work. In order to further these efforts, we are happy to announce our 2008 Human Rights in State Courts report.  An update to our 2007 report, it documents the consideration and interpretation of international human rights law in the state courts of all 50 states. The report continues to be a comprehensive reference for state court litigators, state and municipal policymakers, academics, and advocates, covering all new state court decisions from April 2007 to June 2008, and includes relevant state court decisions that were not highlighted in the original report. The report is available for download here:

Download state_courts_and_human_rights_2008_edition.pdf

Public Opinion: State Policy Leaders’ Views on Social Justice and Human Rights

This report, which comprises the results of 50 interviews with policymakers and other “influentials” in Illinois and California, is the latest in a series of research publications that examine how Americans view human rights in a domestic context, and provide guidance to advocates using a human rights framework to address a range of issues.  Conducted for The Opportunity Agenda by Belden, Russonello and Stewart, this research seeks to expand the conversation about human rights and find effective ways to discuss economic, social, civil and political rights with Americans who can help enact policies that promote and protect human rights domestically.  The report compliments the largest original body of public opinion research examining the attitudes of a range of audiences—including progressives, communities of color, social justice advocates, journalists, and now policymakers—in applying human rights standards in the United States.  The report is available here:

Download state_policy_makers_reportoct_2008final_low_res.pdf

Health Care is a Human Right: New Talking Points from The Opportunity Agenda

In the second presidential candidates’ debate last month, President-elect Barack Obama told Tom Brokaw that with regard to health care, “I think it should be a right, for every American.”  Likewise, Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Kennedy has argued for “decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege.”  A new talking points memo from The Opportunity Agenda provides advice for seizing this moment and narrative to promote an accessible, equitable health care system that provides quality care and affords people the opportunity to live the healthiest life possible.  The talking points memo is available here:

Download health_and_human_rights.pdf

Alan Jenkins & Sabrineh Ardalan, Positive Health: The Human Right to Health Care Under the New York State Constitution, Fordham Urban Law Journal, Vol. 35, No.3, pp. 479-559 (2008)

Drawing on state constitutional law, federal civil rights and health care law, and international human rights law, Alan Jenkins, Executive Director of The Opportunity Agenda, and Associate Professor Sabrineh Ardalan of Harvard Law School make the case for a robust and enforceable right of equal access to high quality health care for all of New York State’s inhabitants.  This article demonstrates through epidemiological research and public health data that the state is failing to fulfill that right for millions of low-income communities and New Yorkers of color. Available via LexisNexis or Westlaw at 35 Fordham Urb. L.J. 479, or via the Fordham Law website.

Alan Jenkins & Kevin Shawn Hsu, American Ideals & Human Rights: Findings from New Public Opinion Research by The Opportunity Agenda, 76 Fordham Law Review (2008) (forthcoming)

The Opportunity Agenda has worked to find out where Americans stand, and where they might go, in their knowledge and support for human rights ideals.  Drawing upon the largest body of opinion research to date on Americans’ views about human rights as they apply to U.S. domestic issues, Alan Jenkins and Kevin Hsu, Associate Counsel and Robert L. Carter Fellow at The Opportunity Agenda, discuss the relevance of human rights to domestic issues and the implications of the research findings for the growing U.S. human rights movement.  Article forthcoming.

Connecticut General Assembly, “An Act Establishing a Commission on Health Equity,” Public Act No. 08-171, Signed by Governor Jodi Rell on 12 June 2008

In a tremendous victory for both health and human rights advocates, Connecticut has passed and signed into law legislation establishing a comprehensive Commission on Health Equity. The Commission is dedicated to addressing racial, ethnic, linguistic and other disparities in health care access and quality, and has been given an impressive and broad set of tools and powers to create health equity in the state.  Perhaps most significantly for human rights advocates, the preamble to the law states Connecticut’s belief in a human right to health:

2008 American Constitution Society National Convention, “The United States and Human Rights at Home."

On the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 2008 ACS National Conference featured a panel focusing on America’s human rights obligations here at home.  Panelists include two partners of The Opportunity Agenda: Professor Catherine Powell of Fordham Law and Cynthia Soohoo, Director of the Domestic Legal Program, Center for Reproductive Rights.  The podcast is available here.