Human rights are a crucial part of the United States’ legal and cultural foundation. The founders of our country declared that we are all created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights.
And the United States helped to craft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international human rights system after World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust.
Over the last decade, more and more legal advocates have begun to incorporate human rights arguments into their work, and the U.S. Supreme Court, in particular, has increasingly cited human rights law as persuasive authority for important constitutional decisions.
This report details the ways in which state courts have considered and interpreted international human rights law. It is intended for public interest lawyers and state court litigators, and also for state and municipal policy makers interested in integrating compliance with international human rights law into their domestic policies.
