Suchergebnisse

A review essay on a book by Michael Lewis, Eric Jensen, Geoffrey Corn, Victor Hansen, Richard Jackson, and James Schoettler, The War on Terror and the Laws of War: A Military Perspective (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).

Charles D. Weisselberg (University of California, Berkeley - School of Law) has posted Look Forward, Not Back: A Perspective on Defense Lawyering in the United States (Forthcoming in Poor Defence Lawyering: A Comparative View (Panzavolta, M. & Sanders, A. eds.,...

In this article the author argues that the aims, contexts, and methods of client activism are paramount in progressive lawyering theory, and as such precede and define the question of how progressives should lawyer. The author suggests precursory paradigms that 1) clarify the ultimate political goals to which activism is and should be directed; 2) analyze the social conditions shaping and defining grassroots activity; and 3) specify and systematize the myriad methods that can and should be used to further these ends. In critiquing prevailing theoretical formulations that relate to these considerations, the author argues that progressive lawyers need to go beyond law, lawyering, community organizing, mobilization and social movement-building and develop a framework for more finely analyzing political aims, contexts, and activist methods. Part I summarizes the various, at time conflicting, lawyering approaches to fostering activism. Part II traces the evolution of these approaches since "people's" and "poverty" lawyers began addressing the question in the 1960s. Part III critiques the theoretical limitations identified and moves to situate the development of progressive lawyering theory in historical context and move it in a broader, interdisciplinary direction.

International human rights offer a powerful set of norms that have helped domestic advocates to successfully secure additional civil, political, economic and social rights for those living in poverty in the U.S. Legal aid attorneys, public defenders, and other public interest advocates have recognized human rights as an additional advocacy tool and are increasingly using human rights arguments in U.S. courts. This article examines three cases in which legal aid attorneys and public defenders successfully used human rights arguments in U.S. courts, and discusses emerging best practices for using human rights in litigation in the U.S.