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Discrimination on the Basis of Nationality Under the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Get PDFFollowing a recent judgment by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a divergence has opened between the Court and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD Committee) over whether the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) covers nationality-based discrimination. The ICJ held that the CERD does not, but the CERD Committee had previously held the opposite. The solution to this difference is to recognize that the CERD excludes discrimination between citizens and aliens, and, in this, the ICJ was correct. However, this discrimination is distinct from discrimination between foreign persons on the basis of their nationality, which is covered by the CERD. It is for this latter form of discrimination that the CERD Committee is correct. In essence, the ICJ and the CERD Committee are both partly wrong and partly correct, and by identifying this nuance between forms of nationality discrimination, we can reconcile the two views
Environmental Justice for Food System Workers: Heat- Illness Prevention Standards as One Step Toward Just Transition
Get PDFThe recent dual crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme heat in the Pacific Northwest have brought environmental injustices for food system workers into stark view. These events prompt us to reflect on how and why our existing laws, some of which expressly include environmental justice “tools,” failed to fully protect food system workers during times of crisis, and what changes we might implement to ensure that people employed in food system jobs are safe at their places of work. These events also revealed the need for proactive, prospective changes now before another crisis occurs; indeed, experts believe that global disease outbreaks and extreme heat events are likely to recur, and with greater frequency.
Using Oregon’s heat illness prevention rules as an illustration, this Article analyzes the extent to which heat standards to protect worker health and safety serve to further various aspects of environmental justice. Applying
Professor Robert Kuehn’s taxonomy of environmental justice, I explore the ways that such standards might promote distributive, procedural, corrective, and social justice, and I identify corresponding limits. While heat standards provide much-needed, immediate protection for food system workers and others, large-scale, transformative change to the food system is needed if we are serious about promoting justice for some of the most essential members of our society
Fatal Fertilizer: PFAS Contamination of Farmland from Biosolids and Potential Federal Solutions
Get PDFFarmers across the country are increasingly discovering devastating levels of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in their soil, water, and farm products from the spread of biosolid fertilizer. Contamination from these “forever chemicals” is causing farmers to close their businesses, lose their incomes and property values, and confront potential ad- verse health effects from toxic exposure. PFAS are not federally regulated, leaving farmers with no options for federal assistance with contamination crises. This article examines federal regulations that govern the spread of biosolids as well as existing and proposed federal regulations of PFAS. To fill in federal regulatory gaps, this article proposes federal policy recommendations to prevent and remediate PFAS contamination of farmland and provide financial assistance, medical monitoring, and mental health services for affected farmers
Reading Between the Lines of the IRA + IIJA Power Gaps
Get PDFTwo major pieces of legislation enacted during the Biden Administration – the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – devote hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade to rapidly increase electrification throughout the United States. While this legislation provides substantial investment in infrastructure, it also demands action from different legal regulators. Renewable energy occupies a much larger land footprint than traditional electric power production. And land-use under the Tenth Amendment is within local and state, rather than federal, jurisdiction. To date, U.S. local land use regulation frustrates such national legislation. This article analyzes how these factors may impact the success of the IIJA and IRA
The Constitutional Public Trust in a Warming World
Get PDFThe public trust doctrine—a state-specific doctrine that entrusts certain natural resources to the state to hold for the public—most often exists as a common law doctrine. But a handful of states have constitutionalized their version of the public trust. A growing body of jurisprudential evidence shows the constitutional public trust in action—or not—against climate change. This Article examines these cases brought by governmental plaintiffs—states and local governments—investigating whether constitutionalizing the public trust has made a difference. Although the results are nascent, early signs suggest that a constitutional public trust can result in more comprehensive and aggressive law- suits when wielded by states. But many constitutional public trust states have forgone using the doctrine at all, suggesting serious limitations on the constitutional public trust. These outcomes demonstrate the peril and promise of constitutional public trust doctrines
The Need to Reconceptualize Wild Animals Post-COVID 19: Miscoordination of Wildlife Regulations in China’s Food Legal Order
Get PDFToday, China is one of the largest markets for wild animal trading. Yet, wild animals are in a regulatory grey area. There is an increasing need to revisit how wild animals are simultaneously but differently regulated in the food and wildlife protection regimes. Rarely do attempts to understand these two regimes occur, making this article\u27s analysis of miscoordination in these bodies of law crucial in addressing the hindrance of nationwide food safety improvement efforts
The Contribution of Formal and Informal Mentorship to Faculty Productivity: Views of Faculty in Public Affairs Programs
Get PDFThis study examines how mentorship opportunities contribute to the productivity and career growth of public affairs faculty, stratified by gender and race. The study uses primary data coming from an original survey administered at two different points in time (2017 and 2021) to faculty who are part of NASPAA member schools. Results indicate that women and faculty from racially under-represented groups are more likely to receive formal mentoring whereas men and white faculty are more likely to benefit from informal mentoring. Additionally, results show that the relationship between mentoring approaches and research effort differed by the faculty’s member gender and race with formal mentoring contributing to the research effort of men and white faculty across all academic ranks and university types, and informal mentoring contributing to the research effort of mid-career faculty of all genders and races. This study aims to inform individuals and universities about mentoring trends and contributions
Determining an Effective Regulatory Framework for Businesses to Report on the Environment, Climate, and Human Rights
Get PDFThe objective of this article is to identify the existing dynamics and clarify the reasoning behind reporting on environmental, climate, and human rights information in search of effective and binding frameworks to enhance transparency. To that effect, this article relates the evolution from a corporate sustainable business focus to reporting on environmental social and governance and increasing corporate accountability. It then expands on defining non- financial information and ESG reporting with regards to recent European Union Regulations (SFDR, Taxonomy) as well as the challenges associated with defining sustainable investments. This article aims to compare and understand the various regulatory strategies and frameworks around the world on environmental, social, and climate-related disclosure. Finally, this article questions the level of reporting on human rights and the relevance of upcoming human rights due diligence laws in the European Union (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and global initiatives to enhance human rights transparency. In conclusion, this article suggests that an effective reporting framework combines mandatory disclosures, guided reporting rules, and definitions tailored to social and environmental realities to enable companies to demonstrate greater transparency
An In-depth Analysis of Topics in Deaf Education in Early Childhood Education
Get PDFDespite federal mandates of the services and inclusion of students who are deaf and hard of hearing in early childhood there is more discussion and research to be done to support educators and students who are deaf and hard of hearing and their families that they serve in early education. This article is an overview of a collection of eight articles housed within the special issue covering a range of topics related to critical issues in deaf education and early childhood education. These include: literacy and language development; developing and implementing universal design for learning; autonomy, self-advocacy, and self-determination skills; curriculum concepts, theories and philosophies; and assessment of students who are deaf with additional disabilities. The article employs existing research and practices in deaf education, such as newborn hearing screening and language deprivation related to deaf education practices. The authors acknowledge the need for further discussion and research in all areas; however, note this special issue is progress towards filling in gaps in current practices in deaf education within early childhood education