Calling the United States\u27 Bluff: How Sovereign Immunity Undermines the United States\u27 Claim to an Effective Domestic Human Rights System

This article challenges the claims made by the United States that the civil rights system in this country adequately protects human rights, making it unnecessary for the United States to take on additional international human rights commitments. Specifically, the article uses international human rights law and comparative law to analyze the broad sovereign immunity doctrines that protect government actors in the United States from suits for damages even where constitutional violations are in play

To Loose the Bonds: The Deceptive Promise of Freedom from Pretrial Immigration Detention

Each year, the United States government detains more than 60,000 migrants who are eligible for release during immigration court proceedings that will determine their right to stay in the United States. Detention or release should be adjudicated through a custody determination process focused on the question of whether a mi-grant poses a flight risk or danger to the community. Yet, because the process skips the critical inquiry into the need for detention before setting monetary bond require-ments for release that are difficult to fulfill, freedom remains elusive. The custody determination process is a cornerstone in the U.S. immigration de-tention edifice but has received scarce attention. Furthermore, the public debate on mass incarceration, which could meaningfully inform the discussion, generally ig-nores the reality of expansive pretrial detention of migrants who could be released. This Article takes up the task of critiquing the role and functioning of the immigration custody determination process, in part by joining together the conversations taking place in the immigration and criminal pretrial realms. In this Article, I assert that the immigration custody determination process fails to preserve and protect the constitutional presumption of liberty applicable to all persons facing detention that is not imposed as punishment after a criminal convic-tion. The process results in automatic detention without meaningful individualized consideration or review. Furthermore, it adopts elements from the criminal pretrial system that are ill suited to the immigration setting while failing to incorporate les-sons learned in the criminal justice setting. Important considerations in the criminal justice context, such as the inadvisability of emphasizing monetary bond, do not make their way into the immigration custody determination process, with negative results for liberty. Given these realities, the Article both proposes normative changes to the immi-gration custody determination process and calls for additional research in order to rationalize the process. These reforms would realign the system with the limited pur-poses of immigration detention in order to protect liberty and avoid the significant human and societal costs associated with detaining individuals who may safely be released

Sources and characteristics of summertime organic aerosol in the Colorado Front Range: perspective from measurements and WRF-Chem modeling

Abstract. The evolution of organic aerosols (OAs) and their precursors in the boundary layer (BL) of the Colorado Front Range during the Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment (FRAPPÉ, July–August 2014) was analyzed by in situ measurements and chemical transport modeling. Measurements indicated significant production of secondary OA (SOA), with enhancement ratio of OA with respect to carbon monoxide (CO) reaching 0.085±0.003 µg m−3 ppbv−1. At background mixing ratios of CO, up to  ∼  1.8 µg m−3 background OA was observed, suggesting significant non-combustion contribution to OA in the Front Range. The mean concentration of OA in plumes with a high influence of oil and natural gas (O&G) emissions was  ∼  40 % higher than in urban-influenced plumes. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) confirmed a dominant contribution of secondary, oxygenated OA (OOA) in the boundary layer instead of fresh, hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA). Combinations of primary OA (POA) volatility assumptions, aging of semi-volatile species, and different emission estimates from the O&G sector were used in the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) simulation scenarios. The assumption of semi-volatile POA resulted in greater than a factor of 10 lower POA concentrations compared to PMF-resolved HOA. Including top-down modified O&G emissions resulted in substantially better agreements in modeled ethane, toluene, hydroxyl radical, and ozone compared to measurements in the high-O&G-influenced plumes. By including emissions from the O&G sector using the top-down approach, it was estimated that the O&G sector contributed to  <  5 % of total OA, but up to 38 % of anthropogenic SOA (aSOA) in the region. The best agreement between the measured and simulated median OA was achieved by limiting the extent of biogenic hydrocarbon aging and consequently biogenic SOA (bSOA) production. Despite a lower production of bSOA in this scenario, contribution of bSOA to total SOA remained high at 40–54 %. Future studies aiming at a better emissions characterization of POA and intermediate-volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) from the O&G sector are valuable

A Case-Control Study to Identify Community Venues Associated with Genetically-clustered, Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis Disease in Lima, Peru.

BACKGROUND: The majority of tuberculosis transmission occurs in community settings. Our primary aim in this study was to assess the association between exposure to community venues and multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis. Our secondary aim was to describe the social networks of MDR tuberculosis cases and controls. METHODS: We recruited laboratory-confirmed MDR tuberculosis cases and community controls that were matched on age and sex. Whole-genome sequencing was used to identify genetically clustered cases. Venue tracing interviews (nonblinded) were conducted to enumerate community venues frequented by participants. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between MDR tuberculosis and person-time spent in community venues. A location-based social network was constructed, with respondents connected if they reported frequenting the same venue, and an exponential random graph model (ERGM) was fitted to model the network. RESULTS: We enrolled 59 cases and 65 controls. Participants reported 729 unique venues. The mean number of venues reported was similar in both groups (P = .92). Person-time in healthcare venues (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.67, P = .01), schools (aOR = 1.53, P < .01), and transportation venues (aOR = 1.25, P = .03) was associated with MDR tuberculosis. Healthcare venues, markets, cinemas, and transportation venues were commonly shared among clustered cases. The ERGM indicated significant community segregation between cases and controls. Case networks were more densely connected. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to healthcare venues, schools, and transportation venues was associated with MDR tuberculosis. Intervention across the segregated network of case venues may be necessary to effectively stem transmission

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Obstructing Human Rights: The Texas-Mexico Border Wall

The Working Group submits these briefing papers to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the “Commission”) with the request that the Commission consider the violations of human rights taking place through the construction of walls along the Texas/Mexico border. These briefing papers focus on the human rights impact of border wall construction on the Texas/Mexico border, although wall segments also have been and will be built along the border between Mexico and the states of California, New Mexico and Arizona. These briefing papers focus on the Texas/Mexico border because: 1) the Working Group enjoys a unique connection to the residents of Texas and the Texas/Mexico border region; 2) the construction of border fencing in Texas presents issues involving the public taking of private land that are not present in the other states where the majority of property along the border is federal land; and 3) the next phase of border wall construction will take place predominantly in Texas. The papers focus most heavily on the area along the Texas/Mexico border known as the Rio Grande Valley, which is located at the southernmost tip of Texas. Much of the border wall construction planned for Texas is scheduled to take place in this area, and residents of this area were the first to contact the University of Texas regarding the severe impact that the border wall will have on their human rights. The papers do nonetheless address border wall construction in other areas of Texas where important human rights issues are raised, particularly in relation to the indigenous communities that live in western Texas.UT Librarie

University of Texas Working Group to Testify on Human Rights Impacts of the Texas/Mexico Border Wall

In response to its claim that the Texas-Mexico border wall violates human rights law, the University of Texas Working Group on Human Rights and the Border Wall was granted a general hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the “Commission”). The Commission, comprised of seven independent jurists from across the Americas and the Caribbean, is the body of the inter-governmental Organization of American States (“OAS”) responsible for monitoring and ensuring respect for human rights in the Americas, including in the United States. The public hearing will be held from 4:30-5:30 p.m. on October 22, 2008 in the Commission’s Washington, D.C. headquarters and simultaneously webcast to a global audience through the OAS website.UT Librarie

Freedom of Information Act Request Letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

I am seeking the requested information in order to conduct research and writing on the plans for construction of a wall on the Texas/Mexico border with the goal of informing the public, United States policymakers and international organizations, such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, about the process. The information is urgently needed to inform the public and policymakers concerning the United States government's activities in relation to planning and construction of a border wall on the Texas/Mexico border, because the government has repeatedly indicated its intent to carry out the construction in the coming months of this year, specifically by October 2008.UT Librarie

Freedom of Information Act Request Letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Letter from Denise Gilman, Clinical Professor at the University of Texas School of Law Immigration Clinic, to Mr. Mark Hanson, Acting Freedom of Information Act Director requesting U.S. Customs and Border Protection information on the construction of a wall on the Texas/Mexico border in relation to the Secure Fence Act of 2006.UT Librarie

El Choque de Arizona con los Derechos Humanos: la Ley SB 1070

Este artículo analiza la legislación antiinmigrante adoptada en Arizona, Estados Unidos, conocida como la Ley SB 1070, desde la perspectiva de los derechos humanos. Describe el impacto sumamente negativo que tiene la ley sobre los individuos que afecta. Al mismo tiempo considera la xenofobia que la motivó y el ambiente discriminatorio que trae como consecuencia en contra de las minorías étnicas y raciales, particularmente los latinos. Al hacerlo, pone en duda la efectividad de la Ley SB 1070, y otras medidas represivas, para controlar la migración irregular. Procede a analizar las violaciones graves de derechos humanos que implica la ley, en relación con el derecho a la igualdad y la libertad y la obligación general de un Estado de promover un ambiente respetuoso de los derechos humanos, especialmente para personas tradicionalmente marginalizadas, como son los inmigrantes irregulares. El artículo concluye con un análisis de la ambivalencia imperante en Estados Unidos hacia el uso de los derechos humanos como marco para cuestionar la Ley SB 1070 y medidas similares. El artículo llama a la mayor utilización del derecho internacional de los derechos humanos como herramienta para impulsar cambios en la política y legislación de los Estados Unidos en materia migratoria.La