Defining and Punishing Offenses Under Treaties

One of the principal aims of the U.S. Constitution was to give the federal government authority to comply with its international legal commitments. The scope of Congress\u27s constitutional authority to implement treaties has recently received particular attention. In Bond v. United States, the Court avoided the constitutional questions by construing a statute to respect federalism, but these questions are unlikely to go away. This Article contributes to the ongoing debate by identifying the Offenses Clause as an additional source of Congress\u27s constitutional authority to implement certain treaty commitments. Past scholarship has assumed that the Article I power to define and punish ... Offences against the Law of Nations is limited to customary international law. But the Framers of the Constitution understood the law of nations to include both custom and treaties, or what they called the conventional law of nations. The history and purpose of the Offenses Clause show that it was intended to reach treaties and – despite the prevailing view in the academy – that Congress and the Supreme Court have shared this understanding of the Clause through most of our nation\u27s history

Defining and Punishing Offenses Under Treaties

One of the principal aims of the U.S. Constitution was to give the federal government authority to comply with its international legal commitments. The scope of Congress\u27s constitutional authority to implement treaties has recently received particular attention. In Bond v. United States, the Court avoided the constitutional questions by construing a statute to respect federalism, but these questions are unlikely to go away. This Article contributes to the ongoing debate by identifying the Offenses Clause as an additional source of Congress\u27s constitutional authority to implement certain treaty commitments. Past scholarship has assumed that the Article I power to define and punish ... Offences against the Law of Nations is limited to customary international law. But the Framers of the Constitution understood the law of nations to include both custom and treaties, or what they called the conventional law of nations. The history and purpose of the Offenses Clause show that it was intended to reach treaties and – despite the prevailing view in the academy – that Congress and the Supreme Court have shared this understanding of the Clause through most of our nation\u27s history

Where and How to Draw the Line Between Reasonable Corporal Punishment and Abuse

This article from law and child psychology provides a thorough description of relevant state laws, judicial decisions, and childprotective-services practices and argues that relevant regulation ought to be revised to the extent necessary to reflect an appropriate balance between parental-autonomy rights and the social-science evidence on the effects of corporal punishment on children’s short- and long-term developmental wellbeing

Exploring the Influence of Trauma-Informed Care on Pelvic Examinations for Women

Trauma-informed care (TIC) has become increasingly common in discussions regarding women’s health. TIC refers to a clinical approach that implements compassion, respect, and acknowledges the impact of trauma on patients. In the United States, pelvic exams are routinely performed on women over 21 for gynecological abnormalities. Many of these women present with histories of post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and other psychological comorbidities. These histories greatly influence women’s behaviors, including their likelihood to seek gynecological care in fear of being retraumatized. A literature search was conducted to determine the impact of TIC on the rates of women with histories of trauma who are receiving pelvic examinations. The literature search occurred on CINAHL, PubMed, and Nursing Reference Center databases using the following search terms: trauma-informed care, women’s health, and pelvic exams. A total of 11 articles met the inclusion criteria. While the results regarding rates of pelvic exams were inconclusive, TIC leads to better long-term health outcomes and may lead to an increased sense of control for patients. The literature indicates a common theme of clinicians feeling there is a lack of training or information regarding TIC. Additional recommendations include further research on interventions that should be implemented, such as explanation of exams; allowing patients to be involved in their care, and collecting pertinent trauma history on patients. Trauma can have a major impact on all aspects of women’s health and further studies are needed to determine best approaches to implementation

Perspectives on the Restatement (Fourth) Project

Good morning, everyone, and thank you all for coming. It is great to have this conversation, particularly with so many people who are already helpfully contributing to this project. As Bill said, I just wanted to say a little bit about the treaty prong of the project that was approved for consideration by the ALI a couple of years ago. First of all, I should note we get a lot of questions about whether or not we are addressing executive agreements and congressional executive agreements, in addition to Article II treaties. And the current answer is that we are not. We were originally tasked by the ALI to take up the status of Article II treaties in U.S. domestic law, and that is the current character of the project

Perfectionism and attitudes toward cognitive enhancers (“smart drugs”)

Perfectionism is a personality disposition characterized by exceedingly high standards of performance and pressure to be perfect which may incline students to take cognitive enhancers (“smart drugs”) to boost their academic performance. So far, however, no study has investigated the relationships of multidimensional perfectionism and attitudes toward cognitive enhancers. The present study investigated these relationships in 272 university students examining different dimensions of perfectionism. Results showed that socially prescribed perfectionism, perfectionist concerns and doubts, and perceived parental pressure to be perfect showed positive correlations with attitudes favoring the use of cognitive enhancers. In contrast, self-oriented perfectionism, perfectionist personal standards, and organization showed negative correlations. The findings suggest that perfectionism may play a role as both a risk factor for and a protective factor against using cognitive enhancers depending on what dimensions of perfectionism are regarded

Iraq synthesis paper: understanding the drivers of conflict in Iraq

It has now been over a year since the liberation of Mosul by Iraqi government forces in July 2017. The aftermath of this successful military campaign clearly represents a window of opportunity where a sudden reduction in politically motivated violence offers the Government of Iraq and its allies the opportunity to deal with long-term underlying drivers of instability that have repeatedly given rise to organised violence since 2003. However, as the examples of 2003 and 2007, along with the rapid reconstitution of ISIS after 2017 indicate, if these underlying drivers are not properly identified and mediated through accurately targeted policy interventions, then a return to the levels of organised violence that have dominated Iraq for the majority of the last fifteen years is likely. This paper is an attempt to identify those underlying drivers of conflict using the Conflict Research Programme’s four key analytical concepts – moral populism, the political marketplace, public authority and ‘civicness’