162 research outputs found
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and United States Abortion Law
The ratification of treaties governing human rights often raises the question of whether obligations imposed by the treaty are compatible with the existing domestic law of the ratifying state. One common way of resolving such conflicts is for the State to avoid undertaking the inconsistent legal obligation by qualifying its acceptance of the treaty with a reservation, even when domestic law already provides for resolving such conflicts. Another measure that may be adopted, particularly where the treaty provision at issue is cast in general terms, is for the ratifying state to include a Declaration or an Understanding (RUD) with its acceptance that sets forth an interpretation of the general terms consistent with domestic law on the subject.
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether any such RUDs are called for in the ratification by the United States of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child\u27 in order to avoid a conflict between the treaty and domestic U. S. law governing abortions
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and United States Abortion Law
The ratification of treaties governing human rights often raises the question of whether obligations imposed by the treaty are compatible with the existing domestic law of the ratifying state. One common way of resolving such conflicts is for the State to avoid undertaking the inconsistent legal obligation by qualifying its acceptance of the treaty with a reservation, even when domestic law already provides for resolving such conflicts. Another measure that may be adopted, particularly where the treaty provision at issue is cast in general terms, is for the ratifying state to include a Declaration or an Understanding (RUD) with its acceptance that sets forth an interpretation of the general terms consistent with domestic law on the subject.
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether any such RUDs are called for in the ratification by the United States of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child\u27 in order to avoid a conflict between the treaty and domestic U. S. law governing abortions
Science and Justice
Originally published in 1968. Far from being an isolated outburst of community insanity or hysteria, the Massachusetts witchcraft trials were an accurate reflection of the scientific ethos of the seventeenth century. Witches were seldom hanged without supporting medical evidence. Professor Fox clarifies this use of scientific knowledge by examining the Scientific Revolution's impact on the witchcraft trials. He suggests that much of the scientific ineptitude and lack of sophistication that characterized the witchcraft cases is still present in our modern system of justice. In the historical context of seventeenth-century witch hunts and in an effort to stimulate those who must design and operate a just jurisprudence today, Fox asks what the proper legal role of medical science—especially psychiatry—should be in any society. The legal system of seventeenth-century Massachusetts was weakened by an uncritical reliance on scientific judgments, and the scientific assumptions upon which the colonial conception of witchcraft was based reinforced these doubtful judgments. Fox explores these assumptions, discusses the actual participation of scientists in the investigations, and indicates the importance of scientific attitudes in the trials. Disease theory, psychopathology, and autopsy procedures, he finds, all had their place in the identification of witches. The book presents a unique multidisciplinary investigation into the place of science in the life of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the seventeenth century. There, as in twentieth-century America, citizens were confronted with the necessity of accommodating both the rules of law and the facts of science to their system of justice
A Stealth Supersymmetry Sampler
The LHC has strongly constrained models of supersymmetry with traditional
missing energy signatures. We present a variety of models that realize the
concept of Stealth Supersymmetry, i.e. models with R-parity in which one or
more nearly-supersymmetric particles (a "stealth sector") lead to collider
signatures with only a small amount of missing energy. The simplest realization
involves low-scale supersymmetry breaking, with an R-odd particle decaying to
its superpartner and a soft gravitino. We clarify the stealth mechanism and its
differences from compressed supersymmetry and explain the requirements for
stealth models with high-scale supersymmetry breaking, in which the soft
invisible particle is not a gravitino. We also discuss new and distinctive
classes of stealth models that couple through a baryon portal or Z' gauge
interactions. Finally, we present updated limits on stealth supersymmetry in
light of current LHC searches.Comment: 45 pages, 16 figure
Deweyan tools for inquiry and the epistemological context of critical pedagogy
This article develops the notion of resistance as articulated in the literature of critical pedagogy as being both culturally sponsored and cognitively manifested. To do so, the authors draw upon John Dewey\u27s conception of tools for inquiry. Dewey provides a way to conceptualize student resistance not as a form of willful disputation, but instead as a function of socialization into cultural models of thought that actively truncate inquiry. In other words, resistance can be construed as the cognitive and emotive dimensions of the ongoing failure of institutions to provide ideas that help individuals both recognize social problems and imagine possible solutions. Focusing on Dewey\u27s epistemological framework, specifically tools for inquiry, provides a way to grasp this problem. It also affords some innovative solutions; for instance, it helps conceive of possible links between the regular curriculum and the study of specific social justice issues, a relationship that is often under-examined. The aims of critical pedagogy depend upon students developing dexterity with the conceptual tools they use to make meaning of the evidence they confront; these are background skills that the regular curriculum can be made to serve even outside social justice-focused curricula. Furthermore, the article concludes that because such inquiry involves the exploration and potential revision of students\u27 world-ordering beliefs, developing flexibility in how one thinks may be better achieved within academic subjects and topics that are not so intimately connected to students\u27 current social lives, especially where students may be directly implicated
Period and chemical evolution of SC stars
The SC and CS stars are thermal-pulsing AGB stars with C/O ratio close to
unity. Within this small group, the Mira variable BH Cru recently evolved from
spectral type SC (showing ZrO bands) to CS (showing weak C2). Wavelet analysis
shows that the spectral evolution was accompanied by a dramatic period
increase, from 420 to 540 days, indicating an expanding radius. The pulsation
amplitude also increased. Old photographic plates are used to establish that
the period before 1940 was around 490 days. Chemical models indicate that the
spectral changes were caused by a decrease in stellar temperature, related to
the increasing radius. There is no evidence for a change in C/O ratio. The
evolution in BH Cru is unlikely to be related to an on-going thermal pulse.
Periods of the other SC and CS stars, including nine new periods, are
determined. A second SC star, LX Cyg, also shows evidence for a large increase
in period, and one further star shows a period inconsistent with a previous
determination. Mira periods may be intrinsically unstable for C/O ~ 1; possibly
because of a feedback between the molecular opacities, pulsation amplitude, and
period. LRS spectra of 6 SC stars suggest a feature at wavelength > 15 micron,
which resembles one recently attributed to the iron-sulfide troilite. Chemical
models predict a large abundance of FeS in SC stars, in agreement with the
proposed association.Comment: 14 pages, 20 figures. MNRAS, 2004, accepted for publication. Janet
Mattei, one of the authors, died on 22 March, 2004. This paper is dedicated
to her memor
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Interacting effects of climate change and habitat fragmentation on drought-sensitive butterflies
Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of some climatic extremes. These may have drastic impacts on biodiversity, particularly if meteorological thresholds are crossed, leading to population collapses. Should this occur repeatedly, populations may be unable to recover, resulting in local extinctions. Comprehensive time series data on butterflies in Great Britain provide a rare opportunity to quantify population responses to both past severe drought and the interaction with habitat area and fragmentation. Here, we combine this knowledge with future projections from multiple climate models, for different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), and for simultaneous modelled responses to different landscape characteristics. Under RCP8.5, which is associated with ‘business as usual’ emissions, widespread drought-sensitive butterfly population extinctions could occur as early as 2050. However, by managing landscapes and particularly reducing habitat fragmentation, the probability of persistence until mid-century improves from around zero to between 6 and 42% (95% confidence interval). Achieving persistence with a greater than 50% chance and right through to 2100 is possible only under both low climate change (RCP2.6) and semi-natural habitat restoration. Our data show that, for these drought-sensitive butterflies, persistence is achieved more effectively by restoring semi-natural landscapes to reduce fragmentation, rather than simply focusing on increasing habitat area, but this will only be successful in combination with substantial emission reductions
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