Erecting New Constitutional Cultures: The Problems and Promise of Constitutionalism Post-Arab Spring

Constitutions contain two types of elements: functional and aspirational. The functional elements establish the institutions that comprise the state and the pragmatic rules of governance—the “constitution in practice.” Aspirational elements articulate the nation’s commitment to the higher principles and ideals it seeks to attain. In a well-ordered state, a constitution’s aspirational elements provide the true north for the nation’s compass, and the functional elements adequately pursue those ends. If the functional components of a constitution cannot or do not adequately pursue the nation’s stated aspirations, the constitution, the government, and the rule of law are in jeopardy. The recent upheaval in the Middle East, known as the Arab Spring, provided three nations (thus far) with the opportunity to erect new constitutional cultures: Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. For these countries, adequately concretizing revolutionary aspirations in their new national constitutions, while also providing functional elements and institutions to reinforce these aspirations, is vital to establish secure and legitimate constitutional orders. This Note explores these ideas of constitutional theory universally and applies them to the particular situations in these Arab Spring nations

Should the Dead Bind the Living? Perhaps Ask the People: An Examination of the Debates Over Constitutional Convention Referendums in State Constitutional Conventions

Should the United States of America have a constitutional convention? Thomas Jefferson would maintain that one is long overdue; James Madison would argue the contrary. These two luminaries of American constitutional thought took sides in a stirring debate on a fundamental question in constitutionalism: should the dead bind the living? Jefferson advocated for recurrent recourse to the people by holding constitutional conventions in each generation. James Madison disagreed, arguing that stability and constitutional veneration, among other factors, were paramount. Most recall Madison as having won the debate. But at least 18 states throughout American history have adopted a Jeffersonian model of recurrent recourse to the people on the question of whether to hold a constitutional convention. Many of these states debated the issue in their own constitutional conventions throughout the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. No scholar has yet mined this rich trove of convention records for all that they contribute to the fundamental debate spurred by Jefferson and Madison and continued by many distinguished scholars since. Here, I begin the project of adding to that debate the many insights from countless statesmen who contributed thought to this issue on the floors of state constitutional conventions throughout American history. These statesmen took up the arguments of Jefferson and Madison and provided novel insights and nuance, as well as raised new and interesting issues that previous statesmen and scholars have not considered since. Their insights are vital to this fundamental question of constitutionalism

Justice for Tyrants: International Criminal Court Warrants for Gaddafi Regime Crimes

The Arab Spring was a period of great transition in the Middle East and North Africa, when people in many nations united in protest against their oppressive and tyrannical governments. In February 2011, the Libyan people filled their city streets in peaceful demonstrations against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. Attempting to quell the dissent, the Gaddafi regime allegedly engaged in a systematic campaign of violence against the dissidents. These attacks escalated into a full-fledged civil war, triggering United Nations intervention to protect civilians. In response to the Gaddafi regime’s attacks on civilians, the UN Security Council passed a resolution referring the alleged human rights abuses to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution. This Comment explores the effect of the warrant, the ICC’s complementary jurisdiction over the matter, and argues that both Libyan and ICC officials should be instrumental in trying the accused members of the Gaddafi regime

M-GCAT: interactively and efficiently constructing large-scale multiple genome comparison frameworks in closely related species

BACKGROUND: Due to recent advances in whole genome shotgun sequencing and assembly technologies, the financial cost of decoding an organism's DNA has been drastically reduced, resulting in a recent explosion of genomic sequencing projects. This increase in related genomic data will allow for in depth studies of evolution in closely related species through multiple whole genome comparisons. RESULTS: To facilitate such comparisons, we present an interactive multiple genome comparison and alignment tool, M-GCAT, that can efficiently construct multiple genome comparison frameworks in closely related species. M-GCAT is able to compare and identify highly conserved regions in up to 20 closely related bacterial species in minutes on a standard computer, and as many as 90 (containing 75 cloned genomes from a set of 15 published enterobacterial genomes) in an hour. M-GCAT also incorporates a novel comparative genomics data visualization interface allowing the user to globally and locally examine and inspect the conserved regions and gene annotations. CONCLUSION: M-GCAT is an interactive comparative genomics tool well suited for quickly generating multiple genome comparisons frameworks and alignments among closely related species. M-GCAT is freely available for download for academic and non-commercial use at:

Analgesia preemptiva nas cirurgias da coluna lombossacra: estudo prospectivo e randomizado Analgesia preventiva en las cirugías de la columna lumbosacra: estudio prospectivo y aleatorio Preemptive analgesia in lumbosacral spine surgeries: prospective randomized study

OBJETIVO: Analisar a eficácia da analgesia preemptiva pelo método da administração de analgésicos antes e após o início do estímulo doloroso operatório, comparando-as. A melhora do quadro doloroso pós-operatório nas cirurgias da coluna vertebral no segmento lombossacro, por via posterior, não tem sido completamente investigada. MÉTODOS: Sessenta e dois pacientes submetidos à microdiscectomia ou microdescompressão, em um único nível, na coluna lombossacra, foram divididos em três grupos, 20 pacientes no primeiro (A) não receberam qualquer substância analgésica (controle). Vinte e dois no segundo (B), os quais foram submetidos à injeção epidural, 20 minutos antes da incisão cirúrgica, contendo 10 mL de marcaína e morfina. No terceiro e no último grupo (C) com vinte pacientes, foi injetado, com auxílio de um cateter, no espaço epidural, as mesmas drogas do grupo B, através da incisão antes do fechamento da ferida operatória. Os pacientes foram examinados durante as primeiras 24 horas com auxílio da escala verbal de dor. RESULTADOS: Os três grupos foram comparados quanto à idade, sexo, nível e tempo cirúrgico. Os dados não obedeceram a uma distribuição Gaussiana, o teste não paramétrico de Mann-Whitney foi adotado para análise estatística. Desta maneira, os valores da escala verbal de dor, em todos os intervalos de tempo, foram significativamente baixos (p<0,0001) entre o segundo e o terceiro grupo em comparação ao primeiro. Isso indica que a dor pós-operatória foi mais bem controlada nos grupos B e C do que no Grupo A. Neste, por sua vez, houve solicitação de analgésico suplementar, nas primeiras 24 horas. Nenhuma complicação específica ao procedimento foi registrada, exceto o prurido facial, que foi um efeito transitório apropriadamente tratado, solicitando-se medicação anti-histamínica em um paciente. CONCLUSÃO: Analgesia preemptiva com morfina e marcaína se mostrou um método seguro, simples e eficaz para controle da dor pós-operatória nas cirurgias da coluna lombo-sacra, por via posterior, nas primeiras 24 horas, evitando o uso de analgésico suplementar.<br>OBJETIVO: analizar la eficacia y comparar la analgesia preventiva por el método de la administración de analgésicos antes y después del inicio del estímulo doloroso operatorio. La mejoría del cuadro doloroso postoperatorio en las cirugías de la columna vertebral en el segmento lumbosacro, por vía posterior, no ha sido completamente investigada. MÉTODOS: sesenta y dos pacientes sometidos a la microdisección o microdescompresión, en un único nivel, en la columna lumbosacra fueron divididos en tres grupos. Veinte pacientes en el primer grupo (A) no recibieron alguna sustancia analgésica (control). Veinte y dos en el segundo (B) que fueron sometidos a la inyección epidural, 20 minutos antes de la incisión quirúrgica, conteniendo 10 mL de marcaína y morfina. En el tercer grupo, y último (C), con 20 pacientes que fueron inyectados con auxilio de un catéter, en el espacio epidural, las mismas drogas del grupo B, por medio de la incisión antes de cerrar la herida operatoria. Los pacientes fueron examinados durante las primeras 24 horas, con auxilio de la escala verbal de dolor. RESULTADOS: los tres grupos fueron comparados según la edad, sexo, nivel y tiempo quirúrgico. Como los datos no obedecieron a una distribución Gausiana, el test paramétrico de Mann-Whitney fue entonces adoptado para análisis estadístico. De esta forma, los valores de la escala verbal de dolor, en todos los intervalos de tiempo fueron significativamente bajos (p<0.0001) entre el segundo y tercer grupo, comparados con el primero. Esto indica que el dolor postoperatorio fue mejor controlado en los grupos "B" y "C" que en el "A", siendo que en este último se tuvo que administrar una analgesia suplementar en las primeras 24 horas. Ninguna complicación específica al procedimiento fue registrada, a excepción de un prurito facial que fue un efecto transitorio tratado apropiadamente con administración antihistamínica en un paciente. CONCLUSIÓN: Analgesia preventiva con morfina y marcaína mostró ser un método seguro, sencillo y eficaz para el control del dolor postoperatorio en las cirugías lumbosacras, por vía posterior, en las primeras 24 horas, evitando el uso de analgésico complementar.<br>OBJECTIVE: To analyze the efficacy of the preemptive analgesia with a method of epidural analgesic administration before and after the surgical painful stimulation, as comparing them. Its role in postoperative pain relief after lumbosacral spinal surgery, by the posterior approach, has not been fully investigated. METHODS: Sixty two patients who underwent microdiscectomy or microdecompression in a single level of the lumbosacral spine were divided into three groups: 20 patients that had not received any analgesic medication in the first one (A) (control); 22 that had been submitted to the epidural injection containing 10 mL of marcaína and morphine 20 minutes before the surgical incision in the second one (B). In the third and last group (C), 20 patients received the same drugs of group B, with the aid of a catheter positioned in the epidural space, through the incision before the closing of the surgical wound. The patients were examined during the first 24 hours, with the use of the verbal scale of pain. RESULTS: The three groups were compared concerning age, sex, level and surgical time. Data did not have a normal Gaussiana distribution, the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test was adopted for statistical analysis. Therefore, the rating values of the verbal scale for pain intensity, in all the time intervals, were significantly low (p<0.0001) between the second and the third group in comparison to the first one. It indicates a significantly better pain relief in groups B and C, to the detriment of Group A, in this demand for supplemental analgesic medication in the postoperative period within the first 24 hours. No specific complication due to the procedure was registered, except the facial pruritus in one patient, which was a transient and appropriately treated effect with antihistaminic medication. CONCLUSION: Preemptive analgesia with morphine and marcaína showed to be a safe, simple and effective method for the control of postoperative pain relief, in the lumbosacral spinal surgery, by posterior approach within the first 24 hours, preventing the supplemental analgesic medication

Women’s Movements and the Recognition of Gender Equality in the Constitution-Making Process in Morocco and Tunisia (2011-2014)

Equality between women and men has been the objective of women’s movements in post-colonial Morocco and Tunisia, and it manifested as one of the emancipatory priorities in the Moroccan and Tunisian uprisings in 2010-2011. Today, the principle of gender equality is explicitly recognised in the Moroccan Constitution of 2011 (Article 19), and in the Tunisian Constitution of 2014 (Article 21). What compromises, confrontations and resistances between central power, transitional institutions and the different forces of civil society helped bring this about? In order to answer this question, two dimensions of analysis are applied in this chapter. In the first part, on a theoretical level, the centrality of the connection between Islam, patriarchy and citizenship is problematised in the systems of power and in the normativity of both countries. In addition, from a historical perspective, it traces the main steps of women’s movements’ struggles for gender equality, demanding the deconstruction of this strict relationship, through the years. In the second and most empirical part, the chapter analyses the ways in which the constitution-making process has been carried out in Morocco and Tunisia. In-depth interviews conducted during multiple fieldwork trips to Rabat and Tunis, in 2011, 2014 and 2016, shed light on the different approaches and stages of the writing process of the constitution, exploring if – and how – it was negotiated with the most representative actors of civil society. Furthermore, the different strategies and political praxis of women’s movements in achieving gender equality are explored. Concerning the Moroccan case, I problematise the debate about gender equality and complementarity that was developed within the ‘20 February Movement’ in relation to the ability of the central power to balance the demands of civil society by recognising gender equality in the new Constitution of 2011. Concerning the Tunisian case, attention is focused on the capability of the historical feminist organisations to influence the constitution-making process during the phase of the ‘transition to democracy’ 2011-2014. Despite the differences between the two cases, women’s movements have proved their importance as social actors in the post-uprising political scenario, and in the bottom-up definition of gender policies that affects the entire society from a political, juridical, economic and social perspective. In both countries, the central power used the narrative of gender equality for political objectives, mainly to advertise its democratic nature. Women’s rights and gender equality remain socially contested, indeed, at the heart of the process of building a collective egalitarian consciousness and a new citizenship based on an egalitarian paradigm