rio

Brazil Faces Backlash in its Slum Eviction Process to Make Way for Mega-Events

Hosting the 2013 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympics puts Brazil’s slum communities in danger of demolition to make way for new stadiums, housing, and infrastructure. Brazil must be more transparent about its negotiations throughout the eviction process, or else it will follow suit behind other countries that have inflicted human rights abuses to host Mega-Events.

by Lauren Marie Schweizer

photo credit

5973642886_bf531cfd79_b

The Supreme Court Weighs in on Corporate Accountability Abroad

Requests for re-argument can indicate major decisions from the Supreme Court. The last time the Court made such a move was in Citizens United. One cannot help but wonder if the Court will do the same regarding corporate liability under the Alien Tort Statute.

by Matt Palmer

photo credit

090202-N-0506A-187

Rape, HIV, and Election in Zimbabwe

There is a serious HIV pandemic in Zimbabwe that ZANU-PF is using as lethal tool to destroy Zimbabwean communities and families. In an effort to silence MDC supporters, ZANU-PF officials have sanctioned a systematic and widespread campaign of raping MDC affiliated women and potentially infecting them with HIV to ensure that President Mugabe is elected in Zimbabwe. However, seventy survivors came forward to reveal the atrocities they had survived and to obtain some legal recourse since Zimbabwean domestic and international laws are severely inadequate or nonexistent.

by Vinuta Naik

NIMH_MEG

Finding Trauma: Advances in Brain Scan Technology Has Implications for Emotional Distress Recovery

PTSD diagnosis remains overwhelmingly the purview of psychologists and psychiatrists and continues to suffer under the skepticism that accompanies any purely psychological disorder. Recent advances in brain scan technology, however, have uncovered a truly objective technique for identifying and measuring PTSD and have the potential to drastically affect the ability of plaintiffs to recover for emotional distress.

by Leland Belew

photo credit

2942333106_45dda28d61_b

A Truly Fresh Start? Rethinking the ‘undue burden’ exception for student loan debt discharge in bankruptcy

Unfortunately, our current bankruptcy system falls short in addressing one of the most pressing debt problems of the 21st century: exorbitant, unmanageable student loan debt for near destitute borrowers. Congress should clarify this ‘undue burden’ exception so the courts can interpret it in alignment with Congress’s original intent: to assist borrowers unduly burdened by student loan debt.

by Liat Blum

photo credit

5538191874_d838bd9327_b

Free at Last: Legalized Discrimination Against Convicted Felons

For many, that our criminal justice system is institutionally racist is an old, tired point. From profiling to charging to jury selection to conviction, racial bias has seeped into its fabric. But the criminal justice system itself is only half the story - what happens to convicted felons when they’re released from prison?

by Aditi Fruitwala

photo credit

1280px-Adhar_crop1

India’s Unique Identification Scheme on Pause

India’s wildly popular project to improve public services to the poor is halted; the reasons remain unclear.

by Lauren Schweizer

photo credit

HongKongSkyline

The 97%: Consequences of ‘One Country Two Systems’ on Hong Kong’s Legal System

Hong Kong’s legal system requires criminal proceedings to be spoken in English or Chinese (Cantonese). While standardized language requirements for criminal court proceedings promote efficiency, effective jurisprudence in Hong Kong’s criminal proceedings is undermined when those standards favor the governing minority over the often compromised majority.

by Graham Douds

photo credit

HPIM1021

Legislating Aid: The Necessity and Difficulty of NGO Regulation

A brief study of Cambodia’s ongoing struggle to enact an NGO law exposes a schism between the want for oversight and regulation against the dangers that accompany an overly restrictive regulatory scheme.

by Leland Belew

175958210_03764e98fb_b

Redrawing the battle lines: Texas redistricting and the Voting Rights Act

The 2010 census gave Texas four more seats in Congress, inspiring a wave of politically motivated map-drawing mischief to maximize Republican representation.

by Aditi Fruitwala

« »

Mission Statement

THE LAW & GLOBAL JUSTICE FORUM is a student run organization at the University of San Francisco School of Law that seeks to analyze our world based on the principles of equality, solidarity, respect and human rights that encompass our shared humanity. The Forum is comprised of both a blog and article component in which contributors attempt to explore and better understand our increasingly global community from a legal perspective. The mission of the Law and Global Justice Forum is to add to this important global justice conversation.

Latest News

Brazil Faces Backlash in its Slum Eviction Process to Make Way for Mega-Events

Brazilians have many reasons to celebrate in the next few years. In 2014, Rio de Janeiro will host the FIFA World Cup and in 2016 it will host the Olympics. … Read More

The Supreme Court Weighs in on Corporate Accountability Abroad

Last fall, I wrote a blog piece regarding corporate accountability under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS),1 asking whether corporations would be given a free pass for their human rights … Read More

LGJF Named USF SBA’s 2011-2012 Best New Student Group

We are proud to announce that the Law and Global Justice Forum was named University of San Francisco’s Student Bar Association’s 2011-2012 Best New Student Group. This is testament to … Read More



Around the Web & Around Campus