That's about ALL I am thinking about lately. My project that goes hand-in-hand with the Class That I Am Teaching pertains to ESCR, and I am writing a paper which is meant to introduce the first year class to this issue. And International Law in General. I spent 5 straight hours in the library yesterday pouring through different texts, different pages on Westlaw, and my document. I added about 10 pages, all pretty substantive on international law.

I don't usually do 5 hours straight on one given thing. I usually plan 2 hours of reading for Crim, then an hour of prepping for teaching, then perhaps 30 minutes of email and blog reading, then perhaps another hour of reading for classes, etc. But yesterday, I was FOCUSED.

It is a very interesting topic, and so rich, and so multi-layered -- making it possibly for my typically flitting brain to focus.

It is very hard for me to stay on track, however, because I end up wanting to pursue the material that addresses the United States' inability to commit to or address the woeful status of economic, social and cultural rights in this country.

192 countries have signed onto the Convention on the Rights of the Child - more than have on any of the other major human rights treaties.

of those 192 - TWO countries have yet to ratify the treaty. Guess what two? Um, the U.S., and Somalia.

Didn't Roberts complain during his confirmation hearings about using International Law as persuasive authority in U.S. constitutional decisions because of the potential horror of looking to Somalia to support an argument? Perhaps there's more of a connection than he was considering at the time.

posted by Zuska @ 9:55 AM

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