CESR works to develop standards and precedents that hold the US accountable to international economic and social rights norms and that support local advocacy. We do this through legal submissions, as well as broad analysis of the relevance and applicability of human rights law in the US.
Amicus Brief on New Jersey's Child Exclusion Law:
CESR, together with the International Women's Human Rights Law Clinic and the Center for Constitutional Rights, filed an amicus brief before the New Jersey Supreme Court in the case of Sojourner A. vs. The New Jersey Department of Human Services. This amicus brief is a challenge to New Jersey's Child Exclusion law. The Child Exclusion law precludes a child from receiving welfare benefits if she or he is born to a family already on welfare. CESR argues that the New Jersey Supreme Court, in interpreting its own State Constitution, must take into account international economic and social human rights standards prohibiting such an exclusion.
For a full copy of the amicus brief, click here [MS Word format] or here [pdf format].
Testimony before Pennsylvania House of Representatives:
CESR gave testimony before the House Democractic Policy Committee of the Pennsylavnia state legislature as a part of a campaign organized by the National Association of Social Workers and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. This testimony was part of a series of hearings around HR 473 (the Curry Resolution) and SR 192 (the Kukovich Resolution), which call for a legislative study into the feasibility of incorporating Universal Human Rights Standards into the state's laws and policies. This testimony addresses the ways in which state legislatures can take responsibility for realizing the economic and social rights of the people of the United States. It also sets out government obligations with respect to human rights, and uses the example of the right to health to demonstrate how the US fails to satisfactorily protect all these rights.
For the full testimony presented by CESR, click here.
For further details on the Curry and Kukovish Resolutions, visit the National Association of Social Workers website
Testimony before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:
In March 2002, CESR staff presented testimony before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights about economic and social rights violations and enforcement in the Americas. The testimony focused on the right to health and included information on healthcare in the United States. Through this testimony and other ongoing initiatives, CESR aims to encourage the Inter-American Commission to hold the US government accountable to regional economic and social rights standards.
The Inter-American Commission is the only inter-governmental body with formal jurisdiction over the US on economic and social rights issues that can receive complaints from individuals for violations of human rights. The Commission can hold the US accountable to economic and social rights standards set forth in the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man by virtue of US membership in the Organization of American States.