Editor’s note on historical context: On Sept. 30, 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement with Germany, France and Italy, which allowed Berlin to annex the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Upon his return, Chamberlain said of the agreement: “…for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from [...]
As we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop, it is time to reexamine the ways in which lyrics are used in legal proceedings by examining the bias held for the art form. While the birth of hip hop has spurred international conversations about the realities of living in under-resourced communities, it has also been [...]
In November of 1985, legendary liberal Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. declared, “the fatal constitutional infirmity of capital punishment is that it treats members of the human race as non-humans, as objects to be toyed with and discarded.” With Alabama primed to gas condemned prisoners to death with nitrogen — and with other [...]
The “Texas Lawyer’s Creed” was promulgated by the Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on November 7, 1989. Established to eliminate abusive tactics within the practice of law, it was thought to be a seminal moment in the legal profession; the culmination of months of hard work and spirited debate [...]
President Joe Biden has repeatedly characterized the state of world affairs as a battle between democracies and autocracies, with America leading the coalition championing the democratic cause. According to the United States, this coalition aims to show the world that government of the people, by the people and for the people is the best model, [...]
In the summer of 1983, ethnic violence swept the island nation of Sri Lanka. Known as Black July, the outbreak of communal violence between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority communities left thousands dead and hundreds missing. Four decades later, the legacy of the violence lives on, searing Sri Lanka‘s social and political landscape. This [...]
In the summer of 1983, ethnic violence swept the island nation of Sri Lanka. Known as Black July, the outbreak of communal violence between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority communities left thousands dead and hundreds missing. Four decades later, the legacy of the violence lives on, searing Sri Lanka‘s social and political landscape. This [...]
“The existence of `system’ in the world is obvious to every observer of nature, no matter whom.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man (1959) Whether conspicuous or obscure, terrorism generally presents itself as a systemic challenge. This means, inter alia, that seemingly singular strategic and legal matters may actually be many-sided and interrelated. Regarding legal issues, though [...]
In the summer of 1983, ethnic violence swept the island nation of Sri Lanka. Known as Black July, the outbreak of communal violence between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority communities left thousands dead and hundreds missing. Four decades later, the legacy of the violence lives on, searing Sri Lanka‘s social and political landscape. This [...]
The darkest epoch for women in Afghanistan transpired during the Taliban’s rule from 1996 to 2001. This era saw the deprivation of women’s fundamental human rights, as Islamic extremism and ethnocentrism supplanted freedom and democracy. Following the downfall of the Taliban regime and the establishment of an Afghan republic, a prolonged 20-year struggle between the [...]
