Letters about US Domestic Policy
As you deliberate upon the health care reform bill, we write to urge you to reject provisions that would effectively obstruct access to insurance coverage for abortion and interfere with the ability of women in the United States to make decisions about their own health care.
Nov 19, 2009
The harsher sentences for crack cocaine have yielded egregiously severe sentences for low level offenders and unjustifiable racial disparities, as black Americans have borne the brunt of crack cocaine sentences. Reform of federal cocaine sentencing legislation is long overdue.
Oct 20, 2009
AB 1017 requires law enforcement agencies in California to report statistics regarding rape kits—including the number of untested rape kits in law enforcement facilities to the California Department of Justice. By passing this bill, California would take a significant step toward eliminating California’s backlog of rape kits.
Sep 18, 2009
While officials defend the harsh regime at Tamms as necessary to control “the worst of the worst”—prisoners who violently assault staff or other prisoners—a recent investigative report by the Belleville News-Democrat stated that more than half of all Tamms prisoners have not been convicted of any crime since entering the prison system.
Sep 8, 2009
The implementation of proposed Standards on the Treatment of Prisoners would advance the protection of internationally recognized human rights in US prisons and jails. It would also bring the United States closer to compliance with its obligations under human rights treaties it has ratified, including the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Jul 22, 2009
The possibility that the Justice Department might investigate the use of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees is encouraging and important. The United States cannot truly claim to have repudiated these egregious human rights violations unless it returns to the day when it treated them as crimes rather than as policy options.
Jul 20, 2009
California’s proposed lethal injection protocol is inconsistent with international human rights law, including human rights treaties ratified by the United States.
Jun 29, 2009
United States and international human rights organizations submit this letter to clarify information about the United States’ practice of sentencing juveniles to life in prison without the possibility of parole (“JLWOP”). These clarifications are in reaction to the United States’ follow-up report of January 19, 2009, responding to the Committee’s recommendations contained in its Concluding Observations on the United States, adopted on March 7, 2008.
Jun 4, 2009
We write to express our profound disappointment with your decision on May 13 to block the release of photographs depicting abuse of detainees by U.S. personnel overseas. We urge you to reconsider that misguided decision and to renew your commitment to our nation's most fundamental principles.
Jun 1, 2009