• Disrimination and Abuse of Discretion

    Despite a commitment to equal justice for all, public officials in the United States have instituted policies that either by purpose or effect discriminate unjustly on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, and other characteristics. Such discrimination violates internationally protected rights. In the criminal justice arena, public officials also abuse their discretion by overstepping their authority, or by instituting policies that undermine the rule of law and deny justice to all parties, including victims of crime, witnesses, and the accused.

  • New York Police Department cars in Time Square.
    © 2011 Reuters
    US: Investigate New York Police Surveillance of Muslims
    The US Justice Department should immediately investigate the New York City police for alleged religion-based discrimination in their surveillance of Muslim communities, and make its findings public.
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Discrimination and Abuse of Discretion

  • US/New York: Few Arrested for Pot Become Violent Criminals
    Nov 23, 2012

    Few of those who enter New York City’s criminal justice system as a result of marijuana possession arrests become dangerous criminals

  • A Discussion About Drug Policy Is Long Overdue
    Sep 4, 2012
    Of the many issues that national politicians routinely gloss over during campaign season is drug policy. Whether a different set of policies would better serve human rights and US interests is something that US policymakers may genuinely disagree about. But a rigorous debate within the United States about drug policy and its financial and human rights consequences is long overdue.
  • More than lies about rape
    Aug 31, 2012
    Voices from across the political spectrum condemned the Missouri Senate candidate for Senate, Todd Akin, for his recent offensive and scientifically inaccurate reasoning to deny rape survivors’ access to abortion. 
  • US: House Vote a Step Backward for Women’s Rights
    May 17, 2012
    The US Congress should move forward with a Senate bill to renew the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and reject the dangerous alternative passed by the House of Representatives.
  • Gay in America: Left Out of Family Leave
    May 11, 2012
    If the love of your life had major surgery or a serious illness, you would want to be by their side. You'd want to take some time off work without losing your job, and give them the care they need. But if you're gay in America, you have no such right under federal law.
  • US: White House is 'puzzling' on racial profiling
    May 1, 2012
    The Obama administration has displayed a lack of interest in changing Justice Department rules on religious profiling or in supporting legislation like the End Racial Profiling Act, which would impede the government’s ability to monitor Muslim communities without cause.
  • Addressing violence against all women
    Apr 20, 2012
    The bill to renew the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) faces a likely vote in the Senate next week, but its provisions that would assist immigrant women who are victims of violence have drawn some inexplicable opposition. The country’s single most important law for addressing domestic abuse, sexual violence, and stalking has offered life-saving protections to immigrant women since it first passed in 1994.
  • US: End Discriminatory Profiling by Police
    Apr 17, 2012
    Human Rights Watch submitted a written statment to the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights, for the record of their April 17, 2012 hearing entitled "Ending Racial Profiling in America."
  • Alabama: Repeal Unjust Immigrant Law
    Apr 10, 2012
    A bill before the Alabama legislature to amend the state’s law restricting immigrant rights does little to remedy the severe harm caused by the law. The Alabama House of Representatives Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security will hold a public hearing on the amendments, contained in House Bill (HB) 658, on April 11, 2012.
  • US: Statement to the House of Representatives on the Department of Homeland Security’s New Immigration Detention Standards
    Mar 28, 2012
    Immigration detention is no holiday. 129 detainees have died in ICE custody since 2003, and there is credible evidence that poor medical care in detention contributed to a number of those deaths. The 2011 Performance Based National Detention Standards published by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) represent an important step toward ensuring the safety of immigrants in detention.
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