Many ongoing debates address whether certain criminal offences should be decriminalized, from the use and possession of drugs, to homeless people sleeping in public spaces. This panel will explore how International Human Rights Law fits into the discussion. Panelists will examine the jurisprudence on decriminalization at the U.N. human rights bodies, offer legal philosophical perspectives, and consider critical issues in this arena like the criminalization of poverty.
Panelists include Carol Steiker, Henry J. Friendly Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Criminal Justice Policy Program at HLS, Douglas Husak, Professor of Philosophy and Law, Rutgers University, and Emily Nagisa Keehn, Associate Director, Academic Program of the Human Rights Program at HLS. The panel will be moderated by Gerald Neuman, Co-Director the Human Rights Program and J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign, and Comparative Law at HLS.
This event is co-sponsored by the Human Rights Program and the Criminal Justice Policy Program at HLS. Lunch will be served.