News Archive

Professor Florence Wagman Roisman spoke at a conference entitled "Human Rights and State Law: New Strategies for Economic Justice Advocacy," sponsored by the Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School. On April 17 in New York City, Professor Roisman's panel entitled "Why Human Rights?" explored reasons why social justice lawyers should consider using human rights standards to advocate for economic and social rights in state law. Panelists addressed the relevance of human rights standards in interpreting state constitutional provisions and statutes and in developing state common law. The panel also addressed the relationship between international and foreign law and state/municipal law and ways in which lawyers can incorporate human rights standards into their legal analysis by drawing on international and foreign law for interpretive purposes. Professor Roisman is the author of the article, "Using International and Foreign Human Rights Law in Public Interest Advocacy," 18 Indiana International and Comparative Law Review 1 (2008) .