Submission Guidelines

 
 
  • To submit your essay for publication, please use the submission form at http://bit.ly/hrd-submitessay. Your essay will be reviewed and considered for publication based upon compliance with these submission guidelines and alignment with the purpose of this project.

 

  •  Essays are to be no more than 1,000 words and MUST be personal stories (sharing an experience that speaks to the state of human rights in our country today as well as the potential future impact of policies proposed by the incoming administration) rather than law review type articles or anything requiring fact-checking etc.

 

  • Essays must be responsive to one of the writing prompts/questions below. If you would like to propose an additional writing prompt on a topic not yet in the list (but still falling within the area of human rights), please feel free to do so. You must then include your selected prompt at the top of your essay so we know which section to place it in for publication on the website.

 

  • You are responsible for the contents of your essay - meaning you must be careful not to disclose confidential information, violate someone else's copyright, etc.

 

  • Your essay must be an original piece (not previously published or submitted for publication elsewhere). 

 

  • Essays are welcome from lawyers only at this point in time. Please include your name - at a later date, we may have a way to include Jane/John Doe essays, but at this time we do not. We will also want to expand beyond lawyers to include non-lawyer professionals, law students, and socio-legal experts, but at this point we’re keeping it strictly limited to lawyers.

 

  • No graphics/images at this time. Just text.

 

  • Please include a 3 - 4 sentence biography (about yourself) at the end of your essay (in a new paragraph). It should start with your name (e.g., "Jane Doe is a bankruptcy attorney practicing in Des Moines, Iowa. She specializes in ____, etc.").

 

FORMATTING GUIDELINES:

  • 12-point type for all text. Do not use all capital letters or ornamental typefaces for styling or formatting purposes. Boldface, italics, and underlining are fine.

 

  • All entries should be single spaced.

 

  • Use tabs, not spaces, for paragraph indents, and do not add spaces between paragraphs unless the visual break should also appear on the website.

 

LIST OF PROMPTS:

(1) Discrimination. Human rights law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, both in terms of intentional discrimination and in terms of disparate impact.

(1)(a) What is your experience dealing with racial discrimination and how, if at all, do you believe the new administration might make things better or worse?

(1)(b) Have you experienced discrimination on the basis of religion, either directly or in terms of disproportionate impact? How would you describe that experience? What fear(s) or concern(s) do you have about the impact of the new administration in this area?

(1)(c) Have you experienced discrimination on other grounds prohibited by international law, either directly or indirectly? For example, do you have personal experiences with threats to LGBTQ rights?

2. What personal experience(s) can you share that might speak to the current fears of many immigrants living in the United States today?

3. How are the rights of those with disabilities being threatened? Do you have fear(s) or concern(s) about how the new administration might impact disability rights?

4. Have you personally observed a situation that you believe represented a deprivation of voting rights / the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs? Please describe.

5. Freedom of the press / freedom of speech is of particular concern for many in this group. What's the best example of a threat to this freedom that you've experienced first-hand (either yourself or someone you knew at the time)? What fear(s) or concern(s) do you have about the impact of the new administration in this area?

6. Waterboarding was recently discussed again as a viable option for interrogation. Do you have any experience as an attorney handling issues of torture? Or experience with issues amounting to torture in the context of the criminal justice system? Please describe. What fear(s) or concern(s) do you have about the impact of the new administration in this area?

7. In what way(s), if any, have you seen the criminal justice process deny someone the right to a free and fair criminal trial? What fear(s) or concern(s) do you have about the impact of the new administration in this area?

8. What experience(s) can you share relating to the "right to life" under international law (examples of areas that might be considered to violate the "right to live" include gun violence, the death penalty, environmental degradation associated with life-threatening health conditions, etc.)? What fear(s) or concern(s) do you have about the impact of the new administration in this area?

9. What experience(s) can you share relating to a violation of your rights as a woman? What fear(s) or concern(s) do you have about women's rights under the new administration?

10. What is your experience with public education? Do you have insights into the way in which the new administration’s support of privatization might impact education for you or your community?

11. What are your experiences with environmental protection, the threats associated with climate change, natural hazards, and clean water, air, and soil? What personal experiences can you share to explain why protecting the environment is important?

12. There has been a lot of discussion about repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). How is your experience with health care related to the federal legal framework for health insurance in this country? Do you have specific concerns about access to quality health care associated with the new administration’s plans to repeal the ACA?