10-10-26 UCLA Law School, Human Rights Project, Asked to Initiate Debate and Study of Hunan Rights Violations by the Courts and the Legal Profession in Los Angeles County, California

Los Angeles, October 26 - Human Rights Alert (NGO) and Joseph Zernik, PhD, called upon Law Prof Richard H. Steinberg, Director, Sanela Diana Jenkins Human Rights Project, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), School of Law, to initiate academic debate and research of conditions of Human Rights and the justice system in Los Angeles County, California, and designate November 2010 for debate of the matter on its online forum, which is noted by the participation of international experts in the field, to coincide with the first ever review by the United Nations Human Rights Council of Human Rights in the United States, pending November 5, 2010.

The request followed the recent United Nations Human Rights Council report, which referred to “corruption of courts and the legal profession” in California.  The Sanela Diana Jenkins Human Rights Project was established in 2009 to advance the cause of human rights and international justice around the world. The Project engaged in a range of activities, aiming at advancing understanding about human rights, and organized international conferences on the subject. 

The request noted the extreme level of abuse of Human Rights in Los Angeles County, California, as evidenced in media, expert, and official reports for over a decade. Such abuses were hallmarked by large-scale false imprisonments and financial institution and housing fraud by the judges of the courts.  The request also noted the importance of breaking the existing silence on the matter among US law school faculty (with a few notable exceptions), as essential for the academic integrity in US law schools and in education of the next generation of legal professionals.  Moreover, the request noted a range of weighty academic questions, which are raised by the situation:  Examination of the causes of the rapid disintegration of the US justice system, its implications, viability of the US constitutional model, failure of the US government to abide by its duties and obligations pursuant to ratified international law, and potential ways to address the situation.  Moreover, Human Rights Alert noted that the deterioration of the justice system in the United States reflected an ongoing process of disintegration of US government frameworks, which today are in a fluid phase, posing risks that are difficult to assess to world peace and welfare.  Therefore, there should be considerable international interest in examining putative future scenarios and ways that they may be addressed.

In his initial response, Prof Steinberg in fact acknowledged the situation, noting that the US excluded itself from binding international treaties on the matter, leaving the Security Council of the United Nations, where the United States held veto powers, as the only international venue, where abuse of Human Rights by the US justice systems could be addressed.

Human Rights Alert (NGO) is dedicated to discovering, archiving, and disseminating evidence of Human Rights violations by the justice systems of the State of California and the United States in Los Angeles, California, and beyond. Special emphasis is given to the unique role of computerized case management systems in the precipitous deterioration of integrity of the justice system.