Category Archives: Human Rights

Abortion war of words

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Regarding “No faith in court ruling” (San Francisco Chronicle Open Forum, May 8): The opinion piece on the leaked Roe v. Wade ruling argues that a fetus is not the same as a human life, and that when a pregnancy endangers a woman’s life, it must be terminated.

The piece was an inadvertent reminder to me of how the pro-abortion movement has lost the word “life” to anti-abortionists. We need to take it back.

An abortion is not just about controlling our own bodies, it’s about protecting the physical, emotional and intellectual life of the mother. The one too young to raise a child alone. The one raped by an abuser. The one who can’t afford a bigger family.

The one who might die from delivery: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 700 pregnancy-related deaths happen each year in the U.S. The maternal mortality rate for 2020 was nearly 24 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Messaging matters. The pro-abortionists language of controlling our own bodies is logical, but it doesn’t resonate against the near-magic of the language of pro-life. Abortion supporters are pro-life, too: the life of the woman.

Susan Gluss, Berkeley

My letter appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on 5/23/2022

‘Dark Waters’ exposes hidden chemical hazards, but do others lurk?

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 This article first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on Feb.6, 2020

I woke late to the hazards of Teflon after watching “Dark Waters.” The film recounts DuPont’s dumping of Teflon waste into the waters and farmlands of West Virginia. Thousands of people working at the DuPont plant or living nearby developed ailments, such as kidney cancer, colitis, thyroid disease and more. Farm animals died hideous deaths. It was an egregious case of corporate wrongdoing.

One synthetic chemical in Teflon’s toxic brew was PFOA (a long-chain perfluorooctanoic acid). It took a courageous farmer and a dedicated lawyer to reveal its dangers by waging a 20-year legal battle against DuPont.

Continue reading →

Lawyers as Change Agents

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By Susan Gluss

Activist lawyers, not in-house counsel, are typically seen as change agents who advocate for human rights laws, environmental protections, and fair wages. But the role of general counsel is undergoing a seismic shift, as consumers urge companies to drive positive change, not just reap profits.

“Corporate lawyers have to consider what is right, not just what is legal,” said Amelia Miazad, the founding director of UC Berkeley Law School’s Business in Society Institute. “Companies now have to think about environmental, social, and governance issues, and that falls squarely within the role of the general counsel.”

For Nestlé, it started with a shocking accusation that one of its fish suppliers in Thailand trafficked in forced labor. Instead of quitting the market, Nestlé voluntarily worked to end the illegal practice.

“The company partnered with the NGO that was investigating the supply chain in Thailand. They published the NGO’s report on forced labor, and then worked with the Thai government to make sure it knew how to enforce local laws. It’s an example of how lawyers are weighing not only legal risk, but also reputational risk,” Miazad said.

Read the full story on the UC Berkeley Law website, published 12/19/17.

Citizens’ Rights at Risk During Wartime

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By Susan Gluss

In her new book, Habeas Corpus in Wartime, Professor Amanda Tyler offers a searing look at episodes in U.S. history when the federal government undermined its citizens’ legal rights during times of war.

Tyler focuses on the constitutional protection against unlawful imprisonment, or the writ of habeas corpus—and the government’s power to suspend it during conflicts. Her critique reveals an incremental breakdown of habeas corpus, starting with the American Revolution and continuing through the war on terror.

Taking sharp aim at the most egregious instance of illegal detention, the internment of Japanese American citizens during World War II, Tyler questions the extent of executive power that enabled that chapter in U.S. history.

Read the full story here, first posted on the UC Berkeley Law website on 10/23/17.

Lawsuit Filed Against U.S. for Human Rights Abuses

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The International Human Rights Law Clinic filed a petition against the United States for the death of a Mexican national by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The complaint, filed with co-counsel Alliance San Diego before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, calls for an investigation into the killing and a condemnation of U.S. actions.

The deceased, Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, died on May 31, 2010, a few days after border agents took him into custody. The father of five was caught trying to cross the Mexican-U.S. border to rejoin his family in San Diego. He’d been deported just weeks earlier, despite having lived and worked in the U.S. for more than two decades.

CBP agents transported Anastasio to a deportation gate, and it’s there that the brutal beating ensued. As Anastasio objected to his detention, a dozen or more border agents punched, kicked, dragged, Tased, hogtied, and denied him medical attention, according to the petition.

Immobilized on the ground, Anastasio cried out for help in Spanish. His cries drew the attention of witnesses standing on a nearby pedestrian bridge, and several onlookers recorded cell phone footage. Border agents sought to confiscate any evidence—but two eye-witnesses hid their phones and eventually released videos of the beating. Broadcast on U.S. news networks, the videos led to a public outcry and heightened scrutiny of the case.

Read the full story on the UC Berkeley Law School website.

Join the Justice for Anastasio movement here.