What's Wrong with Rights for Children?
This conference marked the culmination The Child in Law, Religion, and Society Project by exploring the successes and failures of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Issues included the leading role the U.S. played in drafting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, though the U.S. remains the only country besides Somalia that has not ratified it; reasons why the Convention was never taken to the U.S. Senate for advice and consent; the most serious objections to ratification of the Convention and the best response to them; the role American religious groups play in the debate of the Convention's ratification and other foreign policy concerns; how the Convention has been interpreted and applied in other countries; and whether the U.S.'s unwillingness to ratify the Convention undermines the nation's credibility in promoting human rights and freedom of religion.
President Jimmy Carter: Keynote Address
President Jimmy Carter returns to the Center for the Study of Law and Religion to discuss the U.S.'s refusal to ratify the Children's Convention.
Martin E. Marty: Keynote Address
Panel: Should Religious Groups Oppose the Children's Convention?
Don S. Browning, David Smolen, and T. Jeremy Gunn discuss whether religious groups should oppose the Children's Convention. Polly Price moderates.
Panel: How Would States Apply the Children's Convention
Kimberly Jenkins, Johan D. van der Vyver, and Howard Davidson discuss how states would apply the Children's Convention. Michael J. Perry moderates.
Panel: What's Wrong with Children's Rights?
Martha A. Fineman and Martin Guggenheim discuss what's wrong with children's rights. Karen L. Worthington moderates.
Panel: What Does the Children's Convention Require?
Jaap E. Dook, Philip G. Alston, and Landon Pearson discuss the requirements of the children's convention. T. Jeremy Gunn moderates.