CAL Co-Founder Charity Ryerson Interviewed for WGN Radio

CAL Co-Founder Charity Ryerson Interviewed for WGN Radio

On July 1st, 2017, CAL's co-founder Charity Ryerson was interviewed by Amy Guth for a segment on WGN Radio regarding the plight of children around the world. Charity talks with Amy about CAL’s recent work and the importance of maintaining the rights of children.

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Investor State Dispute Settlement: Just for Corporations?

I’ve been toying with the idea of whether Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) tribunals could be used for anything but evil. Rather than repeat the many, many detailed and well-researched critiques of ISDS, this post is about whether ISDS could be used to benefit the public, rather than just expand corporate power.

I see two ways to approach this: (1) by redefining who could be a “foreign investor”, and (2) by exploring human rights counter-claims brought by governments.

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This May Day, Customs and Border Patrol Should Investigate Wal-Mart's Use of Prison Labor

This May Day, Customs and Border Patrol Should Investigate Wal-Mart's Use of Prison Labor

It was reported today, on May Day no less, that a woman in Arizona found a note from a Chinese prison laborer in a purse she bought from Wal-Mart. Convict labor-produced goods have been making it into American (2) and European markets for years, and these notes are one of the few ways it has been uncovered. Considering that the U.S. has an unambiguous law prohibiting the importation of goods produced with forced, convict, and child labor, why is this still happening?

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Corporate Accountability as a Club Good

Corporate Accountability as a Club Good

One of the reasons I find Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) so exciting is that it creates a space from which we can design and test interdisciplinary, praxis-driven experiments to stop corporate abuse. As we collectively struggle to properly diagnose the structural failures that have led to the current crisis of corporate impunity, I’m trying to work out whether or not it would be fair to understand corporate accountability in our justice system today as a club good, as opposed to a public good. If we can fairly characterize corporate accountability--holding corporations legally accountable for harms they’ve committed--as a club good, we can better expose the structural faults we collectively seek to repair.

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Why RICO Won’t Solve the Global Corporate Impunity Crisis

Why RICO Won’t Solve the Global Corporate Impunity Crisis

Human rights and labor advocates often raise the possibility of using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (18 USC § 1962) (“RICO”) to sue companies who violate human rights overseas. At first glance, this seems like a great fit. The Act provides both civil and criminal liability for individuals and organizations, including corporations, engaging in a pattern of certain criminal acts (including murder, extortion, bribery and other crimes) that are often involved in human rights abuse cases. So why can’t foreign victims of torture, murder or crimes against humanity at the hands of U.S. companies operating abroad bring RICO suits for damages?

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