LSJ 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Mandatory Sentencing, Habitual Residence, The Asylum

• School: UW
• Department: Law, Societies, and Justice
• Course: LSJ 200
• Professor: Beckett Katherine

Document Summary

Inevitability: legal vs. extra-legal discretion, why legal discretion matters. When is it problematic: at the individual level, at the aggregate level. What happens when we try to eradicate it: ex: mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Legal foundation of the right to seek asylum: 1948 udhr, 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees, 1967 protocol relating to the status of refugees, convention against torture (cat) Applying for asylum: making the request, legal requirements. Discretion in asylum application process: at the policy/legal level. Executive orders and other policies affect outcomes. Changed policies since 9/11 mean fewer applicants get amnesty. Many people who many be eligible for asylum do not apply: many are turned down. Law"s interdeterminance - you can never just read the law and know exactly what it means. You can never know the effects of the law on society.