David A. Martin

Effects of international law on migration policy and practice: the uses of hypocrisy.

Classical learning recognizes no role for international law in affecting migration policy and practice, but in modern times the salutary effects are increasing, although they remain modest. International law influences migration policy primarily through effective invocation of various forms of “soft law” in internal and international political forums. More limited prospects exist for beneficial changes enforced by international institutions and domestic courts. The article cautions against inflated expectations in the latter settings, however, particularly because overly ambitious claims can be counterproductive. It then offers a few predictions about near-term effects of international law, having to do with departures from a country, refugee law and the integration of migrants into their new homelands.

Evidence for an endorphin dysfunction in methadone addicts: Lack of ACTH response to naloxone

Chronic exogenous opiate administration might be responsible for the acute and protracted abstinence syndrome by producing a prolonged decrease in the availability of endogenous opioids (endorphins). However, the hypothesis that potent exogenous opiates may have anti-endorphin effects has been difficult to test. We have been investigating this hypothesis with neuroendocrine test paradigms which have provided preliminary evidence of anti-endorphin effects for chronic methadone. Naloxone-induced ACTH response data from chronic methadone addicts offers preliminary support for the hypothesis that chronic exogenous opiate administration has anti-endorphin effects. The subjects were 7 male methadone addicts who had been addicted to greater than or equal to 40 mg of methadone and 7 male healthy opiate-naive volunteers. Naloxone failed to produce a significant increase in ACTH in methadone addicts while opiate-naive normal volunteers demonstrated a significant naloxone-induced release of ACTH. Five of the seven methadone addicts ahd no demonstrable ACTH response to naloxone. These impaired naloxone response data reported here for recently detoxified addicts suggest that chronic methadone administration comprises the functional integrity of the endorphin system. Prolonged abstinence, post-detoxification depression and other affective symptoms which contribute to relapse may result from a prolonged endorphin derangement.

Immigration admissions: the search for workable policies in Germany and the United States.

Chapter 1. The Philosophy and the policy Maker: Two Perspectives on the Ethics of Immigration with Special Attention to the Problems of Restricting Asylum J. Carens Chapter 2. Comprehensive Migration Policy: the Main Elements and Options J. Monar Chapter 3. The Family and Immigration: a Road Map for the Ruritanian Lawmaker H. Motomura Chapter 4. Readmission Agreements O. Reermann Chapter 5. Migration Return policies and Countries of Origin R. Rogers Chapter 6. Is the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees Obsolete? J. Fitzpatrick Chapter 7. Refugee Definition R. Hofmann Conclusion: Immigration Admissions and Immigration Controls K. Hailbronner, D. A. Martin and H. Motomura Notes on Contributors Bibliography Index

The New Asylum Seekers

The basic outlines of modern refugee law took shape in the years immediately after World War II, capped by the creation of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)2 and the adoption of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.3 This legal and organizational framework has proven remarkably durable, adapting even as the refugee problems confronting the world have changed considerably. But the stresses of the 1980s pose profound challenges, in part because they crop up most acutely in the West, where modern refugee law first took root and where it once enjoyed some of its major successes. They are challenges whose dimensions are not yet fully appreciated.

Did States Use Implementation Discretion to Reduce the Stringency of NCLB? Evidence from a Database of State Regulations.

When No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law in 2002, it was viewed as an effort to create uniform standards for students and schools across the country. More than a decade later, we know surprisingly little about how states actually implemented NCLB and the extent to which state implementation decisions managed to undo the centralizing objectives of the law. This paper introduces a state-level measure of NCLB stringency that helps shed light on these issues. The measure is available for 49 states and the District of Columbia and covers most years under NCLB (2003–2011). Importantly, the measure does not depend on population characteristics of the state. It varies only because of state-level decisions about rule exemptions, standards, and proficiency trajectories. Overall, we find that while NCLB was successful in encouraging states to adopt higher and more consistent performance standards for schools, it also provided much more flexibility and customization in state-level accountability policies than is generally realized.

Trusted CVS

The CVS (Concurrent Versions System) software is a popular method for recording modifications to data objects, in addition to concurrent access to data in a multi-user environment. In current implementations, all users have to trust that the CVS server performs all user operations as instructed. In this paper, we develop protocols that allow users to verify that the server has been compromised, and that it has performed exactly the users’ operations on the data. We first show that communication between users is necessary to guarantee that users can detect that the server has been compromised. We then propose efficient protocols that fast enable detection of server integrity under CVS workloads. Our techniques also have applications in the outsourcing model where multiple users own a common database maintained by an untrusted third-party vendor.

Open Borders? Closed Societies? The Ethical and Political Issues.

Part I: Immigration Citizenship and Freedom of Movement: An Open Admission Policy? by Frederick G. Whelan Nationalism and the Exclusion of Immigrants: Lessons from Australian Immigration Policy by Joseph H. Carens The Force of Moral Arguments for a Just Immigration Policy in a Hobbesian Universe: The Contemporary American Example by John A. Scanlan and O.T. Kent Part II: Refugee Admission The Ethics of Refugee Policy by Peter and Renata Singer American Duties to Refugees: Their Scope and Limits by Andrew E. Schacknove Human Rights and U.S. Refugee Policy by Mark Gibney and Michael Stohl