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Human Rights in the United States: Beyond Exceptionalism, by Hertel, S. & Libal, K. (Eds.).

Human Rights in the United States: Beyond Exceptionalism, edited by Shareen Hertel and Kathryn Libal, presents numerous viewpoints by authors knowledgeable on human rights within the United States. The editors selected an excellent cross-section of articles about human rights policies as they are carried out in the United States. These articles cover diverse topics, but the focus clearly reflects social welfare and cultural issues, including children’s rights; domestic violence; immigration; persons with disabilities; and lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered persons. The purpose of the book is to cover a particular human rights issue within the social and cultural domain as it relates to current U.S. policies. The outcome of this exercise usually shows that the United States has a long way to go before it can truly claim that it follows human rights principles in regard to a host of social and cultural policy issues. The author of each article addresses a particular human rights issue within the United States, and then focuses primarily on the legal aspects of that issue. In most cases, the author concludes that human rights policies within the United States are woefully lacking in addressing the issue at hand. This legal analysis of a particular human rights issue will undoubtedly suit students of law, but may be off-putting for those readers who prefer a more descriptive summary of human rights issues. Yet, the writing style is not overly legalistic, and even nonlawyers should have little troubling following the authors’ analysis of human rights policies within the United States. The primary strength of this book relates to the focus on U.S. domestic policies and why human rights principles could benefit those policies. All too often, when pundits or other commentators discuss human rights from a U.S. perspective, attention turns to other countries. Rarely do media or U.S. politicians ever discuss human rights violations within or by the United States. This sidestepping of human rights discussion as it relates to the United States clearly detracts from a more profound understanding of what human rights actually mean. Even when the U.S. violates a well-established human right, such as the right not to be tortured, U.S.