On the Human Right to Dignity in America: Influences, Recognition, and Outcomes
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James R. May
Abstract
Human dignity reflects the notion of the equal worth of everyone, everywhere. It is reflected in law in treaties, constitutions, and statutes, and by courts and claims by counsel. Astonishingly, however, dignity’s role in national and subnational jurisprudence in the United States is largely overlooked, a condition this paper aims to address. Dignity’s diaspora is observed normatively throughout time and space. Scores of philosophers, prophets and social justice pioneers (and some political leaders) pontificated about dignity. But dignity is law as well as norm. Dignity in law enjoys deep and wide spatiality. Dignity is foundational to the United Nations, the Universal Declaration on Human Right, both international human rights covenants, some regional conventions, and various international and multilateral treaties. Most national constitutions recognize dignity, with dozens providing subjective rights to human dignity. Moreover, hundreds of courts worldwide have issued thousands of legal decisions invoking dignity. Its role in law is wide, deep and trenchant. Dignity’s legal footprint is slowly enlarging in jurisprudence in the United States. It has made regular appearances in cases across the legal spectrum, including those involving criminal justice, discrimination, employment, the environment, and other matters. For a generation the U.S. Supreme Court regularly invoked human dignity, including in cases involving capital punishment, reproductive rights, and same sex relations. Yet its role here has recently waned. Dignity plays a larger role in legal outcomes at the subnational level in the United States, if modestly and mostly concerning the dignity rights of crime victims. Yet here, too, dignity almost never succeeds as a stand-alone right. To the contrary, dignity most often plays a supporting role in vindicating other rights, such as to privacy, non-discrimination or speech. This can be due to any number of circumstances, including ignorance within the legal culture, resistance within the judiciary, or that those most likely subject to suffer a dignity deprivation are least likely to be able to do something about it. Outcomes suggest dignity’s role in law in America is either largely nascent or practically inconsequential.
Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges and appreciates the research assistance of Caleb Haselhuhn, Washburn ‘26.
Appendix: Constitutional Human Dignity Rights in the U.S.
U.S. Constitution
Void.
Alaska
Art I s 24: ‘Crime victims … shall have the right to be treated with dignity, respect, and fairness during all phases of the criminal and juvenile justice process…’
American Samoa
Art 1 s 4. ‘The dignity of the individual shall be respected and every person is entitled to protection of the law against malicious and unjustifiable public attacks on the name, reputation, or honor of himself or of his family.’
Arizona
Art II s 2.1(A)(1): ‘[Crime victims have the right to be treated with fairness, respect, and dignity, and to be free from intimidation, harassment, or abuse, throughout the criminal justice process.’
California
Art I s 28(a)(2): ‘The enactment of comprehensive provisions and laws ensuring a bill of rights for victims of crime, including safeguards in the criminal justice system fully protecting those rights and ensuring that crime victims are treated with respect and dignity, is a matter of high public importance.’
§28(b)(1): ‘In order to preserve and protect a victim’s rights to justice and due process, a victim shall be entitled to the following rights: (1) To be treated with fairness and respect for his or her privacy and dignity, and to be free from intimidation, harassment, and abuse, throughout the criminal or juvenile justice process.’
Georgia
Art I s 1, Para. 30: ‘[Crime victims] shall be accorded the utmost dignity and respect and shall be treated fairly by the criminal justice system of this state and all agencies and departments that serve such system.’
Idaho
Art I s 22: ‘A crime victim, as defined by statute, has the following rights: (1) To be treated with fairness, respect, dignity, and privacy throughout the criminal justice process.’
Illinois
Art I s 8.1: ‘(a) Crime victims, as defined by law, shall have the following rights: (1) The right to be treated with fairness and respect for their dignity and privacy and to be free from harassment, intimidation, and abuse throughout the criminal justice process.’
Art I s 20: ‘To promote individual dignity, communications that portray criminality, depravity or lack of virtue in, or that incite violence, hatred, abuse or hostilty toward, a person or group of persons by reason of or by reference to religious, racial, ethnic, national or religious affiliation are condemned.’
Indiana
Art I s 13(b): ‘Victims of crime, as defined by law, shall have the right to be treated with fairness, dignity, and respect throughout the criminal justice process; and, as defined by law, to be informed of and present during public hearings and to confer with the prosecution, to the extent that exercising these rights does not infringe upon the constitutional rights of the accused.’
Kentucky
Art I s 26A: ‘To secure for victims of criminal acts or public offenses justice and due process and to ensure crime victims a meaningful role throughout the criminal and juvenile justice systems, a victim … shall have the following rights, which shall be respected and protected by law in a manner no less vigorous than the protections afforded to the accused in the criminal and juvenile justice systems [including] the right to fairness and due consideration of the crime victim’s safety, dignity, and privacy.’
Louisiana
Art I s 3: ‘No personal shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. No law shall discriminate against a person because of race or religious ideas, beliefs, or affiliations. No law shall arbitrarily, capriciously, or unreasonably discriminate against a person because of birth, age, sex, culture, physical condition, or political ideas or affiliations. Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, except in the latter case as punishment for crime.’
Art III s 25: ‘Any person who is a victim of crime shall be treated with fairness, dignity, and respect …’
Maryland
Art 47(a): ‘A victim of crime shall be treated by agents of the State with dignity, respect, and sensitivity during all phrases of the criminal justice process.’
Michigan
Art 1 s 24(1): ‘Crime victims [have the] right to be treated with fairness and respect for their dignity and privacy throughout the criminal justice process.’
Montana
Art II s 4: ‘The dignity of the human being is inviolable. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. Neither the state nor any person, firm, corporation, or institution shall discriminate against any person in the exercise of his civil or political rights on account of race, color, sex, culture, social origin or condition, or political or religious ideas.’
Nevada
Art I s 8A(1)(a): ‘Each person who is the victim of a crime is entitled to the following rights: To be treated with fairness and respect for his or her privacy and dignity, and to be free from intimidation, harassment and abuse, throughout the criminal or juvenile justice process.’
New Mexico
Art II s 24(A)(1): ‘[Crime victims] shall have … the right to be treated with fairness and respect for the victim’s dignity and privacy throughout the criminal justice process…’
North Carolina
Art I s 37(1): ‘Victims of crime or acts of delinquency shall be treated with dignity and respect by the criminal justice system.’
North Dakota
Art I s 25(1)(a): ‘[Crime victims have the right] to be treated with fairness and respect for the victim’s dignity.’
Ohio
Art I s 10(A): ‘[Crime victims] shall be protected in a manner no less vigorous than the rights afforded to the accused [and] to be treated with fairness and respect for the victim’s safety, dignity, and privacy.’
Oklahoma
Art I: §II-34A: ‘[Crime victims] shall be protected in a manner no less vigorous than the rights afforded to the accused [and] to be treated with fairness and respect for the victim’s safety, dignity, and privacy.’
Oregon
Art I s 42(1): ‘[Crime victims are entitled to] due dignity and respect…’
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Art II, Sec. 1: ‘The dignity of the human being is inviolable.’
Rhode Island
art I s 23: ‘A victim of a crime shall, as a matter of right, be treated by agents of the state with dignity, respect and sensitivity during all phases of the criminal justice process…’
South Carolina
Art I: ‘(A) To preserve and protest victims’ rights and justice and due process regardless of race, sex, age, religion, or economic status, victims of crime have the right to … be treated with fairness, respect, and dignity.’
South Dakota
Art VI s 29: ‘A victim shall have … the right to due process and to be treated with fairness and respect for the victim’s dignity.’
Texas
Art I s 30(a): ‘A crime victim has … the right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim’s dignity and privacy throughout the criminal justice process.’
Utah
Art I s 28: ‘(1) To preserve and protect victims’ rights to justice and due process, victims of crimes have [the right to] be treated with fairness, respect, and dignity …’
Vermont
Ch. 2, art 22: ‘[An] individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means.’
§39: ‘All prosecutions shall commence, By the authority of the State of Vermont. All Indictments shall conclude with these words, against the peace and dignity of the State. And all fines shall be proportioned to the offences.’
Virginia
‘That in criminal prosecutions, the victim shall be accorded fairness, dignity, and respect by the officers, employees and agents of the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions and officers of the courts, [and be accorded the right] to be treated with respect, dignity and fairness at all stages of the criminal justice system.’
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