Jonathan Todres
Distinguished University Professor and Catherine C. Henson Professor of Law Center for Access to Justice, Center for Law, Health & Society- Education
J.D., Columbia Law School
B.A., Clark University (high honors in International Development)
- Specializations
Children and the Law
Civil Liberties
Family Law
Health Law
Human rights
International Law
Torts
- Biography
Jonathan Todres, Distinguished University Professor and Catherine C. Henson Professor of Law, is a leading expert on children’s rights. He has published extensively on the implementation of children’s rights law, human rights education, youth participation, human trafficking, and legal and cultural constructs of childhood.
Among his many publications, he is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Children’s Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2020) and coauthor of Preventing Child Trafficking: A Public Health Approach (Johns Hopkins University Press 2019) and Human Rights in Children’s Literature: Imagination and the Narrative of Law (Oxford University Press, 2016). His newest book, Children’s Rights and Child Development: An Integrated Approach, co-edited with Ursula Kilkelly, will be published by New York University Press in late 2024. He is also a co-editor on the forthcoming new edition of the Children and the Law: Doctrine, Policy, and Practice textbook (8th edition, 2024, with Douglas Abrams et al.). Todres was appointed Rotating Honorary Chair in Enforcement of Children’s Rights at Leiden University Law School for the 2024-2025 academic year. He previously served as a Fulbright Scholar in residence at University College Cork in Ireland (Spring 2018).
Todres regularly works with a number of professional associations and non-governmental organizations that address issues affecting children’s rights and child wellbeing. Todres serves as chair of the Board on Children, Youth, and Families of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (he has been on the Board since 2017). Since 2012, he has also served on a number of committees of the National Academies including: the Planning Committee on Exploring the Power of Youth Leadership in Creating Conditions for Health and Equity (2022); the Committee on Biological and Psychosocial Effects of Peer Victimization: Lessons for Bullying Prevention (2015-2016); the Planning Committee on Increasing Capacity for Reducing Bullying and Its Impact on the Lifecourse of Youth Involved (2014), and the Committee on Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States (2012-2013).
Todres served as chair of the AALS Section on International Human Rights in 2015 and chair of the AALS Section on Children and the Law in 2013. He served on the Executive Committee of international human rights section through 2023 and continues to serve on the Executive Committee on the Section on Children and the Law. Todres has also held several leadership posts within the ABA Section of International Law, including chair of the Section’s International Life Sciences and Health Law Committee and vice chair of its International Human Rights Committee. Todres is also a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Todres previously served as an acting assistant professor at New York University School of Law, an adjunct professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University and a visiting professor (Human Rights) at Vytautas Magnus University School of Law in Lithuania. He also practiced law with Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York and London and clerked for Judge Rosemary Barkett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Todres received his J.D. from Columbia Law School where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and his B.A. (with high honors in International Development) from Clark University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Prior to attending law school, he worked for a number of years in international development and served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand.
Todres is a member of the Center for Law, Health & Society and a faculty affiliate of the Center for Access to Justice. At GSU, he has taught Torts, Family Law, International Human Rights, Human Rights and Children, Public Health Law, and Global Perspectives on Children and the Law.
Todres received the College of Law’s David J. Maleski Award for Teaching Excellence in 2020 and its Patricia T. Morgan Award for Outstanding Faculty Scholarship in 2019 and 2011.
- Publications
Books
The Oxford Handbook of Children's Rights Law (Jonathan Todres & Shani M. King eds., 2020).
The Oxford Handbook of Children's Rights Laws (Jonathan Todres & Shani M. King eds., 2020).
Jonathan Todres & Angela Diaz, Preventing Child Trafficking: A Public Health Approach (2019).
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Jonathan Todres & Sarah Higinbotham, Human Rights in Children's Literature: Imagination and the Narrative of Law (2016).The U.N. Convention On The Rights of the Child: An Analysis Of Treaty Provisions And Implications Of U.S. Ratification (Jonathan Todres, Mark Wojcik and Cris Revaz eds., Brill Academic Publishers 2006).
Book Chapters
Jonathan Todres, Children and Disasters: The Essential Role of Children's Rights Law, in 2 Ybk. Int'l Disaster L. Online 177 (2021).
Jonathan Todres, Incorporating the CRC and Its Optional Protocols in the United States, in Incorporating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in National Law 123 (2021).
Jonathan Todres & Shani M. King, Children's Rights in the Twenty-First Century: Challenges and Opportunities, in The Oxford Handbook of Children's Rights Law (Jonathan Todres & Shani M. King, eds., 2020).
Jonathan Todres, Children’s Right to Participate: Insights from the Story of Malala, in Literary Cultures and Twenty-First-Century Childhoods 25 (Nathalie op de Beeck ed. 2020).
Jonathan Todres & Shani M. King, Introduction, in The Oxford Handbook of Children's Rights Law (Jonathan Todres & Shani M. King eds., 2020).
John Tobin and Jonathan Todres, Article 8: The Right to Preservation of a Child's Identity, in The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (John Tobin, ed. Oxford University Press, 2019)
Jonathan Todres, Violence, Exploitation, and the Rights of the Child, in International Human Rights of Children (Ursula Kilkelly & Ton Liefaard eds., Springer Singapore, 2018).
Jonathan Todres, Confronting Child Exploitation: The Optional Protocols and the Role of Children's Rights Law, in Violence Against Children: Making Human Rights Real 86 (Gertrud Lenzer, ed. 2018).
Jonathan Todres, Children's Rights and Women's Rights: Interrelated and Interdependent, in Handbook of Children's Rights: Global and Multidisciplinary Perspectives 21 (Martin Ruck, Michele Peterson-Badali, and Michael Freeman eds., 2016).
Jonathan Todres, At the Crossroads: Children's Rights and the U.S. Government, in Human Rights in the United States: Beyond Exceptionalism (Shareen Hertel & Kathryn Libal eds., Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011).
Jonathan Todres, A Human Rights Approach to Preventing Child Sex Trafficking, in Child Slavery Now: A Contemporary Reader (Gary Craig ed., Policy Press, 2010).
Jonathan Todres, Analyzing the Opposition to the U.S. Ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, in U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child: and Analysis of Treaty Provisions and the Implications of U.S. Ratification (Jonathan Todres, Mark Wojcik and Cris Revaz eds., Brill Academic Publishers, 2006)
Jonathan Todres, Overview, in U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child: and Analysis of Treaty Provisions and the Implications of U.S. Ratification (with Mark Wojcik and Cris Revaz) (Jonathan Todres, Mark Wojcik and Cris Revaz eds., Brill Academic Publishers, 2006)
Jonathan Todres, The Optional Protocols to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Impact of U.S. Ratification, in U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child: and Analysis of Treaty Provisions and the Implications of U.S. Ratification (with Cris Revaz) (Jonathan Todres, Mark Wojcik and Cris Revaz eds., Brill Academic Publishers, 2006)
Jonathan Todres, The Right to Health under the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, in U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child: and Analysis of Treaty Provisions and the Implications of U.S. Ratification (Jonathan Todres, Mark Wojcik and Cris Revaz eds., Brill Academic Publishers, 2006)
Jonathan Todres, What the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child Says (and Doesn't Say) about Abortion and Family Planning, in U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child: and Analysis of Treaty Provisions and the Implications of U.S. Ratification (with Louise Howe) (Jonathan Todres, Mark Wojcik and Cris Revaz eds., Brill Academic Publishers, 2006)
Articles
Lauren Meeler & Jonathan Todres, Deprivation of Liberty as a Last Resort: Understanding the Children's Rights Law Mandate for Youth Justice, 60 Stan. J. Int'l L. 1 (2024).
Elizabeth Barnert, Scott Henderson, James Dold, & Jonathan Todres, Children's Rights as a Unifying Framework to Remedy our Failing Youth Justice System, 94 Pediatric Res. 1874 (2023).
Elizabeth Barnert, et al., Reimagining Children's Rights in the US, JAMA Pediatr. Published online October 24, 2022. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.3822
Jonathan Todres & Ursula Kilkelly, Advancing Children’s Rights Through the Arts, 44(1) Hum. Rts. Q. 38 (2022)
Jonathan Todres & Anissa Malik, Children's Right and Human Rights Education Through Museums, 31 B.U. Pub. Int. L.J. 239 (2022).
Jonathan Todres, Can Litigation Help Reduce Bullying?, 176(1) [J]AMA Pediatr. 18-19 (2021) doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.3657
Charlotte S. Alexander & Jonathan Todres, Evaluating the Implementation of Human Rights Law: A Data Analytics Research Agenda, 43 U. Pa. J. Int'l L. 1 (2021)
Jonathan Todres & Lauren Meeler, Confronting Housing Insecurity-A Key to Getting Kids Back to School, JAMA Pediatrics (June 7th, 2021).
Yong-Shik Lee, Natsu T. Saito & Jonathan Todres, The Fallacy of Contract in Sexual Slavery: A Response to Ramseyer's "Contracting for Sex in the Pacific War", 42 Mich. J. Int'l L. 291 (2021)
Jonathan Todres, Confronting Child Trafficking, 18 Ind. Health L. J. 95 (2021).
Jonathan Todres, A Magna Carta for Children? Rethinking Children's Rights, 35 Ethics & Int'l Aff. 581 (2021)(reviewing Michael Freeman, A Magna Carta for Children? Rethinking Children’s Rights (2020))
Jonathan Todres & Angela Diaz, COVID-19 and Human Trafficking—the Amplified Impact on Vulnerable Populations, 175 JAMA Pediatrics 123 (2021).
Jonathan Todres, Foreword: Preventing Human Trafficking, 36 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. vi (2020).
Jonathan Todres & Daniela V. Fink, The Trauma of Trump's Family Separation and Child Detention Actions: A Children's Rights Perspective, 95 Wash. L. Rev. 377 (2020).
Jonathan Todres, Making Children's Rights Widely Known, 29 Minn. J. Int'l Law 109 (2020).
Jonathan Todres, Violence, Exploitation, and the Rights of the Child, in International Human Rights of Children (Ursula Kilkelly & Ton Liefaard, eds. 2019).
V. Jordan Greenbaum, Katherine Yun, & Jonathan Todres, Child Trafficking: Issues for Policy and Practice, 46 J. L. Med. & Ethics 159 (2018).
Jonathan Todres, The Trump Effect, Children, and the Value of Human Rights Education, 56 Fam. Ct. Rev. 331 (2018).
Jonathan Todres & Angela Diaz, Adolescents' Right to Participate: Opportunities and Challenges for Health Care Professionals, 83 Ann. Global Health 697 (2017).
Jonathan Todres & Leslie E. Wolf, The Complexities of Conducting Research on Child Trafficking, 171 JAMA Pediatrics 9 (2017).
Daniel J. Flannery, Jonathan Todres, Catherine P. Bradshaw, Angela Frederick Amar, Sandra Graham, Mark Hatzenbuehler, Matthew Masiello, Megan Moreno, Regina Sullivan, Tracy Vaillancourt, Suzanne M. Le Menestrel, & Frederick, Bullying Prevention: A Summary of the Report of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 17 Prevention Sci. 1044 (2016).
Jonathan Todres, Advancing Children's Rights and Ensuring the Well-being of Children, 169 JAMA Pediatrics 5 (2015).
Jonathan Todres & Ellen Wright Clayton, Responding to the Sexual Exploitation of Minors, 370 N. Eng. J. Med. 1282 (2014).
Jonathan Todres, A Child Rights Framework for Addressing Trafficking of Children, 22 Mich. St. Int'l L. Rev. 557 (2014).
Jonathan Todres, Independent Children and the Legal Construction of Childhood, 23 S. Cal. Interdisc. L.J. 261 (2014).
Jonathan Todres, Human Trafficking and the Private Sector: A Role for Corporate Counsel, Int'l L. News, Fall 2013, at 18.
Jonathan Todres, The Elephant in the Playroom: The U.S. Government's Role in Advancing Children's Rights, 1 PlayRights Magazine 23 (International Play Association 2013)
Jonathan Todres, Human Rights, Labor, and the Prevention of Human Trafficking: A Response to A Labor Paradigm for Human Trafficking, 60 UCLA L. Rev. Discourse 142 (2013).
Jonathan Todres & Michael Baumrind, Human Trafficking: A Global Problem with Local Impact, Ga. B.J., June 2012, at 12.
Jonathan Todres, Assessing Public Health Strategies for Advancing Child Protection: Human Trafficking as a Case Study, 21 J.L. & Pol'y 93 (2012).
Jonathan Todres, Maturity, 48 Hous. L. Rev. 1107 (2012).
Jonathan Todres, A Child Rights-Based Approach to Reconstruction in Haiti, 6 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 43 (2011).
Jonathan Todres, Widening Our Lens: Incorporating Essential Perspectives in the Fight against Human Trafficking, 33 Mich. J. Int'l L. 53 (2011).
Jonathan Todres, Moving Upstream: The Merits of a Public Health Law Approach to Human Trafficking, 89 N.C. L. Rev. 447 (2011).
Jonathan Todres, Beyond the Bedside: A Human Rights Approach to Adolescent Health, 20 J.L. & Pol'y 191 (2011).
Jonathan Todres, Children's Health in the United States: Assessing the Potential Impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Child Welfare, Sept.-Oct. 2010, at 37.
Jonathan Todres, Taking Prevention Seriously: Developing a Comprehensive Response to Child Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, 43 Vand. J. Transnat'l L. 1 (2010).
Jonathan Todres, Children's Health Rights and the "Double Burden" of Disease, Recent Developments in Health Care Law: Partners in Innovation, 22 HEC Forum 106 (2010).
Jonathan Todres, Accounting for Haiti’s Children After the Earthquake: Immediate Needs With Lifelong Consequences, 104 Am. Soc'y Int'l L. Proc. 122 (2010).
Jonathan Todres, Out of Africa: Reading Martin Chanock's Scholarship in the Global North, 28 No. 2 Law in Context 47 (2010) reprinted in For Martin Chanock: Essays on Law and Society (Stephen Ellmann, Heinz Klug, & Penelope Andrews, eds. 2012).
Jonathan Todres, Family Integrity and Children’s Rights: A U.N. Convention Perspective, Hum. Rts., Summer 2009, at 20.
Jonathan Todres, Lawyers and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 38 Int'l L. News 12 (2009).
Jonathan Todres, Beyond the Case Method: Teaching Transactional Law Skills in the Classroom, 37 J.L. Med. & Ethics 375 (2009).
Jonathan Todres, Law, Otherness, and Human Trafficking, 49 Santa Clara L. Rev. 605 (2009).
Jonathan Todres, Inextricably Linked: An International Human Rights Perspective on Child Health and Education, 85 Childhood Educ. 278 (2009).
Jonathan Todres, U.S. Is Sole Holdout Over U.N. Child Advocacy Post, Nat'l L.J., Feb. 25, 2008, at S3.
Jonathan Todres, Council of Europe Addresses Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children, 37 Int'l L. News 15 (2008).
Jonathan Todres, Laurel R. Hyle, & Elizabeth Sepper, International Health Law, 41 Int'l Law. 629 (2007).
Jonathan Todres, Human Rights, the Plight of Children Orphaned by AIDS, and the U.S. Response, 35 Int'l Law News 13 (Summer 2006).
Jonathan Todres, The Importance of Realizing "Other Rights" to Prevent Sex Trafficking, 12 Cardozo J.L & Gender 885 (2006).
Jonathan Todres, Pamela Marcogliese, & Laurel R. Hyle, International Health Law, 40 Int'l Law. 453 (2006).
Johnathan Todres, Combating Trafficking of Persons, 23 GPSolo 36 (2006).
Jonathan Todres, Health Law Gets A More Global Focus, Nat'l L.J., July 4, 2005, at S1.
Jonathan Todres, Combating Trafficking of Persons, 34 Int'l L. News 1 (Summer 2005).
Jonathan Todres and Pamela Marcogliese, International Health Law, 39 Int'l Law. 503 (2005).
Jonathan Todres, Women's Rights and Children's Rights: A Partnership with Benefits for Both, 10 Cardozo Women's L.J. 603 (2004).
Jonathan Todres, Law Permitting World War II Slave Labor Victims to Sue Held Unconstitutional: Deutsch v. Turner Corp., 32 Int'l L. News 22 (ABA Section of International Law, 2003)
Jonathan Todres, et al., International Human Rights, 37 Int'l Law. 597 (2003).
Jonathan Todres, Extradition, On The Case, Nov. 15, 2002 (New York State Bar Association)
Jonathan Todres, UN Holds Special Session on Children, 31 Int'l L. News 6 (2002)
Jonathan Todres, ABA Takes Part in U.N. Special Session on Children, Fam. Advoc., Sum. 2002, at 45.
Jonathan Todres, Can Research Subjects of Clinical Trials in Developing Countries Sue Physician-Investigators for Human Rights Violations?, 16 N.Y.L. Sch. J. Hum. Rts. 737 (2000).
Jonathan Todres, The International Community's "Duty", Rather than "Right", to Intervene, Peace Matters, Jan. 2000, at 9.
Jonathan Todres, Lessons from the Trade Arena: A Proposal to Change U.S. Immigration Law for the Benefit of U.S. Workers, 1 San Diego Int'l L.J. 49 (2000).
Jonathan Todres, Prosecuting Sex Tour Operators in U.S. Courts in an Effort to Reduce the Sexual Exploitation of Children Globally, 9 B.U. Pub. Int. L.J. 1 (1999).
Popular Press
Jonathan Todres, Contributor, Human Rights at Home, http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/human_rights/.
Jonathan Todres, Help Child Trafficking Victims Among Us, Atlanta J.-Const., Oct. 18, 2013.
Jonathan Todres, Is law enforcement alone enough to reduce human trafficking?, The Great Debate: Human Trafficking, The Morningside Post, Dec. 12, 2012
Jonathan Todres, Change Exploited Kid Laws, Atlanta J.-Const., July 13, 2010, at A11.
Jonathan Todres, Root Out Child Trafficking with Prevention, Atlanta J.-Const., Feb. 24, 2010, at A13.
Jonathan Todres, Is There No Redemption for Children?, Atlanta J.-Const., Nov. 6, 2009, at A23.
Jonathan Todres, Human Rights are Fundamental to All, Atlanta J.-Const., Dec. 24, 2008, at A11.
Other
Jonathan Todres, The Value of the Human Rights Treaty Reporting Process, Human Rights at Home Blog, July 2, 2014