Source Evaluations

Source #1

Rieger,April. "Missing the Mark: Why the Trafficking Victims Protection Act Fails to Protect Sex trafficking Victims in the United States. Harvard Journal of Law & Gender 30. Print. Apr. 2015

I can trust this source because of its publisher and its editor. Its publisher, Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, is from one of the leading Law School in our nation, Harvard University. Its editor, April Rieger, has a J.D. in Cornell Law School in 2006 and a B.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2002, which shows how she writes from a scholarly perspective and has experiences in researching. This source is a law review of the Trafficking Protection Act of 2000, and the information is accurate as Rieger cites her sources from various other scholarly resources such as the U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Report on Activities to Combat Human Trafficking, Fiscal Years 2001–2005 and U.S. Dep’t of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 6 (2005). This information is complete as it goes over the background, problem and possible solutions of human trafficking and the TVPA of 2000. This source is very useful as it provides very credible and detailed facts for me to back up my argument, which is how flawed the anti-human trafficking laws are in the United States.

This source has definitely led me to one of my main source, the Creighton Law Review, which I will be evaluating below. Since I am targeting and arguing against a law, a law review will be the most accurate and complete source I can cite from as it gives detailed description of the pros and cons of the law. This source gave me a very useful category, law reviews, to pick my other sources from. Although this source gives both pros and cons of the law, its majority is consisted of cons. I will need to find another source that explains the pros of the laws in details to give myself a very complete overview of the law.

Source #2

George, Shelly. “The Strong Arm of The Law Is Weak: How The Trafficking Victims Protection Act Fails to Assist Effectively Victims Of The Sex Trade. “ Creighton Law Review 45.3 (2012): 563-580.Academic Search Complete. Web 20 Apr. 2015

I can trust this source, Creighton Law Review, as it is a legal journal published by the students of the Creighton University School of Law. It is a journal that publishes pieces that provide practitioners with informative, well-drafted research.  It also creates a forum for scholarly debate and presents an opportunity for students to participate in that debate. This source provides similar to what Harvard Journal of Law & Gender provides, the background information and arguments against the Trafficking Protection Act of 2000. However, but differs as it mostly criticizes against the law as it is obvious in its title, “The strong arm of the law is weak: how the trafficking victims protection act fails to assist effectively victims of the sex trade”. The information is accurate as the editor, Shelly George, is the associate Professor at the Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law and cites from many credible sources such as the U.S. Department of state, trafficking in person report of 2011 and the Press Release of FBI Minneapolis Field Office, Minneapolis Man Sentenced on Human Trafficking Charges. The information is very timely as it was written in 2012, which is within three years of now. This source will be very useful in supporting my argument as it stands on the same side as my argument and provides detailed facts backing up my argument as well.

This source as led to me to other sources with the sources the editor cited such as statistics pages from the Department of State and such. However, just like my previous source, it lacks the pros of the law and is extremely opinioned towards the cons of the law. I will have to continue to search for facts such as statistics that offer a neutral perspective of the law.

Source #3

2014 State Ratings on Human Trafficking Laws." Polaris. 1 Jan. 2014. Web. Apr. 2015

I can trust this source as its publisher, Polaris, is a team that works with government leaders and partners with world’s leading technology corporations to disrupts the conditions that allow human trafficking to thrive in our society. This source provides statistics on the United State’s improvement on its effort against human trafficking. This information is accurate as it gives a complete insight on all 50 states of U.S. to show overall improvement of the nation. The information is very timely as it updates until 2014, which is within a year from now. This source is very useful to my argument as it offers neutral and accurate facts to support the background information of human trafficking and the U.S. laws that battle against it.

            This source has led me to search specifically into the laws that the U.S. has amended to improve ant-human trafficking efforts. It eventually led me to the Trafficking Victim Act of 2000, which I found provides as a detailed example and summary of the general flaws of the anti-human trafficking laws in the U.S. This source is definitely lacking opinionated arguments that can support my argument.