WASHINGTON, D.C.—On April 20, the Department of State released its annual Human Rights Report (HRR). Officially designated Country Reports on Human Rights Practices—2017, the report, mandated by Congress, was technically due on Feb. 25. In recent years, however, this deadline has been more honoured in the breach than honoured with its release contingent on the availability of the secretary of state, who traditionally presented the report to a media audience. Consequently, the secretary, often travelling, negotiating, or unable to find a 15-minute window to say a few anodyne phrases before passing the steaming potato to a human rights senior official has pushed the HRR release past “March Madness,” the beginning of spring, the opening of the baseball season, and into the professional baseball and hockey playoffs.