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2017

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Taking Care Of Business And Protecting Maine's Employees: Supervisor Liability For Employment Discrimination Under The Maine Human Rights Act, Katharine I. Rand Dec 2017

Taking Care Of Business And Protecting Maine's Employees: Supervisor Liability For Employment Discrimination Under The Maine Human Rights Act, Katharine I. Rand

Maine Law Review

On the heels of federal legislation prohibiting employment discrimination most states, including Maine, have enacted their own civil or human rights statutes aimed at eliminating discriminatory behavior in the workplace. Like its federal counterpart, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Maine Human Rights Act, enacted in 1971, prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, or national origin and provides a civil remedy for victims of employment discrimination. Moreover, like Title VII, the question of just who constitutes a liable “employer” under the Maine Human Rights Act has been the …


Mary L. Dudziak's Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall’S African Journey (Book Review), Makau Mutua Nov 2017

Mary L. Dudziak's Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall’S African Journey (Book Review), Makau Mutua

Makau Mutua

This review of Mary Dudziak’s hugely important book contends that the author conflates the struggle for civil rights in the United States with the struggle for black majority rule in Kenya. While the two struggles are linked by white domination and the quest for blacks to free themselves from that domination, the book fails to interrogate and contextualize the limitations of equal protection norms for minorities in two vastly different political milieus. Dudziak does not problematize Thurgood Marshall’s blind insistence that the independence Kenyan constitution accord the economically dominant and oppressive white minority in colonial Kenya the same equal protections …


Environmental Injustice And The Problem Of The Law, Uma Outka Nov 2017

Environmental Injustice And The Problem Of The Law, Uma Outka

Maine Law Review

Over the past fifteen years, legal academia has produced a sizeable body of scholarship on the widely acknowledged problem of environmental injustice. Although there have been positive responses in the policy arena, no similar level of concern is evident in the courts. Most legal claims directly addressing environmental injustice fail, recent developments in civil rights case law are discouraging, and current constructions of environmental laws are proving theoretically inadequate to protect communities already subjected to disproportionate toxic exposure or threatened by new pollution. This Comment explores the state of the law of environmental justice and offers an analysis of why …


The Role Of The State Attorney General In Preventing And Punishing Hate Crimes Through Civil Prosecution: Positive Experiences And Possible First Amendment Potholes, Amy Dieterich Oct 2017

The Role Of The State Attorney General In Preventing And Punishing Hate Crimes Through Civil Prosecution: Positive Experiences And Possible First Amendment Potholes, Amy Dieterich

Maine Law Review

On July 3, 2006, Lewiston, Maine resident Brent Matthews threw a pig's head as "a joke" into the town's only mosque, frequented primarily by Somali refugees, during evening services. Because of Matthews' "joke," members of the mosque were required by Islamic law to clean the desecrated area seven times, attendance at the mosque decreased, and some members said they feared physical harm. Unfortunately for Matthews, Maine is one of eight states that has given its Attorney General the authority to seek a civil remedy for a violation of a citizen's civil rights, which can be pursued concurrently or exclusively of …


Recollections Of My Time In The Civil Rights Movement, Melvyn H. Zarr Oct 2017

Recollections Of My Time In The Civil Rights Movement, Melvyn H. Zarr

Maine Law Review

A while back, in November 2007, some students came down after class and asked me why I never told any personal stories during class. I gave them my standard reply that class time was too valuable for the telling of "war stories." "Well," they countered, "would you be willing to tell your 'back story' after class?" I had no objection to that, as long as they would set it up. I half-expected nothing further to come of it, but the students did set it up, publicizing it to the whole law school community. On the appointed day, an overflow crowd …


Renewing Human Rights Law In Canada, Dominique Clément Oct 2017

Renewing Human Rights Law In Canada, Dominique Clément

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Human rights law was one of the great legal innovations of the twentieth century. And yet human rights agencies and practitioners face a backlash that has resulted in regressive legislative reforms in recent years. These reforms have only succeeded in undermining some of the key pillars of the Canadian model for human rights law. The following article places the current backlash within historical context. The author argues that many recent reforms have replicated the deficiencies of past anti-discrimination laws. Commissions and policy-makers must respond by building on the strengths of the original Canadian model by improving public education, engaging with …


Columbia Law School Think Tank Files Amicus Brief In Scotus Case, Masterpiece Cakeshop V. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Public Rights/Private Conscience Project Oct 2017

Columbia Law School Think Tank Files Amicus Brief In Scotus Case, Masterpiece Cakeshop V. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Public Rights/Private Conscience Project

Center for Gender & Sexuality Law

Columbia Law School’s Public Rights/Private Conscience Project and Muslim Advocates filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission on behalf of a coalition of 15 diverse civil rights and faith organizations. At issue in Masterpiece Cakeshop is whether the owners of a Colorado public establishment may, due to their own private religious beliefs, refuse service to individuals because of their sexual orientation.


Police In America: Ensuring Accountability And Mitigating Racial Bias Feat. Professor Destiny Peery Oct 2017

Police In America: Ensuring Accountability And Mitigating Racial Bias Feat. Professor Destiny Peery

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.


Litigating Police Misconduct: Does The Litigation Process Matter? Does It Work? Oct 2017

Litigating Police Misconduct: Does The Litigation Process Matter? Does It Work?

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.


Police In America: Ensuring Accountability And Mitigating Racial Bias Feat. Paul Butler Oct 2017

Police In America: Ensuring Accountability And Mitigating Racial Bias Feat. Paul Butler

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.


Reforming The Ranks: Policy Initiatives To Ensure Police Accountability & Improve Police And Community Relations Oct 2017

Reforming The Ranks: Policy Initiatives To Ensure Police Accountability & Improve Police And Community Relations

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.


Building Movement: Racial Injustice, Transformative Justice And Reimagined Policing Oct 2017

Building Movement: Racial Injustice, Transformative Justice And Reimagined Policing

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.


Newsroom: Governor Raimondo On Rwu Law 09-19-2017, Roger Williams University School Of Law Sep 2017

Newsroom: Governor Raimondo On Rwu Law 09-19-2017, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.


Genealogy Of The Concept Of "Hate Crime": The Cultural Implications Of Legal Innovation And Social Change, Roslyn Myers Sep 2017

Genealogy Of The Concept Of "Hate Crime": The Cultural Implications Of Legal Innovation And Social Change, Roslyn Myers

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The term "hate crime" is new to legislative and public discourse, as well as legal and social science scholarship. A decade after the concept of a "hate crime" was introduced in Congress, the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA), to punish criminal actors who target victims because of their characteristics (race, color ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, gender, gender identity, or disability). Using relevant archival sources, this project uses genealogical qualitative methods to examine the interplay of cultural elements manifested in this provocative term, which reflect dominance and subjugation among social groups (In- and Out-Groups) …


The Radical Majoritarianism Of Rule 23(B)(2), Myriam E. Gilles, Gary Friedman Aug 2017

The Radical Majoritarianism Of Rule 23(B)(2), Myriam E. Gilles, Gary Friedman

Faculty Articles

One often reads that, “because of the group nature of the harm alleged and the broad character of the relief sought,” Rule 23(b)(2) classes are necessarily “homogenous and cohesive group[s] with few conflicting interests.” But that truism is debatable; at minimum, it begs the question of what counts as a “conflicting interest.” After all, class members often have conflicting positions with respect to the outcome of litigation — especially in significant injunctive-relief complex, structural reform cases of the type that Rule 23(b)(2) addresses. For example, it may be the case that a minority within an injunctive class would prefer to …


Do Unions Promote Rights For People With Disabilities?, Lilach Lurie Jul 2017

Do Unions Promote Rights For People With Disabilities?, Lilach Lurie

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

Scholars and international organizations emphasize the role of unions in promoting disability rights. Nonetheless, previous studies showed that unions may underrepresent people with disabilities. The current research aims to contribute to this debate through an empirical examination of collective agreements in Israel. The research shows that although collective agreements in Israel promote disability insurance and job security for people with disabilities, they do not promote accommodations or employability security for workers with disabilities. Moreover, the research shows that coordination between unions and disability organizations is essential to promote the rights of workers with disabilities. Lastly, the research emphasizes the importance …


Utilizing Title Vi As A Means To Eradicate Health Discrimination, Adrian D. Samuels, Mariah L. Cole Jul 2017

Utilizing Title Vi As A Means To Eradicate Health Discrimination, Adrian D. Samuels, Mariah L. Cole

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Health disparities among people of color are persistent and detrimental to the overall wellness of these groups. Discrimination in the provision of health care services is one of the primary causes of health disparities. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s availability as a tool to prevent discrimination and, in turn, disparities among these groups is underdocumented. The legislative intent of Title VI and the historical context of the law have been helpful in its use outside of the health care arena to prevent discrimination. This sheds light on the ways that the law can influence the health …


Transformative Events In The Lgbtq Rights Movement, Ellen A. Andersen Jul 2017

Transformative Events In The Lgbtq Rights Movement, Ellen A. Andersen

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court case holding that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to marry under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, was widely hailed in the media as a turning point for the LGBTQ rights movement. In this article, I contemplate the meaning of turning points. Social movement scholars have shown that specific events can, on rare occasion, alter the subsequent trajectory of a social movement. Such events have been termed ‘transformative events.’ I ask whether judicial decisions have the capacity to be transformative events and, if so, under what circumstances. I begin by …


Coalitions And Collective Memories: A Search For Common Ground, Ediberto Román Jun 2017

Coalitions And Collective Memories: A Search For Common Ground, Ediberto Román

Ediberto Roman

The following pages explore this contemporary debate, and ultimately sides in favor of inter-minority group coalitions, as they may be effective democratic vehicles towards social change. Part II examines the argument in favor of inter-minority group coalitions. Part III addresses the challenges to those positions, including the arguments posed by leading skeptics. Finally, Part IV rejects the cynicism associated with coalitions and proposes a concrete point of commonality that may help forge much needed common ground for many racial and ethnic outsider groups.


Policy Backlash: Measuring The Effect Of Policy Venues Using Public Opinion, Scott Barclay, Andrew R. Flores Jun 2017

Policy Backlash: Measuring The Effect Of Policy Venues Using Public Opinion, Scott Barclay, Andrew R. Flores

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.


Voting Rights And The History Of Institutionalized Racism: Criminal Disenfranchisement In The United States And South Africa, Brock A. Johnson Jun 2017

Voting Rights And The History Of Institutionalized Racism: Criminal Disenfranchisement In The United States And South Africa, Brock A. Johnson

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.


Dialogue On State Action, Martin A. Schwartz, Erwin Chemerinsky Jun 2017

Dialogue On State Action, Martin A. Schwartz, Erwin Chemerinsky

Erwin Chemerinsky

No abstract provided.


Joint Statement By The Council On American-Islamic Relations Of New York & Columbia Law School’S Public Rights/Private Conscience Project, Council On American-Islamic Relations Of New York, Public Rights/Private Conscience Project May 2017

Joint Statement By The Council On American-Islamic Relations Of New York & Columbia Law School’S Public Rights/Private Conscience Project, Council On American-Islamic Relations Of New York, Public Rights/Private Conscience Project

Center for Gender & Sexuality Law

As advocates for free exercise of religion, civil rights, and religious pluralism, we are deeply concerned that President Trump’s recently signed Executive Order “Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty” will serve to limit, not protect, religious freedom. The order was signed on May 4, 2017, in a ceremony that included Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman and statements by Pentecostal televangelist Paula White, Baptist Pastor Jack Graham, Catholic Archbishop Donald Wuerl, Rabbi Marvin Heir, and Vice President Mike Pence. While the executive order — unlike a prior leaked draft — does not single out particular religious beliefs for special protection, we …


Potential Consequences Of Trump’S “Religious Freedom” Executive Order, Public Rights/Private Conscience Project May 2017

Potential Consequences Of Trump’S “Religious Freedom” Executive Order, Public Rights/Private Conscience Project

Center for Gender & Sexuality Law

President Trump is set to sign a far-reaching and constitutionally problematic executive order today. Although a draft of the final order has not yet been released, it will likely mirror, at least in part, a similar draft that was leaked earlier this year.


Martin Luther King Jr.’S Perjury Trial: A Potential Turning Point And A Footnote To History, Leonard Rubinowitz Apr 2017

Martin Luther King Jr.’S Perjury Trial: A Potential Turning Point And A Footnote To History, Leonard Rubinowitz

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.


The Prevailing Culture Over Immigration: Centralized Immigration And Policies Between Attrition And Accommodation, Antonios Kouroutakis Apr 2017

The Prevailing Culture Over Immigration: Centralized Immigration And Policies Between Attrition And Accommodation, Antonios Kouroutakis

Seton Hall Circuit Review

No abstract provided.


Leaving Behind Self-Righteousness: Using Mutual Respect And Compromise To Solve Emerging Conflicts Between Religious Liberty And Same-Sex Marriage, Benjamin Issa Apr 2017

Leaving Behind Self-Righteousness: Using Mutual Respect And Compromise To Solve Emerging Conflicts Between Religious Liberty And Same-Sex Marriage, Benjamin Issa

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

This paper attempts to provide a reasonable framework for thinking about religious liberty issues following the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Following the decision in that case, which requires states to wed same-sex couples, there has been a national debate about when - and if - religious business owners can discriminate based on sexual orientation. This issue pits religious liberty organizations against LGBT rights organizations, and leaves both sides feeling demonized and misunderstood. This paper advocates a more nuanced approach, and suggests that reasonable compromise is possible if we are willing to leave behind self-righteousness and instead engage …


Civil Rights Remedies In Higher Education: Jurisprudential Limitations And Lost Moments In Time, Lia Epperson Apr 2017

Civil Rights Remedies In Higher Education: Jurisprudential Limitations And Lost Moments In Time, Lia Epperson

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

No abstract provided.


Protest! Dissent! And Civil Disobedience: A Legal Panel Discussion, Cardozo Environmental Law Society, Cardozo Students For Human Rights, Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (Saldf), Cardozo South Asian Law Society Mar 2017

Protest! Dissent! And Civil Disobedience: A Legal Panel Discussion, Cardozo Environmental Law Society, Cardozo Students For Human Rights, Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (Saldf), Cardozo South Asian Law Society

Flyers 2016-2017

No abstract provided.


Stages Of Constitutional Grief: Democratic Constitutionalism And The Marriage Revolution, Anthony Michael Kreis Feb 2017

Stages Of Constitutional Grief: Democratic Constitutionalism And The Marriage Revolution, Anthony Michael Kreis

All Faculty Scholarship

Do courts matter?Historically, many social movements have turned to the courts to help achieve sweeping social change. Because judicial institutions are supposed to be above the political fray, they are sometimes believed to be immune from ordinary political pressures that otherwise slow down progress. Substantial scholarship casts doubt on this romanticized ideal of courts. This Article posits a new, interactive theory of courts and social movements, under which judicial institutions can legitimize and fuel social movements, but outside actors are necessary to enhance the courts’ social reform efficacy. Under this theory, courts matter and can be agents of social change …