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An Absolute Deprivation Of Liberty: Why Indigents’ Wealth-Based Discrimination Claims Brought Under The Equal Protection Clause Should Be Subject To Intermediate Scrutiny, Athena Hernandez Jun 2021

An Absolute Deprivation Of Liberty: Why Indigents’ Wealth-Based Discrimination Claims Brought Under The Equal Protection Clause Should Be Subject To Intermediate Scrutiny, Athena Hernandez

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment argues that wealth-based discrimination claims concerning pretrial detention of indigents should be analyzed under an Equal Protection framework and subjected to intermediate scrutiny. In order to provide an overview of the Supreme Court precedent established for these types of claims, Part I of this Comment will discuss the relevant and historic Supreme Court cases which have analyzed wealth-based incarceration claims in the United States. To further establish how Federal Courts have treated wealth-based incarceration Equal Protection claims, Part II will discuss the Fifth Circuit’s relevant opinions. Part III outlines the court’s decision in Walker, discussing how the …


Contextualizing Cleburne, Laura C. Bornstein Jan 2011

Contextualizing Cleburne, Laura C. Bornstein

Golden Gate University Law Review

Twenty-five years ago, the Supreme Court decided City of Cleburne, Texas v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc., involving a zoning ordinance that discriminated against the “mentally retarded” in the establishment of group homes. After summarizing the facts and opinions in the case and examining Cleburne’s reception in the legal world (in Parts I and II, respectively), Part III of this Article attempts to identify these external variables. The mid-1980s were a high point of neighborhood hostility to group homes for persons with mental retardation, and a low point of federal spending and enforcement efforts on behalf of the mentally retarded. This …


Unlawful Status As A "Constitutional Irrelevancy"?: The Equal Protection Rights Of Illegal Immigrants, Jason H. Lee Oct 2010

Unlawful Status As A "Constitutional Irrelevancy"?: The Equal Protection Rights Of Illegal Immigrants, Jason H. Lee

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article focuses on state discrimination against illegal immigrants and the use of equal-protection doctrine to protect these immigrants' rights to enjoy the array of benefits and services offered by state governments. There are two main reasons why this article will focus on the Equal Protection Clause rather than on federal preemption doctrine, which is the other major tool that illegal immigrants can use to attack discriminatory state classifications. First, the equal-protection doctrine highlights the dignity and membership of an individual in American society in a way that the more structural preemption analysis does not. Second, preemption has become the …


Unequal Treatment Of United States Citizens: Eroding The Constitutional Safeguards, Irma Alicia Cabrera Ramirez Sep 2010

Unequal Treatment Of United States Citizens: Eroding The Constitutional Safeguards, Irma Alicia Cabrera Ramirez

Golden Gate University Law Review

This comment examines the unequal treatment of United States citizens who are labeled enemy combatants by looking at the factual and procedural background of Padilla, Hamdi and Lindh. Next, this comment examines the origins of the label enemy combatant and the constitutional safeguards afforded to criminal defendants in similar situations as Padilla, Hamdi,and Lindh. The terrorist acts Padilla, Hamdi, and Lindh are accused of involve international laws. Therefore, this comment will examine the Geneva Conventions as a means to understand humanitarian protections that may cover Padilla and Hamdi. Finally, this comment will provide recommendations for some of the issues raised.


Not-So-Equal Protection: Securing Individuals Of Limited English Proficiency With Meaningful Access To Medical Services, Barbara Plantiko Sep 2010

Not-So-Equal Protection: Securing Individuals Of Limited English Proficiency With Meaningful Access To Medical Services, Barbara Plantiko

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment focuses on how language discrimination manifests itself in various health care settings and how it deprives individuals with limited or no English proficiency of access to a variety of essential medical services. Part I of this article provides a brief overview of how courts and the legislature have dealt with language discrimination. Part II addresses the current conflict of the law regarding the difficulties in assessing and proscribing such discrimination in the medical context. Part III explores why the current case law and legislative efforts in this area are inadequate. Part IV proposes a solution as to how …


Environmental Justice Enforcement Requires Reassessment Under The Equal Protection Clause, Title Vi Of The Civil Rights Act, And Environmental Statutes, Kenneth Owen Sep 2010

Environmental Justice Enforcement Requires Reassessment Under The Equal Protection Clause, Title Vi Of The Civil Rights Act, And Environmental Statutes, Kenneth Owen

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article will suggest what is required to prevail under the purposeful discrimination standard under the Equal Protection Clause and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Interestingly, no equal protection environmental justice case or Title VI action has been presented to a jury charged with determining the factual issue of intent. The author will next explore the possibility of winning environmental justice cases under the citizen suit provisions that are part of most environmental statutes. Lastly, the author will suggest arguments to possible defenses that might be raised by defendants.


Criminal Procedure - Macfarlane V. Walter, Jennifer Benesis Sep 2010

Criminal Procedure - Macfarlane V. Walter, Jennifer Benesis

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Macfarlane v. Walter, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Washington state and county early-release credit systems for prisoners violate the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution. The early-release credit systems unconstitutionally provide fewer early-release credits to pre-trial detainees who cannot afford to post bail than to similarly-situated prisoners who post bail and serve their entire sentences after trial in state prison. The court held that awarding fewer good behavior credits for time served in county jail than for time served in state prison denies equal protection of the law to pre-trial …


Survey: Women And California Law, Alan Black, Katherine Hardy Sep 2010

Survey: Women And California Law, Alan Black, Katherine Hardy

Golden Gate University Law Review

This survey of California law, a regular feature of the Women's Law Forum, summarizes recent California Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decisions of special importance to women. A brief analysis of the issues pertinent to women raised in each case is provided.


Rostker V. Goldberg: The Uneven Development Of The Equal Protection Doctrine In Military Affairs, Sara Macdwyer Sep 2010

Rostker V. Goldberg: The Uneven Development Of The Equal Protection Doctrine In Military Affairs, Sara Macdwyer

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note examines the Court's refusal in Goldberg to apply heightened scrutiny to a discriminatory statute. The Court never satisfactorily answered the constitutional challenge: Whether, under the equal protection component of the fifth amendment's due process clause, women as a class may be excluded from military registration. Further, this Note argues that the Court improperly and unnecessarily deferred to congressional findings in ruling that Congress acted within its authority by registering only men.


Constitutional Law, Brian Beverly, Curtis E. Blystone Sep 2010

Constitutional Law, Brian Beverly, Curtis E. Blystone

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.