Digital Commons Network^™

Reframing The Welfare Debate: Advocating For The Poor In The 1990s, Andrew L. Barlow

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

Scapegoating The Poor: Welfare Reform All Over Again And The Undermining Of Democratic Citizenship, Mark Neal Aaronson

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

Noble Justice, Ignobly Applied: A Review Of Neil Gilbert's Welfare Justice: Restoring Social Equity, Randi Mandelbaum

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

By Hook Or By Crook: Conformity, Assimilation And Liberal And Conservative Poor Relief Theory, Larry Catá Backer

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

A Street Without An Exit: Excerpts From The Lives Of Latinas In Post-187 California, Tanya Broder, Clara Luz Navarro

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

Making The World Wide Web Safe For Democracy: A Medium-Specific First Amendment Analysis, Andrew Chin

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The World Wide Web, a vast speech domain that may ultimately swallow all current forms of telecommunications media, presents urgent First Amendment issues. Most significantly, the structure of linked documents on the Web has served to concentrate speech power and impoverish democratic discourse. As extensive surveys by the author and others demonstrate, commercial speech dominates the Web and political discourse on the Web has become balkanized.

Using a quantitative model, it is possible to isolate and identify the characteristics of Web sites that contribute to robust public debate. These findings suggest a range of structural policies that would support the …

United States V. Virginia: Reinforcing Archaic Stereotypes About Women In The Military Under The Flawed Guise Of Educational Diversity, Lucille M. Ponte

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

Advocating The Use Of California's Stalking Statutes To Prosecute Radical Anti-Abortion Protestors, Olga Rodriguez

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

The In/Fertile, The Too Fertile, And The Dysfertile, Lisa C. Ikemoto

UC Law Journal

This article takes the ongoing debate about whether and how procreative technologies should be regulated, and goes beneath it. Starting with the characterization of procreative technology as infertility treatment, this article explores three primary sets of norms constituting that characterization-fertility, technology, and family. The analysis is an attempt to map the interconnecting discourses of fertility, technology, and family, and so, proceeds in a non-linear manner.

Professor Ikemoto begins by exploring the edges of public discussion about acceptable procreative technology uses. That is, she first questions public responses to uses that have provoked controversy, from the first 'test-tube baby' to the …

Reflections On The Proposed United States Reservations To Cedaw: Should The Constitution Be An Obstacle To Human Rights, Ann Elizabeth Mayer

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

The United States Constitution enjoys a special, sacred status that encourages the United States to treat its constitutional rights standards as definitive and therefore entitled to override conflicting standards in human rights treaties. When ratifying human rights treaties, the United States has entered reservations that are designed to ensure that constitutional rights standards will remain in force, even when they are less protective of rights than their international counterparts. Where women's rights are concerned, the United States has effectively rejected the international standard of equality for women, upholding instead the intermediate-tier standard developed under the Equal Protection Clause. Reluctant to …

Reverse Racism: Affirmative Action, The Family, And The Dream That Is America, Robert S. Chang

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

In this Essay, Professor Chang explores the interaction of race and family in the affirmative action debate. Although discrimination against women remains rampant in our society, and despite the fact that white women have been the primary beneficiaries of affirmative action, white women are being told that affirmative action hurts them because it hurts their husbands, brothers, and sons. Familial loyalty is being invoked to do the work of an explicit call for white racial solidarity. This strategy may be successful because as late as 1987, even with the increasing rate of interracial marriage, 99% of white Americans were married …

Failure Of The Color-Blind Vision: Race, Ethnicity, And The California Civil Rights Initiative, Neil Gotanda

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Advocates for the California Civil Rights Initiative have argued that they seek racial justice in a color-blind society. In this Article, Professor Gotanda first analyzes race color blindness to show that the color-blind vision is far from a truly open and just vision, but instead undermines efforts to achieve genuine social justice. The second section examines Hopwood v. Texas, a recent Fifth Circuit decision, and concludes that the majority opinion pursues an extremist color-blind vision which would deny any validity to the history and culture of women or racial and ethnic minorities. The third section examines the textual language of …

Supreme Court Voting Behavior: 1995 Term, Richard G. Wilkins, Matthew K. Richards, Scott Worthington

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

This Article, the eleventh in a series, attempts through statistical analysis to determine whether individual Justices on the United States Supreme Court (as well as the Court as a whole) voted more "conservatively," more "liberally," or about the same in the 1995 Terms as compared with past terms. The 1995 figures reveal a Court in ideological tension. Although some statistical measures suggest conservatism on the High Bench, there are notable contrary liberal indicators as well (principally in the areas of state criminal cases, federal jurisdiction, and First Amendment claims). Indeed, regression analysis demonstrates that the 1995 "liberal" movement in state …

Viewpoint Discrimination, Marjorie Heins

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Government action that disfavors speech because of its ideas or views is, as the Supreme Court recently said, "an egregious form of content discrimination," and is usually unconstitutional. However, it is not always clear precisely what makes discrimination viewpoint-based. Although the Court has recognized that disfavoring religious perspectives amounts to viewpoint discrimination, it has not yet applied this insight to government actions that target speech because it is deemed to be "political," "controversial," or "offensive." This Article addresses these questions in light of the history and basis of the viewpoint discrimination doctrine and underlying First Amendment values.

Specifically, this Article …

"Irresponsible" Reproduction, Linda C. Mcclain

UC Law Journal

A prominent target of recent calls to restore personal responsibility through changes in law and public policy is "irresponsible" reproduction: a cluster of reproductive behaviors and choices including "illegitimacy," single-parent families, divorce, abortion, and adolescent sexual activity and parenthood. In this Article, Professor McClain critically evaluates the rhetoric of irresponsible reproduction. She identifies three paradigmatic models of irresponsibility-the single mother, the welfare mother, and the teen mother-and the three corresponding aspects of irresponsibility-immorality, unaccountability, and incapacity. Focusing upon the recent national debates over welfare reform, she argues that the rhetoric of irresponsible reproduction cannot serve as an adequate basis for …

Choice, Conscience, And Context, Mary A. Crossley

UC Law Journal

In this commentary, Professor Crossley uses Professor Shapiro's Article as a springboard for considering two practices that increasingly are becoming part of the new reproductive landscape: selective reduction of multiple pregnancy and prenatal genetic testing to enable selective abortion. Professor Crossley considers how these practices might affect our understanding of personhood, particularly with respect to the types of criticisms that Professor Shapiro addresses in his Article. The nature of the threat to personhood posed by the use of selective reduction depends on whether a couple pursuing aggressive infertility treatment is fully informed, prior to commencing treatment, of the risks of …

Illicit Reasons And Means For Reproduction: On Excessive Choice And Categorical And Technological Imperatives, Michael H. Shapiro

UC Law Journal

Professor Shapiro analyzes the modes of assisted reproduction available and the ramifications of taking advantage of these reproductive techniques. His analysis includes the effect of choice on individuals, motivations for using reproductive technology, the Constitutionality of enforcing agreements surrounding reproductive technology and whether reproductive technology is an appropriate use of persons under the second formulation of Kant's categorical imperative.

Professor Shapiro also addresses common criticisms of new reproductive technologies and collaborations (NRTCs). Professor Shapiro disagrees with broad condemnations of reproductive technology. He warns against dismissing NRTCs based only on a fear of new technology or a preexisting impression of societal …

The Religious Landlord And The Conflict Between Free Exercise Rights And Housing Discrimination Laws--Which Interest Prevails, Stephanie Hammond Knutson

UC Law Journal

When a landlord refuses to rent to a couple, for reasons motivated by religious beliefs or religious practices, and that refusal violates an anti-discrimination housing law, should the landlord be prosecuted under the law or excused pursuant to constitutional free exercise guarantees? The supreme courts of four states have recently addressed the conflict between the right of religious freedom and the goal of eradicating discrimination in housing in the context of a landlord's refusal to rent to an unmarried couple. The four states evenly split: two states favored the landlord, and two favored the tenants.

This Note addresses the roots …

Social Security Discrimination Against African-Americans: An Equal Protection Argument, Geoffrey T. Holtz

UC Law Journal

The Social Security Act was passed in the middle of the Great Depression to alleviate the terrible poverty in which many elderly Americans found themselves mired. Social Security was designed as an insurance program in which workers contribute during their working years and receive payments during retirement. On its face, the program is equitable, with all individuals-with few exceptions-required to pay taxes into the program and all eligible to collect retirement benefits. However, there is an inherent inequality in Social Security due to differences in life expectancies. African Americans live an average of seven years less than do white Americans. …

A Child's Right To Be Gay: Addressing The Emotional Maltreatment Of Queer Youth, Sonia Renee Martin

UC Law Journal

Queer youth constitute an isolated and invisible population severely in need of help from all segments of society. They are harassed and rejected by their peers, the media, and the public in general. Queer youth are the most at-risk population of adolescents for suicide, homelessness, substance abuse, prostitution, and HIV infection. Most critically, queer youth often do not receive the necessary familial support needed to cope in such an environment. To the contrary, they are emotionally maltreated by their parents more often than any other group of adolescents.

The author asserts that it is imperative for the legal system to …

The Impact Of The Proposed California Civil Rights Initiative, Erwin Chemerinsky

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

This article assesses the impact of the proposed California Civil Rights Initiative ("CCRI"). If enacted, the CCRI will eliminate a vast array of programs designed to remedy past discrimination and advance equality of opportunity. Although the CCRI abolishes preferences based on race or gender, the term "preferences" is not defined. There is a risk that courts will give the term a broad construction and an even greater risk that governments voluntarily will forego affirmative action programs of all sorts to avoid litigation. Additionally, the CCRI will expand the legal authority for gender discrimination because it expressly permits gender to be …

Understanding Affirmative Action, David Benjamin Oppenheimer

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

This Article describes the law and practice of affirmative action under the United States Supreme Court's new restrictive rules, and presents the details of over one hundred studies demonstrating the prevalence of discrimination against women and minorities in the areas of education, employment, housing, health care, economic growth, wealth and poverty, and in the operation of the criminal justice system. Following a discussion of the law and practice of affirmative action and the psychology of discrimination, this Article presents results of studies demonstrating that public education throughout America is largely segregated, with minority children attending vastly inferior schools. It reports …

Merit-Teaching, Yxta Maya Murray

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Professor Yxta Maya Murray explores the notion of Merit-Teaching - the expansion of our current ideas of merit through the inclusion of the virtues and values of "Outsiders." Using insights developed by Aristotelian moral philosophers, critical race theorists, and feminist legal theorists as her guide, Professor Murray investigates Outsiders' particular virtues, and thus merits, that are forged from the experiences of oppression. Professor Murray brings these lessons into relief through the use of storytelling - her rendition of the life stories of her grandmother, her mother, and herself - which demonstrate Outsider virtue in action.

Debunking The Myth That Subdivision (C) Of The California Civil Rights Initiative Lessens The Standard Of Judicial Review Of Sex Classifications In California, Pamela A. Lewis

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Ms. Lewis argues that opponents of the California Civil Rights Initiative ("CCRI") have attempted to scare women as part of a campaign strategy to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment. In particular, she criticizes the opposition's arguments that, if CCRI passes, subdivision (c) will lower the standard of judicial review of all sex classifications under the California Constitution. The author argues that subdivision (c) will have no such effect as the subdivision's language is borrowed from the bona fide occupational qualification ("BFOQ") provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. BFOQs are recognized as narrow exceptions to federal and state antidiscrimination …

Prenatal Screening And The Culture Of Motherhood, Lori B. Andrews

UC Law Journal

Physicians use prenatal genetic tests on pregnant women to gain an increasing amount of information about fetuses before birth. These tests do more than predict the future health of the developing fetuses, however; they transform the culture of motherhood-society's expectations of pregnant women and women's expectations of themselves. Decisions to undergo genetic testing-and control or lack of control over dissemination of the results of testing-affect women's self-image, personal relationships, and how women are judged by institutions such as insurers and employers. This article reviews psychological, anthropological, and sociological research on the impacts of genetic testing and argues that healthcare providers …

Diversity And Minority Stereotyping In The Television Media: The Unsettled First Amendment Issue, Patricia M. Worthy

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Racial dissention and divisiveness continue to be among the most destructive and debilitating aspects of our society. Social scientists have raised serious questions about the role that television has played both in increasing the level of violence and intensity of racial disharmony in America. Most findings reveal that ethnic minorities are still negatively stereotyped as "criminals," "dangerous characters," or "clowns." The research literature also suggests that media distortions negatively impact the self-esteem of African- American children and may preclude them from achieving self-actualization or impede their ability to realize their full potential. In response to these and other concerns, the …

The Case For Color-Blind Distress Sales, Michael E. Lewyn

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Under the Federal Communications Commission's "distress sale" policy, a broadcaster whose license has been designated for a revocation hearing, or whose renewal application has been designated for hearing, may assign the license to an FCC-approved minority enterprise at a discount price before the hearing. Under recent Supreme Court precedent restricting the use of race-conscious federal measures, the distress sale policy may soon be declared unconstitutional.

If the distress sale policy is declared unconstitutional, the FCC has two significant alternatives. First, the FCC may abolish the distress sale policy altogether. Second, the FCC may create a color-blind distress sale policy which …

After Midnight: The Constitutional Status Of Juvenile Curfew Ordinances In California, Susan L. Freitas

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Youth is not a crime. Every person, regardless of age, is entitled to the protections of the United States Constitution. This seemingly apparent fact is not a reality for America's children, who are often treated as less than "full citizens" solely because of their age. The explosive proliferation of juvenile curfew ordinances in municipalities across California is one example of such treatment. Curfews have traditionally been used as a method of social control, often imposed in times of great upheaval and emergency, but have recently become the easy solution for communities exasperated by rising juvenile crime and violence. Although curfews …

Note Topics, Professors, And Scholarship: An Autobiographical Sketch Of A Law School Experience, Jason Broth

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

Women's Work: Attitudes, Regulation, And Lack Of Power Within The Sex Industry, Heidi Machen

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.