Law Commons^™

Understanding Terminations For “Disability-Caused Misconduct” As Failures To Provide Reasonable Accommodation, Michael S. Verdichizzi

Notre Dame Law Review

The Note proceeds as follows. Part I provides a primer on the sorts of disability discrimination the ADA prohibits, with a special focus on the three types of claims one may bring under the act: disparate treatment, disparate impact, and failure to accommodate. Part II explores the current state of the misconduct issue in the disability discrimination context and demonstrates the circuit split by way of case analyses. Part III presents the principal argument of this Note, that uncontroversial canons of statutory interpretation demonstrate the erroneousness of the majority view, that the majority view hinders the ADA’s objective of equal …

Freedom Seekers: The Transgressive Constitutionalism Of Fugitives From Slavery, Rebecca E. Zietlow

Notre Dame Law Review

In the years leading up to the Civil War, fugitives from slavery put their lives on the line to improve their own status and that of their families in their quest for freedom. Fugitives from slavery, or “freedom seekers,” engaged in civil disobedience, resisting laws that they believed to be unjust and inhumane. In the North, free black people and their white allies supported the freedom seekers by engaging in civil disobedience of their own. The transgressive actions of freedom seekers sparked constitutional controversy during the antebellum era over issues of interstate comity, federalism, citizenship rights, and fundamental human rights. …

Bostock Was Bogus: Textualism, Pluralism, And Title Vii, Mitchell N. Berman, Guha Krishnamurthi

Notre Dame Law Review

In Bostock v. Clayton County, one of the blockbuster cases from its 2019 Term, the Supreme Court held that federal antidiscrimination law prohibits employment discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Unsurprisingly, the result won wide acclaim in the mainstream legal and popular media. Results aside, however, the reaction to Justice Neil Gorsuch’s majority opinion, which purported to ground the outcome in a textualist approach to statutory interpretation, was more mixed. The great majority of commentators, both liberal and conservative, praised Justice Gorsuch for what they deemed a careful and sophisticated—even “magnificent” and “exemplary”—application of textualist principles, …

The Vra At A Crossroads: The Ability Of Section 2 To Address Discriminatory Districting On The Eve Of The 2020 Census, Ben Boris

Notre Dame Law Review

Part I of this Note begins by examining the background of the VRA. In Part I, this Note will briefly summarize the Act’s relationship with the Fifteenth Amendment and the circumstances that prompted its enactment, and detail the development of both section 2 and section 5 of the Act, as they have been used to combat vote discrimination. Part I will also discuss recent Supreme Court decisions that have limited the strength of the Act and set the stage for an analysis of the Act’s inability to combat discriminatory districting.

Part II will highlight two shortcomings of the Act to …

Further Harm And Harassment: The Cost Of Excess Process To Victims Of Sexual Violence On College Campuses, Hannah Walsh

Notre Dame Law Review

This Note argues that in employing the Mathews v. Eldridge test to formulate the constitutional minimum process necessary to satisfy the Fourteenth Amendment in a Title IX university disciplinary hearing, federal courts have failed to adequately weigh the inevitable harm to survivors that will result from allowing one accused of sexual assault to personally cross-examine their accuser as part of the government interest at stake. Furthermore, this Note contends that any institution permitting the practice of respondents cross-examining their complainants commits sex discrimination in violation of Title IX by directly inflicting harm on its female students. Part I will provide …

Into The Weeds: Modern Discrimination Law, Sandra F. Sperino

Notre Dame Law Review

Since the 1970s, the federal courts have created a number of frameworks to analyze discrimination claims. Each framework provides a roadmap for proving a certain theory of discrimination. Over time, the courts have added bells and whistles to these basic roadmaps. These court-created ancillary doctrines or subdoctrines require an ever-increasing amount of judicial attention.

While legal scholars have challenged the ancillary doctrines individually, this Article examines them collectively. When viewed collectively, it is easier to see how the system of creating and using ancillary doctrines is significantly flawed. Any benefits that derive from it are outweighed by its problems.

This …

Religious Liberty, Discrimination, And Same-Sex Marriage: Escaping The Obergefell Catch-22, Timothy Bradley

Notre Dame Law Review

This Note will explore the tension between Justice Kennedy’s words in Obergefell v. Hodges regarding the decent and honorable premises behind the judgment of many Americans that same-sex marriage is immoral (or, strictly speaking, impossible), and the treatment afforded to those who attempt to live out those supposedly decent and honorable beliefs in the public square—bakers, florists, photographers, pizza connoisseurs, and more. It will assess the relationship between religious liberty, freedom of speech, and antidiscrimination laws by focusing on issues in the realm of sex and marriage, though complicity claims like the ones explored here arise in various other contexts, …

The Difference Narrows: A Reply To Kurt Lash, Randy E. Barnett, Evan D. Bernick

Notre Dame Law Review

We thank the Notre Dame Law Review for allowing us to respond to Kurt Lash’s reply to our critique of his interpretation of the Privileges or Immunities Clause. We could forgive readers for having difficulty adjudicating this dispute. When Lash argues, evidence always comes pouring forth, and the sheer volume can overwhelm the senses. We sometimes have a hard time following his arguments, and we are experts in the field. We can only imagine how it seems to those who are otherwise unfamiliar with this terrain.

So, in this reply—with a few exceptions—we will avoid piling up any new evidence …

Narrowing The Trapdoor Of The Government Employee Rights Act, Henry Leaman

Notre Dame Law Review

We should revisit what protections are available to these state workers and push for reforms that further sexual equality. One way to do so is to decrease the size of Title VII’s trapdoor. This Note aims to fight sexual harassment in politics by advocating for a narrower understanding of the trapdoor, such that more plaintiffs are eligible to bring Title VII actions rather than Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 (GERA) actions. Specifically, this Note explains why the “personal staff” trapdoor should be narrowed and then provides a method for how to do so—by settling a circuit split on the …

The Privileges Or Immunities Clause, Abridged: A Critique Of Kurt Lash On The Fourteenth Amendment, Randy E. Barnett, Evan D. Bernick

Notre Dame Law Review

In earlier writings, both of us have expressed sympathy for the view that the Privileges or Immunities Clause affords absolute protection to unenumerated rights, such as those contained in the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and authorizes Congress to enact protective legislation. Neither of us, however, has engaged with Kurt Lash’s most recent and unique two-class interpretation of the original meaning of the Privileges or Immunities Clause in the depth that it deserves. Nor have we evaluated his recent efforts to demonstrate that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process of Law Clause empowers the federal courts and Congress to protect unenumerated …

The Enumerated-Rights Reading Of The Privileges Or Immunities Clause: A Response To Barnett And Bernick, Kurt T. Lash

Notre Dame Law Review

In their new article, The Privileges or Immunities Clause, Abridged: A Critique of Kurt Lash on the Fourteenth Amendment, Randy Barnett and Evan Bernick insist that this historical evidence does not support the enumerated-rights reading. Instead, Barnett and Bernick embrace what I call the “fundamental-rights” reading of the Privileges or Immunities Clause. This view maintains that the Clause should be understood as protecting a set of absolute rights nowhere expressly enumerated in the text of the Constitution, for example the unenumerated economic right to contract or to pursue a trade.

Rather than agreeing with John Bingham, Barnett and Bernick …

Rediscovering Corfield V. Coryell, Gerard N. Magliocca

Notre Dame Law Review

This Article reveals new details about Corfield v. Coryell based on archival research. In 2017, the author found Justice Washington’s original notes on Corfield in the Chicago History Museum. The most important revelation about Corfield is that the Justice was initially inclined to hold that the state law his decision upheld was, in fact, unconstitutional under the Privileges and Immunities Clause. The notes also say that he saw Livingston v. Van Ingen as the leading precedent on the Privileges and Immunities Clause and backed Chancellor Kent’s view in that case that the Clause articulated a nondiscrimination rule for out-of-state citizens …

Is Congress Holding Itself To Account? Addressing Congress's Sexual Harassment Problem And The Congressional Accountability Act Of 1995 Reform Act, Christina C. Hopke

Notre Dame Law Review

This Note explores how the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 ("CAA") contributed to the underreporting of the sexual harassment occurring in Congress and evaluates both the original proposals offered by the House and Senate to reform the CAA and the Reform Act in its final form. Part I will offer brief background information on the ‘me too’ Movement and the specific allegations of harassment against individuals in Congress. Part II will explore the issue of underreporting when it comes to instances of sexual harassment, with a particular focus on reporting considerations of professional women such as those employed in the …

Non-Merit-Based Tests Have No Merit: Restoring District Court Discretion Under § 1915(E)(1), John R. Fitzgerald

Notre Dame Law Review

This Note evaluates the circuit split regarding the provision of counsel in prisoner civil rights cases and proposes a uniform test. Part I describes the historical background of the right to counsel and prisoner litigation in the United States. Part II outlines the current circuit split regarding § 1915(e)(1). Part III explains why all district courts should consider merit and substance, using a case study to illustrate the deficiencies of non-merit-based tests. Part IV demonstrates why merit and substance are the best metrics for deciding when to provide counsel. Ultimately, this Note asserts that all district judges should consider: (1) …

Equal Access In Cyberspace: On Bridging The Digital Divide In Public Accommodations Coverage Through Amendment To The Americans With Disabilities Act, Laura Wolk

Notre Dame Law Review

This Note will proceed in three Parts. Part I will trace the development of the case law on this issue, which has culminated in a circuit split. It will also discuss the influence of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which has not exercised its regulatory authority on the subject but which has initiated enforcement actions consistent with an interpretation that includes freestanding websites. Part II will argue, based on the text, congressional silence, and the statute’s dual principal purposes, that private commercial websites do not fall within the purview of Title III. Part III will propose that disability rights advocates …

The Paths To Griswold, Ryan C. Williams

Notre Dame Law Review

The goal of this Article is to develop a fuller picture of Griswold by situating the case within a series of doctrinal and jurisprudential debates and developments that were prominent at the time of the Court's decision but that have faded in significance over time. This alternative picture of Griswold shifts the focus away from viewing the case as one about birth control, sexual privacy, and women's autonomy and toward viewing the decision as one about interpretive method, constitutional theory, and the Supreme Court's role within the national political system. This alternative perspective on Griswold has by no means gone …

Weathering Wal-Mart, Joseph A. Seiner

Notre Dame Law Review

In Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2531 (2011), the Supreme Court held that a proposed class of over a million women that had alleged pay and promotion discrimination against the nation’s largest retailer could not be certified. According to the Court, the plaintiffs had failed to establish a common thread in the case sufficient to tie their claims together. The academic response to Wal-Mart was immediate and harsh: the decision will serve as the death knell for mass employment litigation, undermining the workplace protections provided by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). …