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Articles 1 - 16 of 16
Full-Text Articles in Law
Climate Discrimination, Duane Rudolph
Climate Discrimination, Duane Rudolph
Catholic University Law Review
This Article focuses on the coming legal plight of workers in the United States, who will likely face discrimination as they search for work outside their home states. The Article takes for granted that climate change will have forced those workers across state and international boundaries, a reality dramatically witnessed in the United States during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. During that environmental emergency (and the devastation it wrought), workers were forced across boundaries only to be violently discriminated against upon arrival in their new domiciles. Such discrimination is likely to recur, and it will threaten the livelihoods of …
Iowa Land And Landowners: Fear Or Opportunity, Neil D. Hamilton
Iowa Land And Landowners: Fear Or Opportunity, Neil D. Hamilton
Journal of Food Law & Policy
Our relation to the land changed as modern agriculture changed. Today many issues involving the land seem to focus on fear and conflict, revealing a fragility of agriculture surprising for how it confounds the expected image of strength and stability. In many ways, our fragile relation to the land contrasts to the optimism of the relation in the past, in the years of settlement and expansion. Part of the change reflects the adverse impacts of modern agriculture catching up with us, and part stems from a society more willing to focus on issues of equity, inclusion, and inequality. The good …
Not Yet America's Best Idea: Law, Inequality, And Grand Canyon National Park, Sarah Krakoff
Not Yet America's Best Idea: Law, Inequality, And Grand Canyon National Park, Sarah Krakoff
Publications
Even the nation’s most cherished and protected public lands are not spaces apart from the workings of law, politics, and power. This Essay explores that premise in the context of Grand Canyon National Park. On the occasion of the Park’s 100th Anniversary, it examines how law — embedded in a political economy committed to rapid growth and development in the southwestern United States — facilitated the violent displacement of indigenous peoples and entrenched racialized inequalities in the surrounding region. It also explores law’s shortcomings in the context of sexual harassment and discrimination within the Park. The Essay concludes by suggesting …
From Nondiscrimination To Civil Marriage, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson
From Nondiscrimination To Civil Marriage, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson
Prof. Elizabeth Burleson
As William Faulkner explained, we must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it. This article analyzes the continuing constitutional struggle for civil rights on the basis of sexual orientation, concentrating on the constitution state's critique of its constitution. Connecticut is currently at the forefront of recognizing civil rights. Connecticut has ruled that discrimination against gay and lesbian persons is subject to intermediate scrutiny, which has historically been used to review laws that employ quasi-suspect classifications such as gender. Civil marriage for same sex couples is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. …
How Supplemental Environmental Projects Can And Should Be Used To Advance Environmental Justice, Douglas Rubin
How Supplemental Environmental Projects Can And Should Be Used To Advance Environmental Justice, Douglas Rubin
University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class
No abstract provided.
Aboilishing The Texas Jury Shuffle., Michael M. Gallgher
Aboilishing The Texas Jury Shuffle., Michael M. Gallgher
St. Mary's Law Journal
This Article argues that the Texas Legislature should abolish the jury shuffle and join the other forty-nine states who have already done so. The jury shuffle, when requested, is a procedure which results in a random shuffling of the names of the jury pool members. Texas attorneys currently possess an entirely cost and risk free procedure through which they can discriminate against potential jurors on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, or anything else that suits their fancy. An attorney can request a jury shuffle without stating a reason and a judge cannot ask why a shuffle was requested or …
Taas And Gi Forum V. Texas Education Agency: A Critical Analysis And Proposal For Redressing Problems With The Standardized Testing In Texas., Blakely Latham Fernandez
Taas And Gi Forum V. Texas Education Agency: A Critical Analysis And Proposal For Redressing Problems With The Standardized Testing In Texas., Blakely Latham Fernandez
St. Mary's Law Journal
Texas’s use of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test as an accountability program has had numerous negative and far-reaching effects on minorities. Today, students in Texas public schools first take the TAAS test in the third grade. Students continue to take a form of the TAAS test each year, with the exit-level assessment initially given in the eleventh grade. Students must pass all four sections–Mathematics, English, Science, and Social Studies–in order to graduate and receive their high school diploma. Although devised to effectively motivate students, schools, and teachers with the goal of enhancing educational standards, the TAAS test …
Proving An Environmental Justice Case: Determining An Appropriate Comparison Population, Bradford Mank
Proving An Environmental Justice Case: Determining An Appropriate Comparison Population, Bradford Mank
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
In proving a case of adverse disparate impact discrimination under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a plaintiff in its prima facie case must show a significant disparity between an affected population and an appropriate comparison population. Both government agencies and commentators have neglected to address the crucial issue of how to elect and define a comparison population. Title VI cases often look to Title VII cases for guidance. Title VII cases require that a comparison population should be similarly situated to the affected population. In 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency ("the EPA" or "the Agency") issued draft …
The Case Against Private Disparate Impact Suits, Thom Lambert
The Case Against Private Disparate Impact Suits, Thom Lambert
Faculty Publications
This article argues that the Third Circuit, and the courts that have implicitly approved private disparate impact suits, have erred in construing Title VI to permit private plaintiffs to sue federally funded entities for discrimination based on disparate impact alone. From a policy standpoint, permitting private disparate impact suits is a bad idea, for the threat of such suits will lead to deterrence of actions and decisions that have incidental disparate effects but are, on the whole, good.
Is There A Private Cause Of Action Under Epa's Title Vi Regulations?: The Need To Empower Environmental Justice Plaintiffs, Bradford Mank
Is There A Private Cause Of Action Under Epa's Title Vi Regulations?: The Need To Empower Environmental Justice Plaintiffs, Bradford Mank
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
This article will apply the Chester three-factor test to find a private right of action implied in the administrative regulations promulgated by various agencies to implement Section 602 of Title VI. This article also proposes that it would be inconsistent to apply today's more stringent standard for inferring congressional intent in deciding whether a private right exists under Section 602. Such inconsistency arises as a result of the Supreme Court's application of a more lenient standard in recognizing a private right of action under Section 601.
Environmental Inequity: Economic Causes, Economic Solutions, Thom Lambert, Christopher Boerner
Environmental Inequity: Economic Causes, Economic Solutions, Thom Lambert, Christopher Boerner
Faculty Publications
The article examines one such shortcoming: namely, that existing research fails to account for the dynamic nature of the housing market. Analyzing data from the St. Louis metropolitan area, this study finds that economic factors--not siting discrimination--are behind many claims of environmental racism. This phenomenon suggests the need to develop public policies that fit the economic nature of the problem. In particular, a policy that compensates individuals living near industrial sites is the key to securing environmental justice.
Same-Sex Harassment - The Next Step Up In The Evolution Of Sexual Harassment Law Under Title Vii Comment., Regina L. Stone-Harris
Same-Sex Harassment - The Next Step Up In The Evolution Of Sexual Harassment Law Under Title Vii Comment., Regina L. Stone-Harris
St. Mary's Law Journal
Women sexually harassed by male co-workers are protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Yet, men are not protected because the federal courts in the Fifth Circuit do not protect men who are sexually harassed by other men. Male victims of sexual harassment are protected if they live in another district which does offer Title VII protection to same-sex victims. But should geography dictate protection? The federal courts are currently split as to whether a claim of sexual harassment between members of the same gender is actionable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. In the absence …
The Women's Convention And The Equal Protection Clause Symposium - Human Rights In The Americas., Michael J. Corbera
The Women's Convention And The Equal Protection Clause Symposium - Human Rights In The Americas., Michael J. Corbera
St. Mary's Law Journal
This Article addresses whether the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Women’s Convention) violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Because international treaties such as the Women’s Convention carry the same weight and are subject to the same treatment as U.S. federal law, the constitutionality of the Convention is dictated by U.S. jurisprudence. Part II of this Article outlines and discusses the origin and content of the Women’s Convention. Part III contains a historical review of gender jurisprudence in the United States, with particular emphasis on …
The Meaning Of Urban Environmental Justice, Michel Gelobter, Ph.D.
The Meaning Of Urban Environmental Justice, Michel Gelobter, Ph.D.
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Environmental justice is redress for the structures and situations arising from environmental discrimination and, particularly, environmental racism. Environmental discrimination is actions and practices, arising from both individual ideologies and social structures that preserve and reinforce domination of subordinate groups with respect to the environment, while such discrimination with respect to race is environmental racism. Part I of this Essay discusses how environmental injustice is a three-dimensional nexus of economic injustice, social injustice and an unjust incidence of environmental quality, all of which overwhelmingly assures the continued oppression of communities of color and low-income communities on environmental matters. Part II of …
Proving Environmental Inequity In Siting Locally Unwanted Land Uses, Michael Greenberg
Proving Environmental Inequity In Siting Locally Unwanted Land Uses, Michael Greenberg
RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)
This paper advances a process for determining whether, e.g., waste-to-energy facilities are disproportionately located in minority and poor communities, and the author asks others to join in searching for a scientifically sound and fair process of resolving conflicting interests in locating LULUs. He also discusses some difficult issues and argues that they need to be addressed by a representative panel.
Benign Classification Based On Race Must Be Narrowly Tailored To Achieve A Compelling Governmental Interest., Martha J. Hess
Benign Classification Based On Race Must Be Narrowly Tailored To Achieve A Compelling Governmental Interest., Martha J. Hess
St. Mary's Law Journal
In City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co., the Supreme Court held a minority business utilization plan (Richmond Plan) was violative of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The Richmond Plan required all builders awarded city construction contracts to subcontract, at minimum, 30% of the contract value to Minority Business Enterprises. A state government enacting legislation that burdens one class of persons and benefits a similarly-situated class must provide sufficient justification for its action to survive equal protection analysis. When distinction is based on race or national origin—classes considered inherently suspect—a reviewing court subjects the governmental legislation to strict scrutiny, …