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Sexuality and the Law

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Selected Works

2014

Constitutional Law

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Law

The Future Of Polyamorous Marriage: Lessons From The Marriage Equality Struggle, Hadar Aviram, Gwendolyn Manriquez Leachman Aug 2014

The Future Of Polyamorous Marriage: Lessons From The Marriage Equality Struggle, Hadar Aviram, Gwendolyn Manriquez Leachman

Hadar Aviram

Amidst the recent legal victories and growing public support for same-sex marriage, numerous polyamorous individuals have expressed interest in pursuing legal recognition for marriages between more than two consenting adults. This Article explores the possibilities that exist for such a polyamorous marriage equality campaign, in light of the theoretical literature on law and social movements, as well as our own original and secondary research on polyamorous and LGBT communities. Among other issues, we examine the prospect of prioritizing the marriage struggle over other forms of nonmarital relationship recognition; pragmatic regulative challenges, like taxation, healthcare, and immigration; and how law and …

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India: Supreme Court Recriminalises "Carnal Intercourse Against The Order Of Nature", Shubhankar Dam Mar 2014

India: Supreme Court Recriminalises "Carnal Intercourse Against The Order Of Nature", Shubhankar Dam

Shubhankar Dam

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 in s. 377 makes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” punishable with imprisonment for life. In Suresh Kumar Koushal and another v. NAZ Foundation and others, reversing a 2009 decision of the Delhi High Court, India's Supreme Court concluded that the provision is constitutionally valid. As a result, India now rejoins 76 other jurisdictions in criminalizing same-sex behavior. The decision is for the most part poorly written and insufficiently reasoned, and the four strands of arguments, individually and collectively, leave much to be desired. This comment for the …

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"Not Without Political Power": Gays And Lesbians, Equal Protection, And The Suspect Class Doctrine, Darren Hutchinson Dec 2013

"Not Without Political Power": Gays And Lesbians, Equal Protection, And The Suspect Class Doctrine, Darren Hutchinson

Darren L Hutchinson

The Supreme Court purportedly utilizes the suspect class doctrine in order to balance institutional concerns with the protection of important constitutional rights. The Court, however, inconsistently applies this doctrine, and it has not precisely defined its contours. The political powerlessness factor is especially undertheorized and contradictorily applied. Nevertheless, this factor has become salient in recent equal protection cases brought by gay and lesbian plaintiffs.

A growing body of and federal and state-court precedent addresses the flaws of the Court’s suspect class doctrine. This Article discusses the inadequacies of the suspect class doctrine and highlights problems within the emerging scholarship and …

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When Quacking Like A Duck Is Really A Swan Song In Disguise: How Windsor's State Powers Analysis Sets The Stage For The Demise Of Federalism-Based Marriage Discrimination, Nancy C. Marcus Dec 2013

When Quacking Like A Duck Is Really A Swan Song In Disguise: How Windsor's State Powers Analysis Sets The Stage For The Demise Of Federalism-Based Marriage Discrimination, Nancy C. Marcus

Nancy C Marcus

United States v. Windsor may, in the views of some, walk and talk like a federalist duck, but upon closer examination, the decision is not a federalist decision at all, but is, rather, a swan song for federalist-based marriage discrimination.
Leading up to Windsor, federalist-based arguments for marriage equality were advocated by the late twentieth-century minimalist movement, which viewed the judiciary as an ineffective agent of social change, and urged the narrowest of constitutional claims, pessimistic about the likelihood of broad individual rights claims to same-sex marriage rights. After Windsor’s release, some have interpreted it as being a federalist decision, …

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