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Sexuality and the Law

2007

Constitutional law

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

The Right To Contract: Use Of Domestic Partnership As A Strategic Alternative To The Right To Marry Same-Sex Partners, Dara Purvis Jan 2007

The Right To Contract: Use Of Domestic Partnership As A Strategic Alternative To The Right To Marry Same-Sex Partners, Dara Purvis

Journal Articles

Shortly after the Civil War, a series of cases argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave black Americans the right to make contracts, including a marriage contract, with whomever they chose. While the cases were almost uniformly unsuccessful at that time, this paper argues that claims based on private contracts replicating some of marriage’s benefits, stripped of the social and religious freight of marriage, are more compelling. State constitutional amendments banning not only marriage, but any legal recognition of a marriage-like relationship, demonstrate that animus underlies the prohibitions and that the amendments violate the Equal Protection Clause even …


Abortion, Equality, And Administrative Regulation, Gillian E. Metzger Jan 2007

Abortion, Equality, And Administrative Regulation, Gillian E. Metzger

Faculty Scholarship

Abortion and equality are a common pairing; courts as well as legal scholars have noted the importance of abortion and a woman's ability to control whether and when she has children to her ability to participate fully and equally in society. Abortion and administrative regulation, on the other hand, are a more unusual combination. Most restrictions on abortion are legislatively imposed, while guarantees of reproductive freedom are constitutionally derived, so administrative law does not frequently figure in debates about access to abortion.