Law Commons^™

Breathing Room For The Right Of Assembly, Tabatha Abu El-Haj

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This Article explores the legal and political fault lines that the wave of protests highlighting police violence and systemic racism in the summer of 2020 reveal. It focuses in depth on Detroit, Michigan, as a window into the ways that the First Amendment, as currently construed, under-protects those seeking political change and racial reckoning by demonstrating in the streets.

Marriage Mandates: Compelled Disclosures Of Race, Sex, And Gender Data In Marriage Licensing Schemes, Mikaela A. Phillips

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This Note argues that mandatory disclosures of personal information—specifically race, sex, and gender—on a marriage license application constitute compelled speech under the First Amendment and should be subject to heightened scrutiny. Disclosing one’s race, sex, or gender on a marriage license application is an affirmative act, and individuals may wish to have their identity remain anonymous. These mandatory disclosures send a message that this information is still relevant to marriage regulation. Neither race nor gender is based in science; rather they are historical and social constructs created to uphold a system of white supremacy and heteronormativity. Thus, such statements are …

The First Amendment And The Roots Of Lgbt Rights Law: Censorship In The Early Homophile Era, 1958-1962, Jason M. Shepard

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Long before substantive due process and equal protection extended constitutional rights to homosexuals under the Fourteenth Amendment, in three landmark decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States, First Amendment law was both a weapon and shield in the expansion of LGBT rights. This Article examines constitutional law and “gaylaw” from the perspective of its beginning, through case studies of One, Inc. v. Olesen (1958), Sunshine Book Co. v. Summerfield (1958), and Manual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day (1962). In protecting free press rights of sexual minorities to use the U.S. mail for mass communications, the Warren Court’s liberalization of …

Who Tells Your Story: The Legality Of And Shift In Racial Preferences Within Casting Practices, Nicole Ligon

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Rejecting Mind-Body Dualism On U.S. Law, Matthew W. Lawrence

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

While neuroscience continues to make it clearer that mental processes, effects, disorders, and states can be described through physical observation, the metaphysical notion of mind-body dualism still pervades the U.S. legal system. In this Article, I discuss many areas where mind-body dualism holds fast, and others where mind-body dualism has already been explicitly or impliedly rejected. I argue that in most areas, the dualist distinction would have little to no impact on the values the law already describes. However, I argue that rejecting dualism would have an impact on fundamental rights analyses. First Amendment free speech rights, fundamental rights, and …

A Call Of Duty To Counterstrike: Cyberharassment And The Toxic Gaming Culture Plaguing Female Gamers And Developers, Natasha N. Phidd

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

The frequency with which female gamers and game developers experience sexual harassment and threats of violence online is significant enough to warrant concern about a section of our society— female gamers and game developers—having their sexuality and gender identity used against them, both as weapons and as barriers blocking them from access to a lucrative economic venture. An examination of the 2014 Gamergate controversy and various other instances of cyberharassment against female gamers and developers, as well as a look into the realm of eSports and an analysis of cyberharassment and the concept of true threats, indicate that this particular …

#Metoo Meets The Ministerial Exception: Sexual Harassment Claims By Clergy And The First Amendment's Religion Clauses, Ira C. Lupu, Robert W. Tuttle

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Pornography And Gender Inequality—Using Copyright Law As A Step Forward, Kayla Louis

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Conversion Therapy And Free Speech: A Doctrinal And Theoretical First Amendment Analysis, Clay Calvert, Kara Carnley, Brittany Link, Linda Riedmann

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This Article analyzes, from both a doctrinal and theoretical perspective, the First Amendment speech interests at stake before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Welch v. Brown and Pickup v. Brown. Those cases pivot on a controversial California law banning mental health providers from performing sexual orientation change efforts (also known as conversion therapy) on minors. Two district court judges reached radically different conclusions about the First Amendment questions. The Article explores how a trio of recent Supreme Court decisions involving seemingly disparate factual scenarios—Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, United States v. Alvarez and Gonzales v. …

The Price Of Porn & Pugilism: Reconciling Brown V. Entertainment Merchants Association With Ginsberg V. New York Through A Media-Specific Approach, Dennis A. Demarco

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

(No) State Interests In Regulating Gender: How Suppression Of Gender Nonconformity Violates Freedom Of Speech, Jeffrey Kosbie

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Despite limited growth in legal protections for transgender people, dress and appearance are largely treated as unprotected matters of personal preference. In response, lawyers and scholars argue that dress and appearance are intimately connected to the expression of identity. Nonetheless, courts have generally deferred to the government’s proffered justifications for these laws.

This article refocuses on the government’s alleged interests in regulating gender nonconformity. Using a First Amendment analysis, the article reveals how seemingly neutral government interests are used to single out conduct because it expresses messages of gender nonconformity. This approach avoids impossible questions about the subjective intent of …

Reconciling Religious Free Exercise And National Security: Triumph Of The Ultimate Compelling Governmental Interest, Gregory P. Proseus

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Texas Mis-Step: Why The Largest Child Removal In Modern U.S. History Failed, Jessica Dixon Weaver

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This Article sets forth the historical and legal reasons as to how the State of Texas botched the removal of 439 children from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints parents residing in Eldorado, Texas. The Department of Family and Protective Services in Texas overreached its authority by treating this case like a class-action removal based on an impermissible legal argument, rather than focusing on the facts and circumstances that could have been substantiated for a select group of children at risk. This impermissible legal argument regarding the “pervasive belief system” of a polygamist sect that allowed minor …

When Freedom Is Not Free: Investigating The First Amendment's Potential For Providing Protection Against Sexual Profiling In The Public Workplace, Michele Alexandre

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This article explores the ways in which bodily expression can constitute symbolic speech that courts should protect pursuant to the First Amendment of the Constitution. In a previous article, I referred to this type of bodily speech as "body protest."' Body protest can refer to actions that individuals undertake to assert their autonomy, identity, and freedom from societal restrictions. For women, body protest may be used "to challenge gender restrictions and to activate women-centric legal reforms."2 For example, women may express body protest through dance, dress, or performance arts. These individuals are often sexually profiled because of how they use …