Law Commons^™

Examining Gender Stereotypes In New Work/ Family Reconciliation Policies, Rangita De Silva De Alwis

Rangita de Silva de Alwis

Examining Gender Stereotypes in New Work/ Family Reconciliation Policies: The Creation of a New Paradigm for Egalitarian Legislation This paper examines numerous laws that have adopted the dual earner/dual career models, thereby transcending distinctions based on gender. This model celebrates and privileges care giving by both men and women by placing it at the heart of work family reconciliation policies, thus beginning to dismantle many historically embedded gender stereotypes and allotting the special treatment that is traditionally offered to mothers to both men and women who choose to perform child caring duties. This paper advances the notion that new laws …

Family Security Insurance: A New Foundation For Economic Security, Gillian Lester

Gillian Lester

No abstract provided.

Towards A Gender-Inclusive Definition Of Child Soldiers: The Prosecutor V. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Kristin M. Gallagher

Kristin M Gallagher

The trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo (“Thomas Lubanga”) will set international precedent for crimes related to child soldiers. As it is the first trial before the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the Court), the Court will be setting a standard for interpreting what it means to conscript, enlist or use child soldiers actively in combat. This paper argues that the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo currently before the International Criminal Court represents an opportunity for a precedent-setting decision regarding the use of child soldiers. It also argues for an interpretation of the law that recognizes the changing face of war …

Women And Pornography: The Reasons, The Benefits And The Risks, Guy Kochlani

Guy Kochlani

This Article examines the reasons why women enter the porn industry, the benefits of joining it and its risks. Specifically, this Article concentrates on the five major reasons why women enter the porn industry: 1) physical/sexual/mental abuse (reasons for building self-confidence and feeling important); 2) financial (last resort to earn money in a short time frame or building a business empire); 3) fame (believes that this is a stepping stone into Hollywood); 4) nymphomania (sexual addiction); and 5) human trafficking (forced in becoming a sex slave). In addition, this Article will lay out the benefits of entering such an industry, …

Employee "Free" Choice In The Mirror Of Liberty, Fairness And Social Welfare, Harry G. Hutchison

Harry G. Hutchison

The publication of Richard Epstein’s book, THE CASE AGAINST THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT provides an opportunity to reconsider (A) the movement to displace the regime of judge-made law that had previously governed labor relationships, (B) the purpose of the NLRA and (C) the revolutionary implications of the effort to transform the NLRA into a law that places its thumb on the scale in favor of unionization. Describing the central provisions of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), its economic consequences, its constitutional implications, and its connection to the decline of unionism, Epstein offers a balanced portrayal of the EFCA …

Statistical Evidence On The Gender Gap In Law Firm Partner Compensation, Marina Angel, Eun Young Whang, Rajiv Banker, Joseph F. Lopez

Marina Angel

Our study compiled the largest research sample on the gender gap in compensation at the 200 largest law firms by combining two large databases to examine why women partners are compensated less: because they are less productive than men partners or because they are women. The AmLaw 100 and 200 studies include gross revenue, profits, number of equity and non-equity partners, and the total number of lawyers at each firm. The Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Programs study (Vault/MCCA) includes the gender ratios at each AmLaw 200 firm. Our study covers the years 2002 to 2007.

The ratio of women equity …

Actual Notice And Deliberate Indifference: The Impact Of Mansourian V. Regents Of The University Of California On Title Ix, Mitchell J. Kim

Mitchell J Kim

The recent Ninth Circuit case of Mansourian v. Regents of the University of California held that individuals could file claims in court against schools for discriminating based on gender in violation of Title IX without first notifying the school of the alleged violation so that it might have an opportunity to rectify the violation. Specifically, the “notice and opportunity” requirement is not required in the context of intercollegiate athletics. The Court mistakenly equated “deliberate indifference” with “intentional action,” thereby relieving claimants of any responsibility to resolve the problems with the schools themselves. Due to the flexible standards for a school …

May It Please The Senate: An Empirical Analysis Of The Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings Of Supreme Court Nominees, 1939-2009, Lori A. Ringhand, Paul M. Collins

Lori A. Ringhand

This paper examines the questions asked and answers given by every Supreme Court nominee who has appeared to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee since 1939. In doing so, it uses a new dataset developed by the authors. This dataset, which provides a much-needed empirical foundation for scholarship in emerging areas of constitutional law and political science, captures all of the statements made at the hearings and codes these comments by issue area, subissue area, party of the appointing president, and party of the questioning senator. The dataset allows us to quantify for the fist time such things as which …

Legal Discrimination? Reasons Behind Low Levels Of Female Partnership In Law Firms And How To Correct It, Jeffrey L. Gower

Jeffrey L Gower

As the legal profession gradually reaches equality in numbers among male and female practitioners, the percentage of female law firm partners remains at relatively low levels. Equity partnership in a law firm remains the last bastion of male dominance, shutting the door on sharing the wealth within the profession. As stated by Reichman and Sterling, compensation disparity is clearly the foundation of gender disparity. However, the increase in female attorneys has also brought about a critical mass of women who do not want to participate in the years of long hours and high billable hours that many firms require on …

Emergent Disability & The Limits Of Equality: A Critical Reading Of The Un Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Elizabeth R. Ribet

Elizabeth R Ribet

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities marks a shift in international legal relationships to and conceptions of disability. The Convention is the first binding international instrument of its kind related to disability. Its premises differ from the earlier World Programme on Disability, and more closely integrate the frameworks of U.S. domestic equal protection and disability civil rights law. Drawing on critical race and feminist theoretical literature, this paper critically examines the implications of internationalizing a U.S. disability law framework, with particular attention to the problem of "emergent disability", or disability which is specifically produced as a …

Emergent Disability & The Limits Of Equality: A Critical Reading Of The Un Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Elizabeth R. Ribet

Elizabeth R Ribet

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities marks a shift in international legal relationships to and conceptions of disability. The Convention is the first binding international instrument of its kind related to disability. Its premises differ from the earlier World Programme on Disability, and more closely integrate the frameworks of U.S. domestic equal protection and disability civil rights law. Drawing on critical race and feminist theoretical literature, this paper critically examines the implications of internationalizing a U.S. disability law framework, with particular attention to the problem of "emergent disability", or disability which is specifically produced as a …

Emergent Disability & The Limits Of Equality: A Critical Reading Of The Un Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Elizabeth R. Ribet

Elizabeth R Ribet

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities marks a shift in international legal relationships to and conceptions of disability. The Convention is the first binding international instrument of its kind related to disability. Its premises differ from the earlier World Programme on Disability, and more closely integrate the frameworks of U.S. domestic equal protection and disability civil rights law. Drawing on critical race and feminist theoretical literature, this paper critically examines the implications of internationalizing a U.S. disability law framework, with particular attention to the problem of "emergent disability", or disability which is specifically produced as a …

A Final Obstacle: Barriers To Divorce For Immigrant Victims Of Domestic Violence In The United States, Mariela Olivares

Mariela Olivares

Low-income immigrant victims of domestic violence face significant—and understudied—social, legal and political obstacles in obtaining divorces from their abusive spouses. Moreover, funding restrictions on legal service providers often prohibit their representation of victims in divorce proceedings, which further reduces immigrant victims’ ability to obtain meaningful divorce relief. These issues are virtually unexamined in the scholarly literature; the problem of the abused, immigrant wife seeking a divorce has been given short shrift. This Article examines the problems confronting this community then proposes reforms to address its particular needs. Part I explores the unique condition of the immigrant living in the United …

Teens, Technology, And Cyberstalking: The Domestic Violence Wave Of The Future?, Andrew J. King-Ries

Andrew J King-Ries

While the legal system has made progress in combating domestic violence in the last 30 years, this progress is threatened by the intersection of two recent developments: teenagers normalizing unhealthy relationship patterns through pervasive use of technology and law enforcement’s inability to adequately respond to cyberstalking. The combination of these trends suggests America is producing a new generation of domestic violence batterers.

Recent studies document extensive use of technology—email, texts, social networking—by teenagers in their intimate relationships. Teenagers’ use of technology in their dating relationships often mimics relationship patterns present in violent adult relationships. Teenagers appear to be normalizing unhealthy …

"Polyamory As A Sexual Orientation", Ann E. Tweedy

Ann E. Tweedy

This article examines, from a theoretical standpoint, the possibility of expanding the definition of "sexual orientation" in employment discrimination statutes to include other disfavored sexual preferences, specifically polyamory. It first looks at the fact that the current definition of "sexual orientation" is very narrow, being limited to orientations based on the sex of those to whom one is attracted, and explores some of the conceptual and functional problems with the current definition. Next the article looks at the possibility of adding polyamory to current statutory definitions of sexual orientation, examining whether polyamory is a sufficiently embedded identity to be considered …

The Causal Relationship Of Sex, Pregnancy, Lactation, And Breastfeeding And The Meaning Of "Because Of . . . Sex" Under Title Vii, L. Camille Hebert

L. Camille Hebert

This article explains the decisions of a number of courts that have found that lactating and breastfeeding women are not entitled to the protections of Title VII and explains why those decisions are wrong. The article then explains how these issues should be treated under the normal application of Iitle VII principles, including the scope of protected groups generally and principles of sexual stereotyping, and discusses how the theories of disparate treatment and dipsrate impact would be applied to claims of discrimination against lactating women. Finally, the article explores why the recent enactment of a provision in the Health Care …

The Pedagogy Of Violence, Yxta M. Murray

Yxta M. Murray

In The Pedagogy of Violence, I develop a legal theory of the ways in which human beings teach each other to be violent. I am responding to the “contagion of violence” theory advocated by legal theorists such as Colin Loftin and Dr. Jeffrey Fagan, who argue that violence is akin to a contagious disease. Using disease as their paradigm, Loftin and Fagan contend that courts and political institutions should address the problem of violence through what they call the “epidemiological” approach; that is, they say that violence should be addressed as a public health problem. Though I do not take …

A “Supremer” Court?: How An Unfavorable Ruling In The Inter-American Commission On Human Rights Should Impact United States Domestic Violence Jurisprudence, Ethan G. Kate

Ethan G. Kate

After her substantive and procedural due process claims were dismissed in the Supreme Court, Jessica Gonzales took the unprecedented step of filing a claim with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, the first time such an allegation of human rights violations had been brought against the United States. Gonzales’ case has implicated two hot-button issues in modern United States jurisprudence: domestic violence prevention and the role of international law in domestic courts. Several scholars have looked at Gonzales’ case as it relates either to domestic violence or international law, but few have looked at the interplay between both issues. Specifically, …

A “Supremer” Court?: How An Unfavorable Ruling In The Inter-American Commission On Human Rights Should Impact United States Domestic Violence Jurisprudence, Ethan G. Kate

Ethan G. Kate

After her substantive and procedural due process claims were dismissed in the Supreme Court, Jessica Gonzales took the unprecedented step of filing a claim with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, the first time such an allegation of human rights violations had been brought against the United States. Gonzales’ case has implicated two hot-button issues in modern United States jurisprudence: domestic violence prevention and the role of international law in domestic courts. Several scholars have looked at Gonzales’ case as it relates either to domestic violence or international law, but few have looked at the interplay between both issues. Specifically, …

"Polyamory As A Sexual Orientation", Ann E. Tweedy

Ann E. Tweedy

This article examines the possibility of expanding the definition of “sexual orientation” in employment discrimination statutes to include other disfavored sexual preferences, specifically polyamory. It first looks at the fact that the current definition of “sexual orientation” is very narrow, being limited to orientations based on the sex of those to whom one is attracted, and explores some of the conceptual and functional problems with the current definition. Next the article looks at the possibility of adding polyamory to current statutory definitions of sexual orientation, examining whether polyamory is a sufficiently embedded identity to be considered a sexual orientation and …

Rape On The Washington Southern: The Tragic Case Of Hines V. Garrett, Michael I. Krauss

Michael I Krauss

Virginia's most important Proximate Causation case turns out also to be a revealing case study of government regulation, of women's rights and of race relations in the Old Dominion. After considerable original research, this article presents the "rest of the story." This article will become, we think, an important contribution both to Tort theory, to American legal history and to the history of Washington, DC and of Virginia.

The Lavender Letter: Applying The Law Of Adultery To Same-Sex Couples And Same-Sex Conduct, Peter Nicolas

Peter Nicolas

In this manuscript, I examine the question whether the law of adultery applies to same-sex extramarital conduct, which has divided courts nationwide. While the case law to date has been sparse—since the issue has only arisen in the context of opposite-sex marriages in which one spouse has an extramarital same-sex relationship—with the growth in the number of states recognizing same-sex marriage, the question is certain to recur with increased frequency.

In the manuscript, I examine the question in four different contexts: criminal adultery prosecutions, fault-based divorce actions, civil tort actions for interference with the marital relationship, and murder cases raising …

Are Muslims The New Catholics? Europe's Headscarf Laws In Comparative Historical Perspective, Robert Kahn

Robert Kahn

ABSTRACT: Many European opponents of the headscarf view themselves as engaged in a “struggle against totalitarianism.” This article explores an alternative framing: What if Muslims—rather than Nazis or Communists in training—are the more like nineteenth century Catholics, who were seen as a religious threat to European (and U.S.) liberalism? To explore this idea, this article looks at the headscarf debate through the lens of the German Kulturkampf (1871-1887) and nineteenth century U.S. laws that banned public school teachers from wearing clerical garb. It reaches two tentative conclusions. First, many of the claims made against European Muslims—especially about the “backward” nature …

Polarized Circuits: Party Affiliation Of Appointing Presidents, Ideology And Circuit Court Voting In Race And Gender Civil Rights Cases, Christopher R. Smith

Christopher R Smith

ABSTRACT Polarized Circuits: Party Affiliation of Appointing Presidents, Ideology and Circuit Court Voting in Race and Gender Civil Rights Cases This article seeks to examine the impact of Presidential party affiliation on the ideological voting patterns of Circuit Court judicial appointments within the context of race and gender civil rights cases. The article assesses two hypotheses regarding Circuit Court judicial voting patterns in race and gender civil rights cases: 1) That the ideological voting gap between Democratic appointed Circuit Court judges and Republican appointed Circuit Court judges has widened over time within the context of race and gender civil rights …

Repairing Online Reputation: A New Multi-Modal Regulatory Approach, Jacqueline Lipton

Jacqueline D Lipton

In today’s interconnected digital society, high profile examples of online abuses abound. Cyberbullies launch attacks on the less powerful, often significantly damaging victims’ reputations. Outside of reputational damage, online harassment, bullying and stalking has led to severe emotional distress, loss of employment, physical assault and even death. Recent scholarship has identified this phenomenon but has done little more than note that current laws are ineffective in combating abusive online behaviors. This article moves the debate forward both by suggesting specific reforms to criminal and tort laws and, more importantly, by situating those reforms within a new multi-modal framework for combating …

The Influence Of Gender Stereotyping On International Humanitarian Law, Athena M. Nguyen

Athena M Nguyen

The influence and pervasiveness of gender stereotyping on the law has recently been analysed by Rebecca J. Cook and Simone Cusack in Gender Stereotyping: Transnational Legal Perspectives. This Article extends the analytical framework developed by Cook and Cusack to examine the impact of gender stereotyping on international humanitarian law. This Article addresses the question, how has gender stereotyping influenced both the protections, and limitations to protections, for women in international humanitarian law? This Article will argue that three gender stereotypes have shaped the development of international humanitarian law through an examination of the Geneva Conventions, Additional Protocols, case law emerging …

Common Law Same-Sex Marriage, Peter Nicolas

Peter Nicolas

In this manuscript, I demonstrate that, with the extension of the right to marry to same-sex couples in Iowa, the District of Columbia, and New Hampshire (all states that recognize common law marriage), there now exists the possibility that—for the first time in the United States—a same-sex couple may enter into a legally recognized common law marriage.

In the manuscript, I first show, as a doctrinal matter, that same-sex couples have the right to enter into common law marriages in each of these jurisdictions, and I explain and compare the criteria for entering into common law marriages in each of …

Women, Decision Making And Sustainability: Exploring The Experience Of The Badi Foundation In China, Shahla F. Ali, Lori M. Noguchi

Shahla F. Ali

Beginning in 1994, international conventions such as the Convention on Biological Diversity have increasingly encouraged the use of collaborative processes at the local level to manage and protect community resources. Participation on the part of women in particular, in such decision making processes has been advanced and supported by the International Conference on Population and Development (1994), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002), and the 2005 World Summit. While such international conventions do not have binding legal effect, such instruments provide a moral force acknowledging the pivotal role women play in …

Ophelia With Child: A Restorative Approach To Legal Decision-Making By Teen Mothers, Marie A. Failinger

Marie A. Failinger

Both the liberal and the traditional model for legal decision-making by teen mothers rest on concepts of agency and family that do not adequately account for adolescent development or family dynamics in extended family situations such as the infant-teen mother-grandparent triad. This article proposes that restorative justice models for teen mother decision-making in the public welfare context can more adequately address the concerns of teen mothers, their parents and their children.

When Domestic Violence And Sex-Based Discrimination Collide: Civil Rights Approaches To Combating The Revictimization Of Domestic Violence Survivors, Erica R. Franklin

Erica R Franklin

Domestic violence victims encounter widespread discrimination in civil society, particularly in the arenas of police intervention, employment, and housing. This discrimination amounts to the revictimization of victims of domestic violence. Civil Rights protections, namely the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Fair Housing Act, have a major role to play in combating this discrimination. This Comment highlights the importance of civil rights approaches to domestic violence law and explores the potential for successful civil rights challenges in light of prevailing precedent and novel legal arguments. It argues that …