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The Reed Case: The Seed For Equal Protection From Sex-Based Discrimination, Or Polite Judicial Hedging?, John P. Murphy Jr. Aug 2015

The Reed Case: The Seed For Equal Protection From Sex-Based Discrimination, Or Polite Judicial Hedging?, John P. Murphy Jr.

Akron Law Review

Reed is yet another example of how the Equal Protection Clause may be used to strike down state statutes which embody arbitrary classifications that are neither fairly nor substantially related to the object of the statute, and which bring about the invidious discrimination that is repugnant to the Fourteenth Amendment. It must stressed that the outcome of Reed is clearly commendable in terms of justice. What is troublesome is the fact that one may contend that the Supreme Court hedged, perhaps avoided, an excellent opportunity in which to expand the constitutional scope of the Equal Protection Clause. Reed afforded the …


Equal Protection - Property Taxes As A Method Of Funding Public Education; San Antonio Independent School District V. Rodriguez, Mark K. Croft Aug 2015

Equal Protection - Property Taxes As A Method Of Funding Public Education; San Antonio Independent School District V. Rodriguez, Mark K. Croft

Akron Law Review

Suit was brought in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas challenging the constitutionality of the Texas school financing system on the theory that it discriminated on a basis of wealth, permitting provision of a higher quality of education to be offered the children in property-rich school districts while residents pay a lower tax rate, thus denying equal protection of the law.' The District Court found the laws forming this system unconstitutional on this basis. Appeal brought the case to the Supreme Court in October of 1972, where it was reversed.


Automobile Insurance Rates: Promulgation, Regulation, And Equal Protection, James J. Mcgraw Aug 2015

Automobile Insurance Rates: Promulgation, Regulation, And Equal Protection, James J. Mcgraw

Akron Law Review

T HE INTEREST in the price one pays for automobile insurance continues to grow at a rapid pace. The reason for this growing consumer interest may be attributed to the equally increasing need for automobiles, the price paid for them, and consequently, the need for insurance protection. This insurance protection has developed into a matter of major economic consequence to the auto owner.....The key to improved and efficient rate-watching is in the good faith efforts and perseverance of the policyholders themselves. Accordingly, an examination of the effects of consumerism along with a discussion of modern rate and regulatory developments is …


Standing; Assertion Of Jus Tertii; Sex Discrimination; Equal Protection; Twenty-First Amendment; Craig V. Boren, Anthony Sadowski Aug 2015

Standing; Assertion Of Jus Tertii; Sex Discrimination; Equal Protection; Twenty-First Amendment; Craig V. Boren, Anthony Sadowski

Akron Law Review

"A PPELLANTS brought an action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The complaint charged that the operation of two Oklahoma statutes, which prohibited the sale of 3.2% beer to males under the age of 21 while allowing females over the age of 18 to purchase the commodity, violated the fourteenth amendment to the Federal Constitution. The three-judge court held that the gender-based classification did not violate the equal protection clause. In Craig v. Boren, on direct appeal, the United States Supreme Court reversed, finding that the gender-based classification could …


Standing; Assertion Of Jus Tertii; Sex Discrimination; Equal Protection; Twenty-First Amendment; Craig V. Boren, Anthony Sadowski Aug 2015

Standing; Assertion Of Jus Tertii; Sex Discrimination; Equal Protection; Twenty-First Amendment; Craig V. Boren, Anthony Sadowski

Akron Law Review

APPELLANTS brought an action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.' The complaint charged that the operation of two Oklahoma statutes,' which prohibited the sale of 3.2% beer to males under the age of 21 while allowing females over the age of 18 to purchase the commodity, violated the fourteenth amendment to the Federal Constitution. The three-judge court held that the gender-based classification did not violate the equal protection clause.' In Craig v. Boren,' on direct appeal, the United States Supreme Court reversed, finding that the gender-based classification could not …


Automobile Guest Statute; Unconstitutional; Equal Protection; Due Process; Right To Seek Legal Redress; Primes V. Tyler, Margaret Fuller Corneille Aug 2015

Automobile Guest Statute; Unconstitutional; Equal Protection; Due Process; Right To Seek Legal Redress; Primes V. Tyler, Margaret Fuller Corneille

Akron Law Review

IN JULY 1975, the Supreme Court of Ohio in the case of Primes v. Tyler' joined a small but growing number of states' which have declared automobile guest statutes' unconstitutional. The circumstances of the Primes case are similar to those encountered in countless other suits brought by injured guest passengers since the Ohio guest statute was enacted in 1933.' George Primes, III and Donald G. Tyler were members of an informal golf group which shared a car pool arrangement. Tyler, driving for the car pool, was involved in an automobile accident in which Primes, a passenger, was injured. Primes brought …


Economic Discrimination; Denial Of Social Security Benefits Premised On Gender-Based Classification Is Unconstitutional; Violates Equal Protection; Weinberger V. Wiesenfeld, Janice M. Ahern Aug 2015

Economic Discrimination; Denial Of Social Security Benefits Premised On Gender-Based Classification Is Unconstitutional; Violates Equal Protection; Weinberger V. Wiesenfeld, Janice M. Ahern

Akron Law Review

After his wife's death, Wiesenfeld applied for social security survivor benefits for himself and his infant son. While he was able to obtain benefits for his son under 42 U.S.C. Section 402(d), he was denied benefits under Section 402(g) because those benefits were available only to widows and surviving divorced mothers. When his application was denied, Wiesenfeld brought suit in federal district court to obtain declaratory and injunctive relief,' contending that the gender-based classification of 42 U.S.C. Section 402(g) violated equal protection as found within the due process clause of the fifth amendment.' A three-judge district court panel granted relief …


Abortion; Parental Consent; Minors' Rights To Due Process, Equal Protection And Privacy; State V. Koome, Barbara Child Aug 2015

Abortion; Parental Consent; Minors' Rights To Due Process, Equal Protection And Privacy; State V. Koome, Barbara Child

Akron Law Review

The Washington court had before it a physician appealing his conviction for performing an abortion on an unmarried 16-year-old woman, a ward of the King County Juvenile Court, which had given its consent to the abortion. However, the young woman's parents and the Catholic Children's Services, her temporary guardian, both opposed the abortion and were granted a stay of the abortion order pending review by the state supreme court. During the stay, Dr. Koome performed the abortion. The supreme court held that the Washington consent statute "too broadly encumbers the right of unmarried minor women to choose to terminate pregnancy, …


Equal Protection; Sex Discrimination; Veterans' Preference Statutes, Feeney V. Massachusetts, Eloise Taylor Jul 2015

Equal Protection; Sex Discrimination; Veterans' Preference Statutes, Feeney V. Massachusetts, Eloise Taylor

Akron Law Review

"Historically, the armed services have been predominantly male. The result has been that the operation of veterans' preferences has placed women as a class at a particular disadvantage in comparison to men when in or entering into civil service.' To nullify this stigma, the first successful challenge to veterans' preference, Feeney v. Massachusetts,' was litigated."


Equal Protection; State Alimony Statutes; Sex Discrimination; Orr V. Orr, David A. Detec, Jane L. Thomas-Moore Jul 2015

Equal Protection; State Alimony Statutes; Sex Discrimination; Orr V. Orr, David A. Detec, Jane L. Thomas-Moore

Akron Law Review

In Orr v. Orr the United States Supreme Court held unconstitutional the Alabama alimony statutes which provided that husbands, but not wives, may be required to pay alimony upon divorce. The Court's principal reason for so holding was the statutes' violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment on the basis of sex discrimination.


Container Legislation, Equal Protection, Commerce Clause, Minnesota V. Clover Leaf Creamery Company, Craig B. Paynter Jul 2015

Container Legislation, Equal Protection, Commerce Clause, Minnesota V. Clover Leaf Creamery Company, Craig B. Paynter

Akron Law Review

The problems of litter, solid waste, and natural resource depletion are often inexorably linked to the liquid manufacturing and packaging industry. Legislative efforts to ameliorate these problems may therefore involve various controls of containers. When states enact container legislation, however, terms must be carefully chosen to avoid conflict with both state and federal constitutions.


The Original Understanding Of The Fourteenth Amendment In Illinois, Ohio, And Pennsylvania, James E. Bond Jul 2015

The Original Understanding Of The Fourteenth Amendment In Illinois, Ohio, And Pennsylvania, James E. Bond

Akron Law Review

This article reviews the state ratification debates in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois. Then as now these states were major electoral battlegrounds. In all three states the two parties fielded strong candidates and ran well-organized campaigns. Many of the nationally recognized proponents of the 14th amendment hailed from these states. Those among them who faced re-election were marked men. President Johnson himself made his famous "swing around the circle," defending "My Policy" in major cities in all three states. The President was only the most prominent of the many well-known outsiders who criss-crossed these states in a desperate attempt to influence …


Edmonson V. Leesville Concrete Co.: State Action Or Inaction - Does It Matter?, Chad Murdock Jul 2015

Edmonson V. Leesville Concrete Co.: State Action Or Inaction - Does It Matter?, Chad Murdock

Akron Law Review

This note first reviews the facts of Edmonson. Second, this note examines the history of judicial inquiry into the use of peremptory challenges. Third, this note reviews the application of Batson to civil cases. Finally, this note analyzes the extension of the state action doctrine in Edmonson and discusses an alternative to the Edmonson approach to state action


Mill's Theory Of Liberty In Constitutional Interpretation, Wilson Ray Huhn Jul 2015

Mill's Theory Of Liberty In Constitutional Interpretation, Wilson Ray Huhn

Akron Law Review

I wish to apply Justice Thompson's discussion of the nature of liberty in a more general context in addressing fundamental questions of constitutional interpretation. Justice Thompson's essential inquiry is, "Should the enforcement of morals be the concern of the law?" I take the liberty of slightly rephrasing that question: "Is the enforcement of traditional moral norms per se constitutional?" I suggest that the answer to this question is "no." Courts and scholars have often confused our moral traditions with our traditions of liberty and equality. My central premise is that it is for the legislature to enact morality into law, …


Giving Effect To Equal Protection: Adarand Constructors, Inc. V. Pena, Leslie Gentile Jul 2015

Giving Effect To Equal Protection: Adarand Constructors, Inc. V. Pena, Leslie Gentile

Akron Law Review

This Note will examine affirmative action jurisprudence, and explore the broader implications of the Court's present narrow course. Section II presents a brief historical background of the cases preceding Adarand, and traces the Court's fragmented approach to this issue and its deep divisiveness over the correct standard of review. Section IV examines the tension between the colorblind approach and the requirements of equal protection within the in escapable reality of our racist society. Finally, Section V calls for a focus by the Court on outcome, rather than a myopic fixation on process, toward the larger end of the realization of …


Off Duty, Off The Wall, But Not Off The Hook: Section 1983 Liability For The Private Misconduct Of Public Officials, Douglas S. Miller Jul 2015

Off Duty, Off The Wall, But Not Off The Hook: Section 1983 Liability For The Private Misconduct Of Public Officials, Douglas S. Miller

Akron Law Review

The language quoted in the previous paragraph, employing as it does the metaphor of causation, represents one model for determining when a person has acted under color of law. Other models have also been used. In Part II of this Article, I note briefly the inconsistency of outcome that has marked this area, and identify the various models used, relying in part on the efforts of other commentators to describe the models that might be available from a theoretical standpoint. In the course of identifying these models, I note that many, if not all, lack authority either in the history …


Private Problem, Public Solution: Affirmative Action In The 21st Century, Darlene C. Goring Jul 2015

Private Problem, Public Solution: Affirmative Action In The 21st Century, Darlene C. Goring

Akron Law Review

This Article will explore the origins of the Court’s color-blind interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the role that this interpretation plays in the development of new barriers against challenges to race-based affirmative action programs. Part II of this Article traces the development and application of the strict scrutiny test to evaluate the constitutionality of both invidious and benign racial classifications. Part III examines Justice Powell’s position that racial classifications used as remedial measures may overcome the presumption of constitutional invalidity associated with the use of race-based classifications. In this context, the Court recognizes that the continued impact of past …


Teaching Free Speech From An Incomplete Fossil Record, Michael Kent Curtis Jul 2015

Teaching Free Speech From An Incomplete Fossil Record, Michael Kent Curtis

Akron Law Review

The second part of this symposium has been devoted to how we teach the Constitution. It has emphasized what gets left out. The reader will see a pattern. Paul Finkelman is a leading scholar on the law of slavery and the Constitution. Paul thinks – and I believe he is correct – that the immense influence of slavery on American constitutional law is too often neglected in our constitutional law courses. James Wilson has studied how political philosophers – Aristotle, Rousseau, James Harrington, and others – have understood the distribution of wealth as a central factor affecting how the constitution …


The Continuing Importance Of Congressman John A. Bingham And The Fourteenth Amendment, Richard L. Aynes Jul 2015

The Continuing Importance Of Congressman John A. Bingham And The Fourteenth Amendment, Richard L. Aynes

Akron Law Review

In the now-famous 1830s chronicle of a visit to America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that in America every political issue is ultimately a legal issue in the courts. For Americans who lived through the antislavery and abolitionist era as well as the crisis of the war of 1861-1865, the military victory of the Union forces on the field of battle still left open large political issues. These issues were attempted to be resolved through the political process that produced a legal solution: a constitutional amendment that we currently identify as the Fourteenth Amendment. The meaning of the Amendment was ultimately …


The Soldier And The Imbecile: How Holmes's Manliness Fated Carrie Buck, John Kang Jul 2015

The Soldier And The Imbecile: How Holmes's Manliness Fated Carrie Buck, John Kang

Akron Law Review

The Supreme Court case of Buck v. Bell, while never overturned, endures in infamy among those who know it. For in that case the Court had tacitly sanctioned what Adolph Hitler made unequivocally evil a few years after the Court’s adjudication: eugenics. However, the case was only partly about that. Indeed, I will argue in this essay that the Court’s opinion, written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, turned perhaps more significantly on the trope of manliness as an organizing theme. In a sense Holmes was filtering the facts of Buck through his own ordeals and triumphs with manliness, particularly as …


Rebuilding The Slaughter-House: The Cases' Support For Civil Rights, David S. Bogen Jul 2015

Rebuilding The Slaughter-House: The Cases' Support For Civil Rights, David S. Bogen

Akron Law Review

This Article sets forth the Slaughter-House Cases’ support for civil rights. Justice Miller used federalism in order to protect Reconstruction legislatures where significant numbers of African-Americans participated fully for the first time. His recital of the history and purpose of the Civil War Amendments centered on the Amendments’ design to protect African-Americans, and suggested sweeping federal power to accomplish that end. Gutting the Privileges and Immunities Clause compelled the Court to read the Equal Protection Clause broadly, and was indirectly responsible for the reapportionment decisions of the Warren Court. The Slaughter-House Court’s structural analysis and its view of federal protective …