Law Commons^™

Immoral Waiver: Judicial Review Of Intra-Military Sexual Assault Claims, Francine Banner

Francine Banner

This essay critiques the application of the Feres doctrine and the policy of judicial deference to military affairs in the context of recent class actions against government and military officials for constitutional violations stemming from sexual assaults in the U.S. military. The Pentagon estimates that 19,000 military sexual assaults occur each year. Yet, in 2011, fewer than two hundred persons were convicted of crimes of sexual violence. In the face of such pervasive and longstanding constitutional violations, this essay argues that the balance of harms weighs heavily in favor of judicial intervention. The piece discusses why, from both legal and …

Pregnant Pause: The Interplay Of Gendered Expectations And Pregnancy In Legal Education, Ilya Iussa

Ilya Iussa

PREGNANT PAUSE: THE INTERPLAY OF GENDERED EXPECTATIONS AND PREGNANCY IN LEGAL EDUCATION

Abstract

Is the law student biased against pregnant women? No systematic empirical study exists that can confirm whether law or university students in fact evidence bias towards visibly pregnant professors. This article, thus, reviews scholarship in the social sciences that identifies the occurrence, pervasiveness, cause and effects of student bias towards professors that do not exemplify the “normal professor body.”

This article reflects upon my interactions with law students as their professor during the course of my recent pregnancy and posits that certain perceptions held by my students …

Retaliatory Disclosure: When Identifying The Complainant Is An Adverse Action, Jamie Darin Prenkert, Julie Manning Magid, Allison Fetter-Harrott

Jamie D Prenkert

Sometimes the possibility of being publicly identified as a complainant will be enough to discourage a person from complaining. That is especially true when being identified as a complainant exposes her to a greater likelihood of reprisal. This paper addresses the circumstances when such publicity can be deemed materially adverse, such that it ought to be sufficient to support a claim of retaliation. We focus on the particular context of claims of employment discrimination, especially pursuant to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. When an employee or applicant for employment files a charge of discrimination with the Equal …

Revisiting The Meaning Of Marriage: Immigration For Same-Sex Spouses In A Post-Windsor World, Scott Titshaw

Scott Titshaw

When the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of DOMA in United States v. Windsor, it eliminated a categorical barrier to immigration for thousands of LGBT families. Yet Windsor was not an immigration case, and the Court’s opinion did not address at least three resulting immigration questions: What if a same-sex couple legally marries in one jurisdiction but resides in a state that does not recognize the marriage? What if the couple is in a legally-recognized “civil union” or “registered partnership”? Will children born to spouses or registered partners in same-sex couples be recognized as “born in wedlock” for immigration …

Freedom Of Association For College Fraternities After Christian Legal Society And Citizens United, Mark D. Bauer

Mark D Bauer

The First Amendment and its associational rights and freedoms are not tested by popular groups or causes. Only controversy can help establish the limits of constitutional rights. Fraternities and sororities (“fraternities”) have certainly been controversial during their 236 years of existence.

Colleges often regulate fraternities more strictly than any other organization. Fraternity members may be barred from wearing their letters or mentioning their affinity during certain times of the year. Recruitment of new members is generally permitted only at certain times and in certain ways. Fraternity members may be required to engage in philanthropy or maintain a specific grade point …

Bullying Across The Lifecourse: Redefining Boundaries, Responsibility, And Harm, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

Over the last fifteen years, our understanding of bullying has experienced a radical redefinition. In our schools, universities, workplaces, and assisted living facilities, behavior that we once dismissed as “horseplay” or “teasing” has increasingly been labeled as unacceptable and, in some instances, criminal. We seem to have reached one of those societal tipping points where certain behaviors we once took for granted are no longer acceptable. Not that long ago, sexual harassment was simply the cost of being female in the workplace, but the 1980s saw a period of redefinition when sexual harassment was reinterpreted and understood to be a …

Against Juvenile Sex Offender Registration, Catherine L. Carpenter

Catherine L Carpenter

Against Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Catherine L. Carpenter* Abstract Imagine if you were held accountable the rest of your life for something you did as a child? This is the Child Scarlet Letter in force: kids who commit criminal sexual acts and who pay the price with the burdens and stigma of sex offender registration. And in a game of “how low can you go?,” states have forced children as young as nine and ten years old onto sex offender registries, some with registration requirements that extend the rest of their lives. It is both unremarkable and true that children …

The Xenophobic Fourth Amendment: How Racism Has Influenced The Discriminatory Application Of The Fourth Amendment To Non-Citizens, Steven T. Sacco Mr.

Steven T. Sacco Mr.

This article illustrates how racism continues to color judge-made immigration law in the United States, but specifically with respect to federal jurisprudential analysis and application of the right to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment as it is applied to non-citizens residing in the United States. The result is a different set of rules and reduced freedoms under the Fourth Amendment for non-citizens as compared to citizens – a xenophobic Fourth Amendment.

Back To The Future Of Abortion Regulation In The First Term, Tracy A. Thomas

Tracy A. Thomas

Abortion and women's reproductive rights have reemerged as front-page news. As popular culture grapples with election rhetoric, states continue to engage in aggressive anti-abortion regulation of first-term abortions. In the first half of 2011, more abortion bills have passed to restrict abortion than ever before. The 162 new abortion bills passed by 19 states in the first six months of the year dwarf the average number of abortion bills for the last three decades of 15 per year. Even more, these bills propose significantly more stringent limits on abortion than in the past, including mandatory ultrasound viewings, intensive counseling, and …

Unmasking A Pretext For Res Ipsa Loquitur: A Proposal To Let Employment Discrimination Speak For Itself, William R. Corbett

Journal Articles

Has too much tort law been incorporated into the case law under the federal employment discrimination statutes? The debate on this issue has been reinvigorated by the Supreme Court’s decision in Staub v. Proctor Hospital, 131 S. Ct. 1186 (2011). In Staub the Court referred to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, a federal employment discrimination statute, as a “federal tort.” The Court then adopted the tort doctrine of proximate cause as the standard for evaluating subordinate bias (or “cat’s paw”) liability. Staub was not the first case in which the Court has suggested that a federal employment …

Trial Jurors And Variables Influencing Why They Return The Verdicts They Do - A Guide For Practicing And Future Trial Attorneys, Mitchell J. Frank, Osvaldo F. Morera

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Geography Of Racial Stereotyping: Evidence And Implications For Vra Preclearance After Shelby County, Christopher Elmendorf, Douglas Spencer

Christopher S. Elmendorf

The Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) effectively enjoined the preclearance regime of the Voting Rights Act. The Court deemed the coverage formula, which determines the jurisdictions subject to preclearance, insufficiently grounded in current conditions. This paper proposes a new, legally defensible approach to coverage based on between-state differences in the proportion of voting age citizens who subscribe to negative stereotypes about racial minorities and vote accordingly. The new coverage formula could also account for racially polarized voting and minority population size, but, for constitutional reasons, subjective discrimination by voters is the essential criterion. We demonstrate that the …

Section 2 As An “Adequate Substitute” For Section 5: Proposing An “Effects-Only” Test As An Amendment To Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act Of 1965, Bernice M. Bird

Bernice M. Bird

As the U.S. Supreme Court shall finally determine whether Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is unconstitutional next year in Shelby County, Ala. v. Holder, most suppressed minority voters may be left with only Section 2 as a remedy for voting discrimination challenges. However, the federal courts have consistently interpreted Section 2's "results" or "intent" test contrary to the legislative intent of Section 2 in increasing the burden for plaintiffs to demonstrate discriminatory intent of racial bias in enacting election laws. Thus, Section 2 currently serves as an inadequate substitute for redressing voting discrimination should the Supreme …

Prison Visitation Policies: A Fifty State Survey, Chesa Boudin

Chesa Boudin

This paper presents a summary of the findings from the first fifty-state survey of prison visitation policies. Our research explores the contours of how prison administrators exercise their discretion to prescribe when and how prisoners may have contact with friends and family. Visitation policies impact recidivism, inmates’ and their families’ quality of life, public safety, and prison security, transparency and accountability. Yet many policies are inaccessible to visitors and researchers. Given the wide-ranging effects of visitation, it is important to understand the landscape of visitation policies and then, where possible, identify best practices and uncover policies that may be counterproductive …

The Reactionary Road To Free Love: How Doma, State Marriage Amendments And Social Conservatives Undermine Traditional Marriage, Scott Titshaw

Scott Titshaw

Much has been written about the possible effects on different-sex marriage of legally recognizing same-sex marriage. This article looks at the defense of marriage from a different angle: It shows how rejecting same-sex marriage results in political compromise and the proliferation of “marriage light” alternatives (e.g., civil unions, domestic partnerships, or reciprocal beneficiaries) that undermine the unique status of marriage for everyone. In the process, it examines several aspects of the marriage debate in detail. After describing the flexibility of marriage as it has evolved over time, the article focuses on recent state constitutional amendments attempting to stop further development. …

Planting People, Growing Justice: The Three Pillars Of New Social Justice Lawyering, Artika Renee Tyner

Artika Renee Tyner

This article explores the tools that lawyers can employ to build and sustain social change. These tools add a new dimension to scholarly research in the field by focusing on the role of lawyers as leaders as they seek to influence processes of social change, transform systems, and empower others to lead. This Article draws upon principles of social justice lawyering, which acknowledge that lawyers have a fiduciary duty to create equal justice under the law. It combines these frameworks with leadership theoretical perspectives since there is a dearth of research available on the role of lawyers as leaders in …

Unconstitutional Animus, Susannah W. Pollvogt

Susannah W Pollvogt

It is well established that animus can never constitute a legitimate state interest for purposes of equal protection analysis. But neither precedent nor scholarship has stated conclusively what exactly animus is, or what counts as evidence of animus in any given case. The United States Supreme Court has explicitly addressed the question of animus only a handful of times, and these cases do not appear to be particularly congruent with one another, at least on the surface. Further, while scholars have discussed animus in terms of moral philosophy, no one has attempted to articulate a unified theory of animus as …

A Dissolution Of American Values: The Material Support Law, Unchecked Executive Power, And Their Effect On American Muslim Charitable Donations, Omar Abdelghany

Omar Abdelghany

The main topic of this comment will be the chilling effect that the material support provisions and unchecked executive power has had on American Muslim charitable giving. The comment will be divided into four parts. The first part will discuss the relevant statutes and executive orders that prosecutors and the executive branch use to unjustly shut down American Muslim charities. This part will also discuss the cases involving American Muslim charitable organizations and donors. These cases are divided into five categories: cases where the U.S. government filed terrorism-related charges against American Muslim charities, cases where the government filed non-terrorism related …

A Paradox In Employment: The Contradiction That Exists Between Immigration Laws And Outsourcing Practices, And Its Impact On The Legal And Illegal Minority Working Classes, Mary O'Sullivan

Mary T O'Sullivan

The drastic distinctions between the United States’ immigration and outsourcing policies have created a system where American companies are able to send unlimited jobs overseas, yet, have very restricted ability to bring workers to domestic offices and factories. Restrictive immigration policies seek to protect American jobs, while liberal outsourcing regulations permit, and encourage, employers to send jobs outside of the United States. As a result, the United States’ outsourcing policy sabotages the purpose of American immigration laws. The uncertainty of the contradiction between immigration and outsourcing policy may be the cause of unusually high unemployment numbers, particularly in the minority …

From Desegregation To Overrepresentation: The Unlawful And Damaging Effects Of Nationally Normed Assessments And Missidentification Of Black Students As Disabled, Ashley Heard

Ashley Heard

Segregation in schools today creates a two-tier system wherein minority students often receive a substandard education. Moreover, they are often tested for cognitive deficits and identified for special education services using a nationally normed assessment. The practice of assessing students from substandard schools on a nationally-normed assessment leads to the misidentification and overrepresentation of minority students identified as disabled and provided special education services.

In this article, I argue that rather than utilizing a nationally normed assessment for the purposes of special education identification, school districts should create a normed scale based on district-specific assessment data. Norming at the district …

Of Civil Wrongs And Rights: Kiyemba V. Obama And The Meaning Of Freedom, Separation Of Powers, And The Rule Of Law Ten Years After 9/11, Katherine L. Vaughns, Heather L. Williams

Katherine L. Vaughns

This article is about the rise and fall of continued adherence to the rule of law, proper application of the separation of powers doctrine, and the meaning of freedom for a group of seventeen Uighurs—a Turkic Muslim ethnic minority whose members reside in the Xinjiang province of China—who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base since 2002. Most scholars regard the trilogy of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, and Boumediene v. Bush as demonstrating the Supreme Court’s willingness to uphold the rule of law during the war on terror. The recent experience of the Uighurs suggest that …

Border Fixation: The Appearance Of Security And Control In Immigration Reform, Katherine L. Vaughns

Katherine L. Vaughns

Immigration reform is the subject of intense discussion among politicians, policy experts, analysts, and advocacy groups alike; America’s never-ending debate which today has been infected with shameless demagoguery, rendering sound policy choices virtually impossible. And in this political cauldron, the appearance of border security and control through symbolism and political rhetoric substitute for the practical realities that are essential to inform policymakers about the appropriate administration and enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. For Congress has had an ongoing, unsound focus on sealing the border it shares with Mexico, its southwestern neighbor, seemingly without regard to costs especially in the post-9/11 …

Playing The Race Card: White Americans’ Sense Of Victimization In Response To Affirmative Action, Brett Hammon

Brett Hammon

“They marched on Washington to reclaim civil rights. They complained of voter intimidation at the polls. They called for ethnic studies programs to promote racial pride. They are, some say, the new face of racial oppression in this nation -- and their faces are White.”a A 2011 poll indicates that Whites have now come to view anti-White bias as a bigger problem than anti-Black bias.b Based on recent Supreme Court opinions, most of the Justices apparently agree that Whites are today’s true victims, as the Court has continued to steadfastly stand up for the rights of White plaintiffs against discrimination …

Boardroom Diversity: Why It Matters, Lawrence J. Trautman

Lawrence J. Trautman Sr.

What exactly is board diversity and why does it matter? How does diversity fit in an attempt to build the best board for an organization? What attributes and skills are required by law and what mix of experiences and talents provide the best corporate governance? Even though most companies say they are looking for diversity, why has there been such little progress? Are required director attributes, which are a must for all boards, consistent with future diversity gains and aligned with achieving high performance and optimal board composition? How might women and people of color best cultivate the skills necessary …

The Emergence Of Private Property Law In China And Its Impact On Human Rights, Mark D. Kielsgard, Lei Chen

Mark D. Kielsgard

ABSTRACT This article investigates the development of private property law in the PRC and its connection to the growth of human rights trends in China. It assesses the vitality of these trends, reviews the relevant historic legal and social background and demonstrates how the introduction of private property in China has fundamentally altered the fabric of its civil society. Drawing upon case studies and statutory analysis, and evaluating them from the perspective of both Chinese and Western scholarship, it analyzes trends driving greater democratic structures by reviewing the self-governance of condominium owners associations and the human rights practices they have …

Greater And Lesser Powers, Samuel Levin

Samuel Levin

During much of the twentieth century it was relatively stylish for lawyers, judges and justices to argue that an exercise of power was permissible because "the greater power [to do something else] necessarily includes the lesser power [to do this]." Unfortunately, sloppy and unprincipled uses that merely reflected the intuitions of those who invoked it has largely discredited the argument, although it still makes some relevant appearances.

This paper argues that there is a principled way to apply the argument: by looking to the relative harms caused by each exercise of power. However, any notion of "necessarily includes" needs to …

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil; Stemming The Tide Of No Promo Homo Laws In American Schools, Madelyn Rodriguez

Madelyn Rodriguez

In several states, and many more local governments, teachers are being mandated to teach their students that homosexuality is inherently abhorrent and should be shunned. These so called “No Promo Homo” policies vary in scope; from those barring any positive discussion of homosexuality to those which insinuate the association of homosexuality with various social ills. As a result of these policies, teachers are being used as a conduit for misinformation and, more disturbingly, for discrimination and bias. Because teachers naturally have an immense impact on their students, the concepts and values advocated or discouraged by them will have an immeasurable …

Race And The Death Penalty: An Empirical Assessment Of First Degree Murder Convictions In Tennessee After Gregg V. Georgia, John M. Scheb Ii, Hemant K. Sharma, David J. Houston, Kristin Wagers

John M Scheb II

We analyze over 1,000 first-degree murder convictions in the state of Tennessee from 1977 through 2007 to determine if either “race-of-defendant” or “race-of-victim” effects are present when it comes to the application of capital punishment. We control for numerous factors related to the demographics of offender and victim, as well as the circumstances of the crime itself and the availability of evidence. Our primary findings note that prosecutors are more likely to seek a death sentence when a victim is white, but we also find that juries are not affected by the race of the victim. We also find no …

The Haunting Of Abigail Fisher: Race, Affirmative Action, And The Ghosts Of Legal History, Hilary A. Leewong

Hilary A Leewong

What is race in 2012, and why does it matter?

At the end of the current term, the Supreme Court will decide Fisher v. University of Texas. In doing so, the Court revisits the role of affirmative action and the meaning of race much sooner than constitutional law scholars, and likely the average college applicant, expected it would.

The Court’s last definitive take on the subject was conveyed by Justice O’Connor in 2003’s Grutter v. Bollinger. Justice O’Connor’s opinion conveyed disappointment that race-based admissions in higher education was still necessary this long after Brown v. Board of Education, heralded the …

Road Rules And Rights: The Irreconcilable Pursuits Of Adolescent Life, Liberty, . . . And Licensure, Vivian E. Hamilton

Vivian E. Hamilton