Law Commons^™

Education And Democracy From Brown To Plyler, Nicholas Espíritu

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Judicial review has often been cast in terms of democratic legitimacy. Democratic legitimacy is often linked to whether it institutes the will of the people through majoritarian rule and whether it creates processes for reevaluation of these prior decisions by newly constituted majorities. Judicial review of majoritarian decisions has often been criticized as a overriding or circumventing of these democratic processes. Beginning with Brown v. Board of Education, the Warren Court adopted a resolution of the “counter-majoritarian difficulty” of judicial review by tacitly accepting Justice Stone’s formulation from footnote four of United States v. Carolene Products and engaging …

“You Don’T Bring Me Flowers Anymore”: President Clinton, Paula Jones, And Why Courts Should Expand The Definition Of “Adverse Employment Action” Under Title Vii’S Anti-Retaliation Provision, Lawrence Rosenthal

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Anti-discrimination statutes such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) prohibit discrimination based on individuals’ protected characteristics. In addition to prohibiting this type of status-based discrimination, these statutes also prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who assert their rights under the statutes or who assist others in asserting their rights.

Over the past several years, retaliation charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) have made up an increasingly high percentage of all charges filed with the agency. Specifically, …

White Picket Fences & Suburban Gatekeeping: How Long Island’S Land Use Laws Cement Its Status As One Of The Most Segregated Places In America, Jessica Mingrino

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

The average wealth of Black families is one-seventh that of white families in the United States today. Homeownership—the primary avenue through which Americans accumulate personal and generational wealth—is the leading driver of the wealth disparity between white and Black American families, known as the “racial wealth gap.” The systematic and intentional exclusion of Black people from developing communities during the twentieth century largely excluded people of color from the housing boom and denied them the opportunity afforded to white people to multiply their assets. Contrary to widespread belief, however, legislation-backed oppression of Black Americans did not end in the …

Does It Pay To Be A Manager? The Significance Of The Manager Rule In Analyzing Retaliation Claims Under Title Vii, Cristina Giappone

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that the manager rule should be applied to Title VII cases but in a new and very specific and detailed context involving a case-by-case analysis, similar to that of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s reasoning in Rosenfield v. GlobalTranz Enterprises, Inc. This Note is comprised of three parts. Part I provides the history of Title VII generally, and discusses the emergence of the manager rule in the FLSA context. Part II addresses how different federal circuit courts have either recognized or rejected the manager rule as it applies to retaliation …

It Is Political: Using The Models Of Judicial Decision Making To Explain The Ideological History Of Title Vii, Kate Webber

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

In Part I, this Article details the key features of Title VII’s history, explaining the statute, the significant role the Supreme Court has played in its interpretation, and the history of congressional intervention to override Supreme Court decisions on key issues. Part II reviews the existing evidence for and against an ideological interpretation of Title VII’s case law. Part III introduces the political science models of judicial decision making and applies the models to Title VII. Part III also details the models’ evidence of ideological voting by the Supreme Court and matches this evidence with voting patterns in Title …

When The Court Makes Title Vii Law And Policy: Disparate Impact And The Journey From Griggs To Ricci, Ronald Turner

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article focuses on judicial lawmaking and policymaking in an important area of antidiscrimination law—Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s regulatory regime. As enacted in 1964, Title VII only prohibited intentional employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The statute requires a finding that an employer “has intentionally engaged in or is intentionally engaging in an unlawful employment practice charged in the complaint.” “[Such] ‘disparate treatment’ . . . is the most easily understood type of discrimination. The employer simply treats some people less favorably than others . . . …

Title Vii At 50: The Landmark Law Has Significantly Impacted Relationships In The Workplace And Society, But Title Vii Has Not Reached Its True Potential, Cynthia Elaine Tompkins

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article’s historical chronicle provides a valuable backdrop for an examination of Title VII. Part II analyzes Title VII’s impact on race relations in the workplace and society. While progress has been made in the effort to provide equal opportunities for all workplace employees, Title VII legislation has not eliminated employment discrimination. As Title VII marches toward its sixtieth anniversary, this Article’s final section, Part III, reviews unconscious bias and other current challenges preventing Title VII from reaching its true potential.

The Influence Of Justice Thurgood Marshall On The Development Of Title Vii Jurisprudence, Wendy B. Scott, Jada Akers, Amy White

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article highlights Justice Marshall’s influence on the development of Title VII jurisprudence. Part I presents a brief overview of Justice Marshall’s personal and professional life before becoming a Justice to show how his experience influenced the development of his judicial philosophy. Part II summarizes the Court’s approach to some of the issues left unresolved by Congress in the initial passage of Title VII. Specifically, it explores how the Court determined what would constitute a violation of Title VII and standards of pleading and proof. Part III examines the changes in the Court’s jurisprudence before Justice Marshall retired from …

An Evolving Workforce, An Adapting Law: Title Vii's Coverage Of Gender Identity And Criminal History, Sandra Pullman

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

In the half-century since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, workplace protections under the statute have expanded in a variety of ways. Legal theories that were once considered novel have increasingly been accepted in federal courts across the country, extending coverage to more employees than ever before. Yet, an analysis of these developing issues also exposes the limitations of federal antidiscrimination law. Below, this Article examines the ways that Title VII has been applied to two particularly vulnerable groups: transgender individuals and individuals with criminal records.

Past As Prologue In The Affirmative Action Jurisprudence Of The Supreme Court: Reflections On Fisher V. University Of Texas At Austin And Schuette V. Coalition To Defend Affirmative Action, David L. Gregory, Sarah Mannix

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article critically analyzes the dimensions and likely ramifications of Fisher and Schuette. The principle of pragmatic political proportionality eschews the wholly ideological extremist views that would either utterly vitiate affirmative action or deeply embed it as a substantially obsolete elitist residue of endless recalibrating. Instead, this Article subscribes to Lincolnian practical wisdom supplemented with a healthy dose of plain common sense. Enlightened political leadership should seek achievable pragmatic proportionality as the guiding principle controlling access to public institutions of higher education and, consequently, entry into the professions.

Debunking Unequal Burdens, Trivial Violations, Harmless Stereotypes, And Similar Judicial Myths: The Convergence Of Title Vii Literalism, Congressional Intent, And Kantian Dignity Theory, Peter Brandon Bayer

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

The line of argument is not complex. Part I explicates the unequal burden doctrine and its link to the predecessor theory of “mutable characteristics.” Part II offers the aforementioned statutorily formal argument, disproving unequal burden theory through an examination of Title VII’s plain language and structure in light of modern Supreme Court precedents addressing Title VII’s ban against stereotyping. This analysis places special emphasis on 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(m), in which Congress clarified that plaintiffs prevail when discriminatory animus merely is a “motivating factor” rather than the “but-for cause” of the defendants’ conduct.

Although not the lengthiest discussion herein …

At Fifty, Title Vii Needs A Facelift: Two Reforms That Would Ensure Title Vii Works To Prohibit All Racial Discrimination In Employment, Joshua P. Thompson, Ralph W. Kasarda

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

No abstract provided.

Reality's Bite, Kerri Lynn Stone

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

No abstract provided.

Teaching Gender As A Core Value In Business Organizations Class, Cheryl L. Wade

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

I teach a business organizations course that is typically a large class with up to ninety students. At some point in the first week of each semester, I talk about public companies and the men who lead them. I point out to my students that while it is appropriate in most contexts to use gender-neutral language, it would be inaccurate to do so when talking about big business. Only fifteen percent of the board seats at Fortune 500 companies are held by women, and only sixteen percent of Fortune 500 corporate officers are women. I let my students know …