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Sexuality and the Law

Selected Works

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Full-Text Articles in Human Rights Law

The Future Of Polyamorous Marriage: Lessons From The Marriage Equality Struggle, Hadar Aviram, Gwendolyn Manriquez Leachman Aug 2014

The Future Of Polyamorous Marriage: Lessons From The Marriage Equality Struggle, Hadar Aviram, Gwendolyn Manriquez Leachman

Hadar Aviram

Amidst the recent legal victories and growing public support for same-sex marriage, numerous polyamorous individuals have expressed interest in pursuing legal recognition for marriages between more than two consenting adults. This Article explores the possibilities that exist for such a polyamorous marriage equality campaign, in light of the theoretical literature on law and social movements, as well as our own original and secondary research on polyamorous and LGBT communities. Among other issues, we examine the prospect of prioritizing the marriage struggle over other forms of nonmarital relationship recognition; pragmatic regulative challenges, like taxation, healthcare, and immigration; and how law and …

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Penny Wise But Pound Foolish In The Heartland: A Case Study Of Decriminalizing Domestic Violence In Topeka, Kansas, Shelley Santry Feb 2012

Penny Wise But Pound Foolish In The Heartland: A Case Study Of Decriminalizing Domestic Violence In Topeka, Kansas, Shelley Santry

Shelley M. Santry

ABSTRACT Domestic violence has been present in every society that has ever existed. Oftentimes, violence against women has been not only part of a culture but also codified into its laws. As societies and nations have progressed, so too has the outcry for a structured governmental response to the problem of domestic violence. Laws have been passed by cities, states, and nations; treaties have been entered into among nations, but still the problem of domestic violence persists. In October of 2011, the city council of Topeka, KS, voted to decriminalize misdemeanor domestic violence cases. It did so in a dispute …

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Understanding The Prop 8 Litigation: The Scope Of Direct Democracy And Role Of Judicial Scrutiny, Ronald Steiner Dec 2008

Understanding The Prop 8 Litigation: The Scope Of Direct Democracy And Role Of Judicial Scrutiny, Ronald Steiner

Ronald L. Steiner

Once the California Supreme Court decision is handed down, the precise contours of the battle over Proposition 8 and marriage equality will change, but nothing on the political horizon will make moot many of the fundamental issues direct democracy raises for California and the nation. A special and enduring element of the Prop 8 controversy is the role of judicial review in the scrutiny of the results of ballot propositions. A slice of conventional wisdom seems to suggest that the results of plebiscites should be nearly immune from judicial review. On the other hand, many political and legal scholars are …

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A Commentary On The Old Saw That Same-Sex Marriage Threatens Civilization, Ronald L. Steiner Dec 2008

A Commentary On The Old Saw That Same-Sex Marriage Threatens Civilization, Ronald L. Steiner

Ronald L. Steiner

Discussions of same-sex marriage frequently entertain the notion that civilization is somehow at stake were a society to award legal sanction to it, and to gay rights more generally. Typically, those who express concern for negative civilizational consequences have in mind Western civilization, and more specifically Christian civilization. This civilizational concern will often be amplified by the implication that opposite-sex, or opposite-sex monogamous marriage is a timeless human universal. Any other marital regime is presumed to be an aberration, most likely the result of grave moral depravity of a sort supposedly facilitated by the modern rights-based society. This chapter subjects …

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