Law and Gender Commons^™

How To Define Who Qualifies As An Employee Within The Meaning Of Title Vii?, Steven Kaminshine

Steven J. Kaminshine

No abstract provided.

The Respectable Dignity Of Obergefell V. Hodges, Yuvraj Joshi

Yuvraj Joshi

In declaring state laws that restrict same-sex marriage unconstitutional, Justice Kennedy invoked “dignity” nine times—to no one’s surprise. References in Obergefell to “dignity” are in important respects the culmination of Justice Kennedy’s elevation of the concept, dating back to the Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In Casey, “dignity” expressed respect for a woman’s freedom to make choices about her pregnancy. Casey laid the foundation for Lawrence v. Texas, which similarly respected the freedom of choice of homosexual persons. Yet, starting in United States v. Windsor and continuing in Obergefell, the narrative began to change. Dignity veered …

Sex In And Out Of Intimacy, Laura A. Rosenbury, Jennifer E. Rothman

Laura A. Rosenbury

The state has long attempted to regulate sexual activity by channeling sex into various forms of state-supported intimacy. Although commentators and legal scholars of diverse political perspectives generally believe such regulation is declining, the freedom to engage in diverse sexual activities has not been established as a matter of law. Instead, courts have extended legal protection to consensual sexual acts only to the extent such acts support other state interests, most often marriage and procreation. Although Lawrence v. Texas altered some aspects of that vision, it reinscribed others by suggesting that sexual activity should be protected from state interference only …

Gender Injustice: System-Level Juvenile Justice Reforms For Girls, Francine Sherman, Annie Balck

Francine T. Sherman

Despite decades of attention, the proportion of girls in the juvenile justice system has increased and their challenges have remained remarkably consistent, resulting in deeply rooted systemic gender injustice. The literature is clear that girls in the justice system have experienced abuse, violence, adversity, and deprivation across many of the domains of their lives—family, peers, intimate partners, and community. There is also increasing understanding of the sorts of programs helpful to these girls. What is missing is a focus on how systems—and particularly juvenile justice systems—can be redesigned to protect public safety and support the healing and healthy development of …

Feminism And Legal Method: The Difference It Makes, Mary Jane Mossman

Mary Jane Mossman

Prompted by questions raised in A Feminist Perspective in the Academy: The Difference It Makes, Mossman questions whether or not feminist theory, namely as it concerns equality and the impact of women as key actors, could impact the structure of legal inquiry.

Choosing One's Family: Can The Legal System Address The Breadth Of Women's Choices Of Intimate Relationships, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

In discussing the legal system's response to alternative families seeking an extension of traditional family benefits, this paper is divided into two main sections. The first section summarizes the Madison experience in trying to pass a comprehensive alternative family rights ordinance. It takes an in-depth look at the entire process from the grassroots pressures on the M.E.O.C. which resulted in formation of the task force to the Common Council's enactment of two minor sections of the proposed ordinance. It will analyze the political and legal process used in an effort to obtain significant reform in the definition of family within …

Using An “Incidents Of Marriage” Analysis When Considering Interstate Recognition Of Same-Sex Couples’ Marriages, Civil Unions, And Domestic Partnerships, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

Despite discussions for over ten years, we still do not have any decisions on interstate or international recognition of marriages by same-sex couples. We do have, however, six cases in the United States on the interstate recognition and validation of Vermont civil unions. In these six cases, same-sex couples from six different states who had entered into Vermont civil unions came to their courts seeking resolution of legal issues that arose in their relationships. The rest of this article now turns to these six decisions and considers how each court dealt with the same-sex couple seeking legal assistance with the …

“The Little Project:” From Alternative Families To Domestic Partnerships To Same-Sex Marriage, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

No abstract provided.

Overruling The Jury: Duncan V. Gmc And Appellate Treatment Of Hostile Work Environment Judgments, Dara Purvis

Dara Purvis

In 2002, the Eighth Circuit reversed a one million dollar jury award to the plaintiff in a sexual harassment suit against General Motors Corporation. This reversal demonstrates the danger of appellate review of such verdicts, limiting sexual harassment verdicts to the lowest common denominator in that circuit.

Gender-Based Criteria For Asylum, Gabriel Eckstein, Gregg Epstein

Gabriel Eckstein

No abstract provided.

Welfare Reform In A Global Economy, 11 J. Gender Race & Just. 209 (2008), Steven D. Schwinn

Steven D. Schwinn

No abstract provided.

A Paradigm For Sexual Harassment: Toward The Optimal Level Of Loss, Marie T. Reilly

Marie T. Reilly

This article proposes a paradigm that draws from the common-law rule of negligence. It defines actionable sexual conduct in the workplace in terms of the cost of precautionary conduct and the increased safety such precaution would have yielded. Like the rule of negligence, the proposed paradigm creates incentives for men and women to take steps to prevent sexual conduct loss to the point at which the cost of an additional increment of precaution is equal to the value of the reduction in risk of loss. This point is the optimal level of precaution. After this point, additional precaution might further …

In A Conflict Between Equal Rights For Women And Customary Law, The Botswana Court Of Appeal Chooses Equality, 24 U. Tol. L. Rev. 563 (1993), Michael P. Seng

Michael P. Seng

No abstract provided.

Diversity And The Federal Workforce, Alev Dudek

Alev Dudek

Women Made Whole: How Tort Law Can Change The Lives Of Domestic Violence And Sexual Assault Victims, Sara L. Crewson

Sara L Crewson

Tort law and insurance companies are failing to provide female domestic violence victims with adequate access to civil courts, proper legal mechanisms with which to gain that access, and are far behind the times when compared to other gender-linked crimes like those of rape and sexual assault. The Restatement of Torts (Third) has classified domestic violence as an intentional tort, and most insurance policies will not provide coverage for harms that were committed intentionally. Certain homeowners' insurance policies won't provide coverage if a spouse tries to sue another spouse for harms committed, leaving vulnerable wives unable to seek compensation for …

The Limits Of Feminism, Emily Sherwin

Emily L Sherwin

No abstract provided.

Sentencing Pregnant Drug Addicts: Why The Child Endangerment Enhancement Is Not Appropriate, Monica Carusello

Monica B Carusello

No abstract provided.

Exacerbating The Divide: Why The Roberts Court’S Recent Same-Sex Jurisprudence Is An Improvident Use Of The Court’S Judicial Review Powers, Akram Faizer

Akram Faizer

No abstract provided.

Real Men, Luke A. Boso

Luke A. Boso

Men experience discrimination every day at work and at school because they fail to look or behave like real men. Most courts now hold that men can prove sex discrimination by presenting evidence that the defendant harassed or bullied the plaintiff because he fails to conform to sex stereotypes. But judges in these cases are reluctant to find that defendants intended to discriminate “because of sex,” which is required to state a valid claim under statutory anti-discrimination law. Instead, judges routinely grant defendants’ motions for summary judgment and to dismiss based on little more than their own ideas about what …

Why Rape Should Not (Always) Be A Crime, Katharine K. Baker

Katharine K. Baker