Supreme Court of the United States Commons^™

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 …

Meritor Savings Bank V. Vinson: The Supreme Court's Recognition Of The Hostile Environment In Sexual Harassment Claims, Victoria T. Bartels

Akron Law Review

This casenote will examine Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson in light of the brief legal history of Title VII sexual harassment claims and will consider the implications of both the Court's holding and its dicta regarding the undecided issues.

Mugwump, Mediator, Machiavellian, Or Majority? The Role Of Justice O'Connor In The Affirmative Action Cases, Thomas R. Haggard

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this article is to provide a critical analysis of Justice O'Connor's affirmative action opinions. It will show that while her early record provides justification for all three characterizations, her more recent decisions suggest the emergency of a more favorable image. Her opinions in Croson and Media Broadcasting reflect the realization that a narrow, hair-splitting approach to this critical social and constitutional crisis will do little to hasten its resolution; that there is apparently no form of affirmative action that the liberal wing of the Court is unwilling to endorse, making her consensus by compromise approach a futile …

Edmonson V. Leesville Concrete Company: Pre-Empting Prejudice, Andrea K. Huston

Akron Law Review

In Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co., the United States Supreme Court decided the issue of whether parties in a civil case may use their peremptory challenges to exclude black venirepersons from the jury.

This Note will discuss the various limitations that courts have placed on the use of peremptory challenges, and the position of the Supreme Court. This Note will also discuss the Court's expansion of the state action doctrine, and the impact Edmonson will have on future cases.

The Supreme Court's Impact On Litigation, Stephen L. Wasby

Akron Law Review

The focus of this article is on that segment of the litigation cycle in which lawyers' attention to the Court's rulings affects the cases they bring and how they bring them. To indicate the Court's importance for litigating organizations' existence and functioning, we first explore a set of cases involving the NAACP. These cases, involving the organization's survival, show how the need for organizational maintenance affects an organization's ability to litigate as it would like to do. Drawing on the law of procedure, we next examine cases affecting organizations' ability to bring cases. Then we turn to see how Supreme …

A Historical Review Of Affirmative Action And The Interpretation Of Its Legislative Intent By The Supreme Court, Carl E. Brody Jr.

Akron Law Review

In Part I, I will discuss the history of pre-affirmative action programs. This involves an analysis of the original intent of the Fourteenth Amendment, its related remedial legislation, as well as several of the New Deal Acts prohibiting employment discrimination. Part II will analyze the advent of affirmative action, from its inception with the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts, and trace its development through Executive Orders 12250 and 12259, which constitute the last major expansion in affirmative action doctrine. Part III will examine the period between 1978 and 1991, where the Supreme Court's attempts to find a consistent interpretation …

The First Justice Harlan By The Numbers: Just How Great Was "The Great Dissenter?", Gabriel J. Chin

Akron Law Review

Considering these kinds of evidence together may offer an informed picture of a judge’s disposition. By these measures, Harlan cannot be regarded as a defender of Asian civil rights. Based on his voting record, he was the most ardent defender of African American civil rights. By contrast, his record in Asian cases was one of the worst. His votes in favor of African American civil rights were in critical cases. In most of the critical cases with respect to Asian litigants, he voted against them.

West V. Gibson: Federal Employees Win The Battle, But Ultimately Lose The War For Compensatory Damages Under Title Vii, Christina M. Royer

Akron Law Review

This Note analyzes the Supreme Court's decision in West v. Gibson against the backdrop of the new damages provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the EEOC system for federal employees. Section II provides a brief legislative history of the 1991 CRA, outlines the EEOC complaint procedure specifically tailored to federal sector employees, and describes the cases leading up to West v. Gibson. Section III describes the Supreme Court's reasoning in Gibson, and Section IV analyzes the decision, concluding that, given the realities of congressional compromise and systemic constraints, the Supreme Court's decision actually does little to benefit …