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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Undignified: The Supreme Court, Racial Justice, And Dignity Claims, Darren L. Hutchinson
Undignified: The Supreme Court, Racial Justice, And Dignity Claims, Darren L. Hutchinson
Faculty Articles
The Supreme Court has interpreted the Equal Protection Clause as a formal equality mandate. In response, legal scholars have advocated alternative conceptions of equality, such as antisubordination theory, that interpret equal protection in more substantive terms. Antisubordination theory would consider the social context in which race-based policies emerge and recognize material distinctions between policies intended to oppress racial minorities and those designed to ameliorate past and current racism. Antisubordination theory would also closely scrutinize facially neutral state action that systemically disadvantages vulnerable social groups. The Court has largely ignored these reform proposals. Modern Supreme Court rulings, however, have invoked the …
Not Without Political Power: Gays And Lesbians, Equal Protection And The Suspect Class Doctrine, Darren L. Hutchinson
Not Without Political Power: Gays And Lesbians, Equal Protection And The Suspect Class Doctrine, Darren L. Hutchinson
Faculty Articles
The Supreme Court purportedly utilizes the suspect class doctrine in order to balance institutional concerns with the protection of important constitutional rights. The Court, however, inconsistently applies this doctrine, and it has not precisely defined its contours. The political powerlessness factor is especially undertheorized and contradictorily applied. Nevertheless, this factor has become salient in recent equal protection cases brought by gay and lesbian plaintiffs.
A growing body of and federal and state-court precedent addresses the flaws of the Court's suspect class doctrine. This Article discusses the inadequacies of the suspect class doctrine and highlights problems within the emerging scholarship and …