Digital Commons Network^™

Does America Care About Mental Health Care?, Zainab Mehkeri

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Public Interest Law Reporter

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Are The Sexual Assault Policies On Illinois College Campuses Procedurally Structured To Support The Reproductive Rights Of Female Victims?, Erika Weaver

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

"Fuck Your Breath": Black Men And Youth, State Violence, And Human Rights In The 21st Century, Jeremy I. Levitt

Journal Publications

This polemical essay was written at the behest of Black men and youth, and it is dedicated to African American women who relentlessly fight to safeguard the rights and well-being of Black men, even when in the process their maltreatment and welfare are grossly overlooked and forgotten. Bree Newsome's courageous and necessary removal of the confederate flag in the South Carolina State House is a prime example of such fearless activism. Joanne Deborah Chesimard aka Assata Shakur's-a former leader of the revolutionary organization known as the Black Liberation Armyascendency to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist list is another tragically intoxicating …

Administering Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act After Shelby County, Christopher S. Elmendorf, Douglas M. Spencer

Publications

Until the Supreme Court put an end to it in Shelby County v. Holder, section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was widely regarded as an effective, low-cost tool for blocking potentially discriminatory changes to election laws and administrative practices. The provision the Supreme Court left standing, section 2, is generally seen as expensive, cumbersome, and almost wholly ineffective at blocking changes before they take effect. This Article argues that the courts, in partnership with the Department of Justice, could reform section 2 so that it fills much of the gap left by the Supreme Court's evisceration of section …

Professional Women Silenced By Men-Made Norms, Maritza I. Reyes

Journal Publications

The call of this symposium was for articles regarding women's rights and the movement toward equality. We are still wrestling with what equality should mean. In this Article, when I refer to equality I envision it as both a strategy and as the end goal. Equality as a strategy means assessing the inherent inequalities of particular situations and using the means necessary to remedy the inequalities and achieve equality as the end goal. The end goal is for women (with all our complexities and intersectionalities) to achieve the same rights and results as men (with all their complexities and intersectionalities) …

An Awakening: How The Civil Rights Movement Helped Shape My Life, Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr.

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Remembering The Freedom Riders: An Interview With The Honorable Ernst H. Rosenberger, Ernst H. Rosenberger

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Barriers To Entry And Justice Ginsburg’S Criminal Procedure Jurisprudence, Lisa Kern Griffin

Faculty Scholarship

In her twenty plus years on the United States Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has issued momentous decisions and significant dissents concerning constitutional guarantees of equality. She is best known for her leadership – as an advocate, scholar, judge, and justice – on issues of gender discrimination. Although one might expect related commitments to civil liberties to shape cases concerning the criminal justice process, Justice Ginsburg’s mark on constitutional criminal procedure appears comparatively faint. Her contributions have been subtle, and her cautious opinions at first seem disconnected from the clear principles established in the discrimination cases.

Race, Dignity, And The Right To Marry, Robin A. Lenhardt

Fordham Law Review

Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges asserts legal marriage’s capacity to afford same-sex couples a measure of “equal dignity” and belonging too long denied. In this Essay, I ask whether there is any reason to believe that marriage could do the same for African Americans. Could broader entrance into marriage, as some conservatives suggest, provide Blacks—gay and straight—a measure of belonging that has been frustratingly elusive, even as the nation prepares to celebrate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Thirteenth Amendment’s ratification?

Has The “Machinery Of Death” Become A Clunker?, Stephen F. Smith

Journal Articles

From the Essay

This symposium essay sounds a cautionary note while ultimately remaining agnostic about what the future holds for the death penalty. There are a variety of reasons to be skeptical about the abolitionists' newfound optimism. The usual reasons for optimism about ending the death penalty-sharp declines in public support for the death penalty and of the ultimate sanction-do not necessarily portend the demise of the death penalty. This essay argues that other factors can account for recent declines in capital punishment and that there are countervailing factors suggesting that the American death penalty is alive and well, despite …

The Right To Counsel In Utah: An Assessment Of Trial-Level Indigent Defense Services, The Sixth Amendment Center, The Defender Initiative

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

The Right to Counsel in Utah

An Analysis Of The Economic Costs Of Seeking The Death Penalty In Washington State, Robert C. Boruchowitz, Peter A. Collins, Matthew J. Hickman, Mark A. Larranaga

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

An Analysis Of The Economic Costs Of Seeking The Death Penalty In Washington State

Poverty, Dignity, And Public Housing, Jaime Alison Lee

All Faculty Scholarship

Antipoverty efforts are persistently subverted by broad societal contempt for poor people. The belief that poor people are morally and behaviorally inferior, and that their personal failings are the cause of their own poverty, is a staple of American opinion polls and political rhetoric. This presumption is so widespread that it even permeates antipoverty programs, which treat poor people with disdain even as they offer aid and assistance.

Income discrimination creates not just social stigma, but legal inequalities. The Supreme Court recognized some forty years ago that welfare law promoted wealth-based Constitutional inequalities, and responded by invoking the doctrines of …

Our Uneasiness With Police Unions: Power And Voice For The Powerful?, Marcia L. Mccormick

All Faculty Scholarship

The police shooting of Michael Brown, and the other recent police shootings of black men and boys, gave rise to many important discussions about race, inequality, power, and policing. But one issue not as widely discussed was the the role and propriety of police unions. This Essay describes the history and uniqueness of public sector unions, such as police unions, and why they are both useful and problematic.

This Essay describes ways police unions might be used to help solve the current problems, such as helping to connect officers with the community. The Federal and State governments have provided recommendations …

"If You Is White, You's Alright....": Stories About Colorism In America, Kimberly Jade Norwood

Scholarship@WashULaw

This Article examines the inefficiencies of Missouri municipal courts that came into sharp focus following the killing of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Norwood details and expands on her lone dissent in the Final Report of the Municipal Division Work Group—a group created by the Missouri Supreme Court to address the alleged abuses of black and poor residents in Missouri. Norwood argues for consolidating failing municipal courts to create larger, more functional, and just courts.

Griggs At Midlife, Deborah A. Widiss

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Griggs v. Duke Power, the Supreme Court case that held that policies that disproportionately harm minority employees can violate federal employment discrimination law even without evidence of “intentional” discrimination, recently turned forty. Griggs is generally celebrated as a landmark decision, but disparate impact’s current relevance (and its constitutionality) is hotly debated. Robert Belton’s The Crusade for Equality in the Workplace offers a rich and detailed history of the strategic choices that led to the plaintiffs’ victory in Griggs. This Review uses Belton’s history as a jumping off point to consider the contemporary importance of disparate impact in efforts to challenge …

There Are No Racists Here: The Rise Of Racial Extremism, When No One Is Racist, Jeannine Bell

Articles by Maurer Faculty

At first glance hate murders appear wholly anachronistic in post-racial America. This Article suggests otherwise. The Article begins by analyzing the periodic expansions of the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the protection for racist expression in First Amendment doctrine. The Article then contextualizes the case law by providing evidence of how the First Amendment works on the ground in two separate areas — the enforcement of hate crime law and on university campuses that enact speech codes. In these areas, those using racist expression receive full protection for their beliefs. Part III describes social spaces — social media and employment where …

Gay Liberation In The Illiberal State, Stewart Chang

Scholarly Works

A comparative analysis of incrementalist approaches to gay rights as they are deployed in the United States and Singapore demonstrates that seeking gay rights in a full democracy is actually no better than seeking them in an authoritarian regime. Incrementalism ultimately promotes sexual nornativity by dividing the gay community into "good gays," who deserve equal protections, and "bad queers," who are further marginalized. Incrementalism in the United States began with decriminalization of sodomy and terminated with the recognition of gay imarriage but did so by imagining gay sexuality within the context of committed relationships. The gay rights movement in Singapore …

Always Already Suspect: Revising Vulnerability Theory, Frank Rudy Cooper

Scholarly Works

Martha Fineman proposes a post-identity "vulnerability" approach that focuses on burdens we all share; this article argues that theory needs to incorporate recognition of how invisible privileges exacerbate some people's burdens. Vulnerability theory is based on a recognition that we are all born defenseless, become feeble, must fear natural disasters, and might be failed by social institutions. It thus argues for a strong state that takes affirmative steps to insure substantive equality of opportunity. While vulnerability theory might help explain and remedy situations like Hurricane Katrina, it also might be susceptible to an argument that racial profiling is a necessary …

Are Prosecutors The Constitution's Gatekeepers?, Rebecca Roiphe

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

One Significant Step: How Reforms To Prison Districts Begin To Address Political Inequality, Erika L. Wood

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Legal Discourse And Racial Justice: The Urge To Cry ‘Bias!, Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

One who is convinced that a judge wrongly decided a case may sometimes be tempted to accuse the judge of bias, referring to unconscious social-group stereotypes and/or cognitive biases that fall under the rubric of “implicit biases.” The rhetoric is problematic, however, for various reasons. One is that the term “bias” in this context may be misunderstood to mean something different and unintended – either a disqualifying bias under judicial conduct rules or a conscious prejudice. Another is that, even if the intended meaning is clear, a judge’s implicit biases cannot fairly be inferred from a single wrong decision. To …

Vulnerable, Not Voiceless: Outsider Narrative In Advocacy Against Discriminatory Policing, Nicole Smith Futrell

Faculty Scholarship

Despite significant declines in the reported use of stop and frisk and the hope for post-litigation policing reform, it is evident that there are a number of ways in which aggressive, discriminatory policing remains a concern in New York City and in other cities around the nation. This Article suggests that legal advocates must understand and promote the role of narrative in their efforts to address the criminalization of vulnerable communities. Specifically, the transformative nature of outsider narratives from the anti-¬stop and frisk context provides valuable insights for mobilization lawyering against racialized policing.

Marriage As Black Citizenship?, Robin A. Lenhardt

Faculty Scholarship

The narrative of black marriage as citizenship enhancing has been pervasive in American history. As we mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Moynihan Report and prepare to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Thirteenth Amendment, this Article argues that this narrative is one that we should resist. The complete story of marriage is one that involves racial subordination and caste. Even as the Supreme Court stands to extend marriage rights to LGBT couples, the Article maintains that we should embrace nonmarriage as a legitimate frame for black loving relationships — gay or straight. Nonmarriage might do just as much, if not …

Do Cameras Make A Difference? The Death Of Eric Garner And Another “No Indictment”, Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"If body cameras are supposed to help clear up the record, why was there no indictment in a case that seems so clearly abusive, and if a grand jury declined to indict despite the video evidence, what use is adopting cameras?"

Posting about the grand jury decision in New York City following the death of Eric Garner and how Christians should react to it from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/do-cameras-make-a-difference-the-death-of-eric-garner-and-another-no-indictment/

Workplace Discrimination As A Public Health Issue: The Necessity Of Title Vii Protections For Volunteers, Elizabeth R. Langton

Fordham Law Review

What constitutes an employee is a recurring issue in U.S. employment law, especially with respect to volunteers.  Under Title VII, an employee is defined as “an individual employed by an employer.”  The U.S. Supreme Court has found that this definition is circular and explains nothing.  Given the vague statutory definition of “employee,” circuit courts are split over the correct test to determine employee status for the purposes of Title VII.

Workplace discrimination is especially toxic because the majority of the adult population spends its waking hours at work.  Thus far, courts have been focused on the individual nature of workplace …

Vawa @ 20: Gender Violence And Civil Rights, Julie Goldscheid

City University of New York Law Review

No abstract provided.

Amici Curiae Brief On Behalf Of The Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality And The American Academy Of Child And Adolescent Psychiatry In Support Of Petitioner Filed With Consent Of Parties, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Attorneys For Amicus Curiae

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

In re Collier; State of Missouri ex rel Griffin; In re McElroy; State of Missouri ex rel Lockhart

Racial Disparity In Federal Criminal Sentences, M. Marit Rehavi, Sonja B. Starr

Articles

Using rich data linking federal cases from arrest through to sentencing, we find that initial case and defendant characteristics, including arrest offense and criminal history, can explain most of the large raw racial disparity in federal sentences, but significant gaps remain. Across the distribution, blacks receive sentences that are almost 10 percent longer than those of comparable whites arrested for the same crimes. Most of this disparity can be explained by prosecutors’ initial charging decisions, particularly the filing of charges carrying mandatory minimum sentences. Ceteris paribus, the odds of black arrestees facing such a charge are 1.75 times higher than …