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- Keyword
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- Civil Liberties; Religious Freedom; Religious Freedom Restoration Act; Hobby Lobby (1)
- Implicit Bias; Judicial Ethics; Rhetoric; Racial Justice; Stop-and-Frisk (1)
- Race; racial subordination; discrimination; marriage (1)
- School choice; New York City schools; public schools; elite schools; selective schools; standardized tests; affirmative action; diversity (1)
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Law
Test Unrest: New York City's Examination High Schools, Aaron J. Saiger
Test Unrest: New York City's Examination High Schools, Aaron J. Saiger
Faculty Scholarship
New York City bases admissions to its eight “specialized” high schools entirely upon scores on a single standardized test. This policy, hotly contested when it was codified by state law in 1971, faces renewed political and legal attacks today. Single-test admissions consistently result in alarmingly low levels of African-American and Hispanic enrollment at the most sought-after specialized schools. This brief essay compares today’s debate to that of 1971. It notes two major developments since then. The City now has eight test-only high schools, not three. Moreover, the eight schools now function in the larger context of New York’s system of …
Marriage As Black Citizenship?, Robin A. Lenhardt
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 …
Legal Discourse And Racial Justice: The Urge To Cry ‘Bias!, Bruce A. Green
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 …
Religious Freedom And (Other) Civil Liberties: Is There A Middle Ground?, Abner S. Greene
Religious Freedom And (Other) Civil Liberties: Is There A Middle Ground?, Abner S. Greene
Faculty Scholarship
There appears to be an intractable debate between those who favor religious accommodations and those who favor civil liberties such as abortion rights and equality rights for same-sex couples. Many take firm positions of truth about one matter or the other. Here, I sketch a middle ground, continuing my endorsement of a robust normative or value pluralism. I canvass some arguments for this position, while also describing and critiquing some works of intellectual history that seem too wedded to one teleological posture or another. Despite my support for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, I critique the Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling, …