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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Constitutional Law Of Equality In Canada, Kathleen E. Mahoney
The Constitutional Law Of Equality In Canada, Kathleen E. Mahoney
Maine Law Review
On April 17, 1982, Canada repatriated its constitution from the Parliament at Westminster, sweeping away one of the final vestiges of its colonial past. At the same time, a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was constitutionally entrenched, giving the people express constitutional rights for the first time. The equality provisions, in particular, represented a new era in Canadian constitutional law. The intense debate leading up to the entrenchment of the Charter raised profound questions about the basic nature of the country, its values, and its ability and willingness to acknowledge equality for women and other disadvantaged groups. Since the …
Maine's "Act To Protect Traditional Marriage And Prohibit Same-Sex Marriages": Questions Of Constitutionality Under State And Federal Law, Jennifer B. Wriggins
Maine's "Act To Protect Traditional Marriage And Prohibit Same-Sex Marriages": Questions Of Constitutionality Under State And Federal Law, Jennifer B. Wriggins
Maine Law Review
In 1997, Maine's Legislature passed “An Act to Protect Traditional Marriage and Prohibit Same-Sex Marriages” (Act). The summary attached to the bill states that the bill “prohibits persons of the same sex from contracting marriage.” The bill was the verbatim text of an initiative petition. Civil marriage in Maine and other states is regulated by state statute, and marriage regulation is generally considered to be within the state's police power. However, the state's power to regulate marriage is subject to constitutional limitations. I maintain that “heightened scrutiny” should be applied to the Act because the Act creates a gender-based classification, …
Certiorari And The Marriage Equality Cases, Carl Tobias
Certiorari And The Marriage Equality Cases, Carl Tobias
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat
Marriage equality has come to much of the nation. Over 2014, many district court rulings invalidated state proscriptions on same- sex marriage, while four appeals courts upheld these decisions. However, the Sixth Circuit reversed district judgments which struck down bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. Because that appellate opinion created a patchwork of differing legal regimes across the country, this Paper urges the Supreme Court to clarify marriage equality by reviewing that determination this Term.
The New Voter Suppression: Why The Voting Rights Act Still Matters., Michael Ellement
The New Voter Suppression: Why The Voting Rights Act Still Matters., Michael Ellement
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 drastically transformed the ability of African Americans to exercise their right to vote in the South. The most influential policy under the Act was Section Five. This section instituted a new system of review for voting procedure changes in states with a history of racial discrimination. States subject to this section of the Voting Rights Act must get preclearance by submitting any changes to their voting laws to the United States Department of Justice or to the Federal District Court in the District of Columbia. Any law not cleared will not go into effect. …
Ely At The Altar: Political Process Theory Through The Lens Of The Marriage Debate, Jane S. Schacter
Ely At The Altar: Political Process Theory Through The Lens Of The Marriage Debate, Jane S. Schacter
Michigan Law Review
Political process theory, closely associated with the work of John Hart Ely and footnote four in United States v. Carolene Products, has long been a staple of constitutional law and theory. It is best known for the idea that courts may legitimately reject the decisions of a majority when the democratic process that produced the decision was unfair to a disadvantaged social group. This Article analyzes political process theory through the lens of the contemporary debate over same-sex marriage. Its analysis is grounded in state supreme court decisions on the constitutionality of barring same-sex marriage, as well as the high-profile, …
Doma: An Unconstitutional Establishment Of Fundamentalist Christianity, James M. Donovan
Doma: An Unconstitutional Establishment Of Fundamentalist Christianity, James M. Donovan
Michigan Journal of Gender & Law
According to the text of the Act, DOMA's purposes are "to define and protect the institution of marriage," where marriage is defined to exclude same-sex partners. To be constitutionally valid under the Establishment Clause, this notion that heterosexual marriages require "protection" from gay and lesbian persons must spring from a secular and not religious source. This Article posits that DOMA has crossed this forbidden line between the secular and the religious. DOMA, motivated and supported by fundamentalist Christian ideology, and lacking any genuine secular goals or justifications, betrays the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Race, Redistricting And A Republican Poll Tax: The Supreme Court's Voting Rights Decisions Of The 1995-96 Term, Frank Parker
Race, Redistricting And A Republican Poll Tax: The Supreme Court's Voting Rights Decisions Of The 1995-96 Term, Frank Parker
Touro Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Constitutionality Of The 1972 Amendment To Title Vii's Exemption For Religious Organizations, Michigan Law Review
The Constitutionality Of The 1972 Amendment To Title Vii's Exemption For Religious Organizations, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
This note will examine the constitutionality of the title VII exemption for religious associations, focusing on the extent to which the exemption is required by the free exercise clause and the extent to which it must be limited to avoid conflict with the establishment clause. The religion clauses will be considered solely in the context of the private business sector; this note will not consider the possibility that the establishment clause would require a narrower exemption for a quasi-public institution, such as a broadcast licensee or a religious association receiving public funds.