Law Commons^™

Baker V. State And The Promise Of The New Judicial Federalism, Charles Baron, Lawrence Friedman

Charles H. Baron

In Baker v. State, the Supreme Court of Vermont ruled that the state constitution’s Common Benefits Clause prohibits the exclusion of same-sex couples from the benefits and protections of marriage. Baker has been praised by constitutional scholars as a prototypical example of the New Judicial Federalism. The authors agree, asserting that the decision sets a standard for constitutional discourse by dint of the manner in which each of the opinions connects and responds to the others, pulls together arguments from other state and federal constitutional authorities, and provides a clear basis for subsequent development of constitutional principle. This Article explores …

Closet Case: Boy Scouts Of America V. Dale And The Reinforcement Of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, And Transgender Invisibility, Darren Hutchinson

Darren L Hutchinson

This Article argues that the Supreme Court's decision in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale misapplies and ignores controlling First Amendment precedent and incorrectly defines "sexual identity" as a clinical or biological imposition that exists apart from expression or speech. This article provides a doctrinal alternative to Dale that would protect vital interests in both equality and liberty and that would not condition, as does Dale, sexual "equality" upon the silencing of gay lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals.

Buffalo's "Prophet Of Protest": The Political Leadership And Activism Of Reverend Dr. Bennett W. Smith, Sr., Sherri Wallace

Sherri L. Wallace

Licensing Speech: The Case Of Vanity Plates, Marybeth Herald

Marybeth Herald

Vanity license plates qualify as protected speech under the First Amendment, and denying plate requests because of their content contradicts traditional principles of free speech. State motor vehicle departments are almost as creative as applicants when it comes to ferreting out offensive license plate requests through the use of computer programs and linguists. Offensiveness, however, remains an elusive concept to capture and often lies in the eyes of a single viewer. When the government takes on the role of arbiter of good taste, it leads to arbitrary decision making and chaotic results.

Under traditional First Amendment doctrine, vanity license plates …

The Impact Of The Use Of New Communications And Information Technologies On Trafficking In Human Beings For Sexual Exploitation: A Study Of The Users, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

The trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation is a global human rights crisis being

perpetrated by individual criminals and organized crime groups, and facilitated by increased tolerance

for the sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of women and children.

New communications and information technologies have created a global revolution in

communications, access to information, and media delivery. There are a lot of positive aspects to the

global revolution, but there are also some very negative ones. This report describes the most negative

ones—how communications and information technologies are used to facilitate the trafficking of

women and children for sexual …

The Image Of Paul Robeson:Role Model For The Student And Athlete, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

No abstract provided.

"Simply So Different": The Uniquely Expressive Character Of The Openly Gay Individual After Boy Scouts V. Dale, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

Boy Scouts v. Dale was uniformly considered a set back for gay rights. Undeniably, it was not a good result for James Dale or other openly gay individuals who would like to participate in the largest youth organization in the U.S. This Article views Boy Scouts v. Dale in a different light and suggests that the expressive character of the openly gay individual endorsed by the majority may signal an opportunity to argue for greater First Amendment protections. The majority recognized that a single avowal of homosexuality imbues the openly gay individual with a uniquely expressive character. Wherever he goes, …

Identity Crisis: Intersectionality, Multidimensionality, And The Development Of An Adequate Theory Of Subordination, Darren Hutchinson

Darren L Hutchinson

No abstract provided.

Effective Advocacy Strategies For Girls: Promoting Justice In An Unjust System, Francine Sherman

Francine T. Sherman

No abstract provided.

Contributor, Francine Sherman

Francine T. Sherman

No abstract provided.

Partiality, Julie Nice

Julie A. Nice

This essay is the introduction for a Symposium on Class in LatCrit: Theory and Praxis in a World of Economic Inequality. Professor Nice describes the symposium papers (by Kendal Broad, Lisa Sun-Hee Park, Athena Mutua, and Laura Padilla) as applying various critical tools to examine how scholars study poverty and especially how the construct of “the feminization of poverty” isolates gender while leaving out other experiences of race, immigration status, sexual orientation, parental status, age, ability, and class. While she argues that the feminization of poverty construct itself emerged as a critique of how gender had been ignored in the …

Co-Founder, Artistic Noise, Inc., Francine Sherman

Francine T. Sherman

No abstract provided.

Keeping Feminism In Its Place: Sex Segregation And The Domestication Of Female Academics, Nancy Levit

Nancy Levit

The thesis of Keeping Feminism in Its Place is that women are being "domesticated" in the legal academy. This occurs in two ways, one theoretical and one very practical: denigration of feminism on the theoretical level and sex segregation of men and women on the experiential level intertwine to disadvantage women in academia in complex and subtle ways.

The article examines occupational sex segregation and role differentiation between male and female law professors, demonstrating statistically that in legal academia, women are congregated in lower-ranking, lower-paying, lower-prestige positions. It also traces how segregation by sex persists in substantive course teaching assignments. …

Comparative Institutional Analysis In Cyberspace: The Case Of Intermediary Liability For Defamation, Susan Freiwald

Susan Freiwald

Almost every day brings reports that Congress is considering new cyberspace-targeted laws and the courts are deciding novel cyberspace legal questions. These developments lend urgency to the question of whether a particular cyberspace legal change should come through operation of new statutes, judicial decisions, or the free market. If we can develop sophisticated analytical methods to evaluate institutional competence in cyberspace, we can vastly improve the development of cyberspace law and public policy.

Comparative Institutional Analysis in Cyberspace: The Case of Intermediary Liability for Defamation promotes just such an approach. By describing and extending a recently proposed model of comparative …

Behind The Glare Of The Spotlight: Grassroots Efforts To Integrate Facilities In Jacksonville, Florida 1958-1963, Debbie Owens

Debbie Owens