Law Commons^™

Religious Exemption Or Exceptionalism? Exploring The Tension Of First Amendment Religion Protections & Civil Rights Progress Within The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Richael Faithful

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The District of Columbia (D.C.) marked a landmark civil rights achievement in December 2009 when the city passed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act. The law’s enactment allowed D.C. to become the sixth jurisdiction to sanction same-sex marriage in the United States. Supporters hailed the law as a victory for lesbian and gay equality, while detractors vowed that their efforts to traditionally define marriage would continue.

Among the most public opponents of the law was the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, which operates Catholic Charities, a leading service provider to low-income residents in the metropolitan area. The Catholic …

“For Any Reason”: Paper Promises To Protect Service Members, Tami Martin

Legislation and Policy Brief

In short, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) is the law that prohibits lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals from serving openly in the military. Despite the fact that the Obama Administration has yet to fulfill the campaign promise of ending DADT, many believe the question is more "when" than "if" it will be repealed. Much attention has focused on ending the policy, but it is also important to consider what might happen after repeal. This article briefly examines the history of DADT, major policies meant to protect service members from harassment they experience because of their actual or perceived sexual …

Help America Vote Act Enforcement, Tiana Butcher

Legislation and Policy Brief

Although the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) features extensive mandates, its enforcement provisions of are weaker than those found in previous federal election reform laws, including the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act. Activists argue this limited enforcement power is a failing of the Act. Congress may have chosen to adopt weak enforcement mechanisms due to political posturing, lack of funding, faulty technology, or lobbying by the states. Regardless of the reason behind this choice, stronger enforcement mechanisms in HAVA would, paradoxically, fail to encourage election reform or deter election reform altogether.

Racializing Disability, Disabling Race: Policing Race And Mental Status, Camille Nelson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Teaching International Law: Lessons From Clinical Education: Introductory Remarks, Richard J. Wilson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Cuomo V. Clearing House Association: Protecting Minorities From Discriminatory Lending Practices By Upholding States' Right To Enforce Predatory Lending Laws, Elvira Pereda

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Outside/Inside, Jarrett T. Barrios

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Book Interview: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age Of Colorblindness, Richael Faithful

The Modern American

No abstract provided.

Personal Essay: My Ordeal Of Regaining Voting Rights In Virginia, Frank Anderson

The Modern American

No abstract provided.

Volume 6 Issue 2

The Modern American

No abstract provided.

Alienated: A Reworking Of The Racialization Thesis After September 11, Ming H. Chen

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Gimme Some More: Centering Gender And Inequality In Criminal Justice And Discretion Discourse, Shaun Ossei-Owusu

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Prospective Parents And The Children's Rights Convention, Carter Dillard

American University International Law Review

This Article addresses the novel question of whether states parties can successfully implement the Children’s Rights Convention by placing legal obligations on prospective parents, thereby influencing not just a child’s environment, but also the procreation of that child. First, the Article takes a unique version of the child-centered perspective, one that recognizes that as we move back in time in the direction of and even before a child’s birth, our obligations to the child grow because our actions become ever more influential. The perspective also takes into account current moral theories of parental obligation to prospective children. The Article then …

Supporting Inclusiveness At Seattle U. And In The Law, Mark Niles

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

A Social Movement History Of Title Vii Disparate Impact Analysis, Susan Carle

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Ricci v. DeStefano suggests trouble ahead for disparate impact analysis under Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1991. Commentators, too, have begun to question the policy bases for this doctrine. Part of the current tenuousness surrounding disparate impact analysis, which the Court first approved in its 1971 opinion in Griggs v. Duke Power Company, stems from assumptions that the EEOC pursued this theory as a last-minute, ill-conceived afterthought that was not in keeping with Congress’s intent when it passed Title VII in 1964. In this Article I use the …

Outsiders Inside The Beltway: Latcrit Xiv - Critical Outsider Theory And Praxis In The Policymaking Of The New American Regime, Anthony E. Varona

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

A substantive foreword to the symposium book for the Fourteenth Annual Latino/Latina Critical Legal Theory Scholarship Conference hosted by the American University Washington College of Law. The foreword includes information about the conference theme, its planning and execution, and includes excerpts from the presentations of a number of prominent plenary and keynote speakers, including Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Caroline Fredrickson (the executive director of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy), Robert Raben (the president of the Raben Group), Jarrett Barrios (the president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), Prof. Jenny Rivera (professor of law and director …

Taking Initiatives: Reconciling Race, Religion, Media And Democracy In The Quest For Marriage Equality, Anthony E. Varona

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Election Days 2008 and 2009 were disappointing ones for advocates of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans, especially supporters of marriage equality. In this comprehensive article, Professor Varona identifies and examines five interrelated tactical lessons the LGBT movement can glean from these recent defeats. He also provides a roadmap at the end of the Introduction to the article, describing the five subsections devoted to these individual lessons.

Section I, provides an overview of what occurred in the various statewide ballot initiative battles in 2008 and 2009 and then describes the preliminary analyses of the reasons for …

“Immutability” And Stigma: Towards A More Progressive Equal Protection Rights Discourse, M. Katherine Baird Darmer

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

But I Love Him! Why The Sixth Circuit Erred In Thompson V. North American Stainless, Lp By Denying A Third Party Retaliation Claim Under Title Vii, Angela J. Schnell

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.