Law Commons^™

Fourteenth Amendment Citizenship And The Reconstruction-Era Black Public Sphere, James Fox

Akron Law Review

Sections two and three of the Fourteenth Amendment, being more political than legal enactments, have had essentially no judicial or legal development. Yet even the first sentence of section one and the ensuing Privileges or Immunities Clause have had relatively little play in the courts. With the single exception of the 1999 case of Saenz v. Roe, 6 the citizenship language of the Fourteenth Amendment has practically no legal significance.

Still, these approaches to equal or constitutional citizenship represent a starting point, not a conclusion. Taking up the invitations of these scholars, my project is to delve more deeply into …

"Horror Of A Woman": Myra Bradwell, The 14th Amendment, And The Gendered Origins Of Sociological Jurisprudence, Gwen Hoerr Jordan

Akron Law Review

On June 14, 1873, Myra Bradwell reprinted a short article from the St. Louis Republican in the Chicago Legal News announcing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in her case.

This short article reveals an important insight that challenges some contemporary interpretations of Bradwell v. Illinois. First, it points out what we know, but sometimes overlook, that the Supreme Court holding in Bradwell did not prevent women from becoming lawyers or practicing law.6 More importantly, however, it suggests that Justice Bradley’s oftcited concurrence – where he reveals his horror of a woman, writing that “[t]he harmony, not to say identity, of …

The Fourteenth Amendment And The Unconstitutionality Of Secession, Daniel A. Farber

Akron Law Review

To understand fully the relevance of the first two clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to secession, we need to examine the antebellum disputes about citizenship and sovereignty, the subject of Part II below. Issues about citizenship arose in the context of specific disputes about naturalization, expatriation, and the rights of freedmen, but they implicated conflicts over the seat of allegiance and the nature of the Union. Part III turns to the Reconstruction debates and shows how they reflect a fundamentally nationalistic view of citizenship. The Reconstruction Amendments to the Constitution were connected with a powerful vision of national citizenship and …