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Full-Text Articles in Law
"Till Death (Or Doma) Does Us Part": How Doma Imposes An Unconstitutional Classifying And Coercive Condition On Federal Funding In The Wake Of Massachusetts V. United States Department Of Health And Human Services, Erin Bender
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
This Note suggests that the Court adopt a new test that would look at a condition attached to federal funding and determine whether it is a classifying condition or a coercive condition. Under this new test, a classifying condition will be deemed constitutional unless it violates equal protection principles; a coercive condition, on the other hand, will usually implicate the unconstitutional conditions doctrine.' On July 8, 2010, in Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, Judge Tauro of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted Massachusetts' motion for summary judgment by determining that …
From Closet To Court Room: Asylum As A Judicial Step Towards Full Equality Between Sexual Orientations, Rory Riley
From Closet To Court Room: Asylum As A Judicial Step Towards Full Equality Between Sexual Orientations, Rory Riley
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Part I of this article provides a history of the federal appellate system, noting the detrimental impact circuit splits can have on the resolution of a particular legal issue. Part II sets out the history and the current state of asylum and sexual identity claims in the United States. Part III provides an analysis of when the Supreme Court has historically intervened in previous social controversies, such as segregation, interracial marriage, and gay rights in the context of substantive due process. Part IV discusses the importance of timely Supreme Court intervention in asylum sexual identity matters, particularly as issues surrounding …
Medical Rights For Same-Sex Couples And Rainbow Families, Anisa Mohanty
Medical Rights For Same-Sex Couples And Rainbow Families, Anisa Mohanty
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
The present state of the law regarding medical rights for same-sex couples and their families is highly inconsistent. A handful of states permit same-sex marriage. Another handful of states recognize samesex marriages from other states, allow civil unions with state-level spousal rights for same-sex couples, or extend some or nearly all statelevel spousal rights to unmarried couples in domestic partnerships. With these widely disparate levels of recognition, it becomes difficult for same-sex couples to navigate their options and rights when a loved one-a partner or child-has a medical emergency or is in the hospital. In Part II, this Comment will …
Til Proposition 8 Do Us Part: The Rise And Fall Of Same-Sex Marriage In California, Addie V. Kies
Til Proposition 8 Do Us Part: The Rise And Fall Of Same-Sex Marriage In California, Addie V. Kies
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
This Note examines the California Supreme Court's decision in In re Marriage Cases, which legalized same-sex marriage in the state. Part II traces the history of same-sex marriage legislation in California, including the impact of Proposition 22. Part III summarizes the procedural background of In re Marriage Cases and analyzes the court's opinion. Part IV discusses Proposition 8's role in reversing In re Marriage Cases and explains the lawsuits pending against it. Part V suggests an alternative compromise to the same-sex marriage debate.
Rebuilding The Closet: Bowers V. Hardwick, Lawrence V. Texas, And The Mismeasure Of Homosexual Historiography, Jody Madeira
Rebuilding The Closet: Bowers V. Hardwick, Lawrence V. Texas, And The Mismeasure Of Homosexual Historiography, Jody Madeira
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
This paper acknowledges that "[i]t is now commonplace to disparage the Hardwick Justices' performance as historians, though it is less common to specify what was wrong with it''. In an effort to engage in such specification, this paper will first address mischaracterization of history in Bowers, which portrays the historic legal and ecclesiastical penalties of what the Court labels as "homosexual activities" as a continuous, unitary narrative extending from the halls of the Emperors Theodosius and Justinian to the legislative assembly rooms of Georgia and Texas. This illusory perspective portrays the criminalization of sodomy (and therefore the identity of homosexuality …
Natural Law And The Regulation Of Sexuality: A Critique, Dr. Brent L. Pickett
Natural Law And The Regulation Of Sexuality: A Critique, Dr. Brent L. Pickett
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
I will argue that the natural-law understanding of sexuality, and its application to the law, is deeply flawed, in regards to homosexuality and sodomy. I begin by laying out some of the foundations of the natural law position. Central to the position is an account of human goods that are seen as good in themselves, and hence as rational bases for choice and human action. In regards to sexuality, the two most important goods, at least from the natural law perspective, are those of marriage and personal integration. I argue that a real appreciation of the role of these two …
Brief, E. Brandon Bailey
Brief, E. Brandon Bailey
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Appellants contend that the Fourteenth Amendment protects marriage as a fundamental right of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation. Therefore, appellants contend that Section 411, under which the clerk of Declaration County circuit court acted in denying appellants' request for a marriage license, must be unconstitutional. Appellants predicate their contentions on Lawrence v. Texas. Unfortunately for appellants, the holdings of Lawrence are too weak a wind to shift the ship of marriage from its historical and legal course. To understand why Lawrence is inadequate for the purpose for which appellants invoke it, the Court must look to the right of …
Symposium Problem, Editorial Staff
Symposium Problem, Editorial Staff
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
A problem from the sypmposium based on Suzie and Carol Carol who have lived together as a same-sex couple for five years, and wish to be legally married. They reside in the County of Declaration, in the State of Independence, however, and Independence forbids marriage between homosexual couples. Specifically, the Code of Independence statutorily prohibits marriages or contractual unions between same-sex partners.
Brief, Josh Laws
Brief, Josh Laws
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Issue One: Whether Section 411 is constitutional under Lawrence v. Texas?, Issue Two: Whether the right to marry is a fundamental right, protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, that must be extended to all persons regardless of sexual orientation?