Law Commons^™

The Haunting Of Abigail Fisher: Race, Affirmative Action, And The Ghosts Of Legal History, Hilary A. Leewong

Hilary A Leewong

What is race in 2012, and why does it matter?

At the end of the current term, the Supreme Court will decide Fisher v. University of Texas. In doing so, the Court revisits the role of affirmative action and the meaning of race much sooner than constitutional law scholars, and likely the average college applicant, expected it would.

The Court’s last definitive take on the subject was conveyed by Justice O’Connor in 2003’s Grutter v. Bollinger. Justice O’Connor’s opinion conveyed disappointment that race-based admissions in higher education was still necessary this long after Brown v. Board of Education, heralded the …

Antidiscrimination Law And The Multiracial Experience: A Reply To Nancy Leong, Tina F. Botts J.D., Ph.D.

Tina F Botts J.D., Ph.D.

Nancy Leong’s thesis, in “Judicial Erasure of Mixed-Race Discrimination,” is that antidiscrimination law should make a switch from defining race “categorically” to defining it in terms of the perception of the would-be discriminator so as to better accommodate claims of multiracial discrimination and so as to better achieve what Leong sees as the goals of antidiscrimination law, i.e., the promotion of racial understanding, and the elimination of racism and racial discrimination. But, while Leong’s goals are admirable, the method she proposes for achieving these goals will not succeed. Antidiscrimination law cannot operate to promote racial understanding, or to eliminate racism …

Rethinking Civil Rights And Gender Violence, Julie Goldscheid

Julie Goldscheid

Advocacy seeking justice for survivors of domestic and sexual violence historically has invoked civil rights laws and rhetoric to advance legal remedies and public policy reform. Even though two widely critiqued United States Supreme Court decisions have limited the reach of those civil rights approaches, neither decision precludes new civil-rights-based remedies for gender violence. Indeed, a civil rights frame has enduring potential to support needed reform by challenging structural inequalities that continue to inform and drive gender violence. Nevertheless, no public outcry has coalesced in the United States demanding a civil rights-based enforcement scheme, either to seek a refashioned remedy …

Time For A Reality Check: Facing The 900 Pound Gorilla In Attorney Fee Awards In Federal Civil Rights Cases, Todd P. Prugar

Todd P. Prugar

ABSTRACT

TIME FOR A REALITY CHECK: FACING THE 900 POUND GORILLA IN ATTORNEY FEE AWARDS IN FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS CASES

By Todd P. Prugar

There is a 900 pound gorilla in the room when courts attempt to calculate attorney fee awards in federal civil rights cases. That 900 pound gorilla is the impact that the prevalence of contingency fee agreements on the court’s ability calculate attorney fee awards that reflect reality.

Part I of this article traces the development of the law regarding an award of attorney fees in federal civil rights cases. The article follows the sometimes tortuous and …

Unification Of Standards In Discrimination Law: The Conundrum Of Causation And Reasonable Accommodation Under The Ada, Cheryl L. Anderson

Cheryl L Anderson

Causation continues to be one of the most confounding issues in antidiscrimination law. Despite having rejected the position over two decades ago in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, the Court in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., recently asserted that the “ordinary default rule” in disparate treatment claims requires a plaintiff to prove but-for causation when a statute prohibits discrimination “because of” a protected characteristic. Gross threw disparate treatment law into disarray. Title VII has been statutorily modified to require only proof of motivating factor causation before the burden of proof shifts to the employer to show it would have made …

Incessant Discrimination Of Same-Sex Couples: A Case Study Of Varying Interpretations Of “Family,” Second-Parent Adoptions, And The Legal Rights Of Non-Biological Parents, Preston D. Mitchum

Preston D. Mitchum

No abstract provided.

Screaming To Be Heard: Black Feminism And The Fight For A Voice From The 1950s - 1970s, Preston D. Mitchum

Preston D. Mitchum

No abstract provided.

Screaming To Be Heard: Black Feminism And The Fight For A Voice From The 1950s - 1970s, Preston D. Mitchum

Preston D. Mitchum

No abstract provided.

Screaming To Be Heard: Black Feminism And The Fight For A Voice From The 1950s - 1970s, Preston D. Mitchum

Preston D. Mitchum

No abstract provided.

Screaming To Be Heard: Black Feminism And The Fight For A Voice From The 1950s - 1970s, Preston D. Mitchum

Preston D. Mitchum

No abstract provided.

Screaming To Be Heard: Black Feminism And The Fight For A Voice From The 1950s - 1970s, Preston D. Mitchum

Preston D. Mitchum

No abstract provided.

Screaming To Be Heard: Black Feminism And The Fight For A Voice From The 1950s - 1970s, Preston D. Mitchum

Preston D. Mitchum

No abstract provided.

Screaming To Be Heard: Black Feminism And The Fight For A Voice From The 1950s - 1970s, Preston D. Mitchum

Preston D. Mitchum

No abstract provided.