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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Homosexual Law And Policy In The Military: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass" . . . Don't Be Absurd!, Debra A. Luker
The Homosexual Law And Policy In The Military: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass" . . . Don't Be Absurd!, Debra A. Luker
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
The violent murder of Army Private First Class Barry Winchell, a suspected homosexual, is a gruesome example of how the military does not tolerate homosexuals. The military’s current homosexual policy – referred to as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue, Don’t Harass – is ineffective. The policy creates an atmosphere of intolerance that leads to discrimination among homosexual service members, and this discrimination often has violent ends. This comment analyzes the ways other countries implement policies for their homosexual service members, and also offers proposals to improve the current homosexual policy in the United States. The author discusses how the …
Citizen Suits And The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: An Assessment Of Multidistrict Litigation And The Fifth Circuit Court Of Appeals' Decision In Center For Biological Diversity, Inc. V. Bp America Production Co., Johnathan Ashton
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 brought numerous environmental lawsuits in the United States as a result of the destruction of local economies whose livelihood relied on the now damaged ecosystems. Due to negligence by two of the highest-ranking supervisors, BP pled guilty to criminal charges brought against them. Their actions resulted in the deaths of eleven men working on the rig when it exploded, as well as the resulting oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico. This plea resulted in four billion dollars of fines and penalties. However, this case proved that private citizens need a way to …
Nurturing The Seeds Of Food Justice: Unearthing The Impact Of Institutionalized Racism On Access To Healthy Food In Urban African-American Communities., Kate Meals
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Comprehensive change to our food systems must include a combination of community-based solutions and the elimination of racism from all structural levels. An anti-racist analysis of hunger is necessary to contextualize the power dynamics and structures responsible for food inequality. In recent decades, globalization and exponential population growth have pushed the boundaries of economic, social, and ecological sustainability, threatening global food security. Despite the fact that it is fundamental to human survival, adequate access to food is often viewed as a privilege, rather than a basic human right. These practices work to maintain a food system crisis that disproportionally impacts …
John Jay, Discrimination, And Tenure., Guillermo S. Dekat
John Jay, Discrimination, And Tenure., Guillermo S. Dekat
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
American courts should cease allowing the academic deference doctrine to interfere with tenure decision cases and treat tenure decisions the same way they treat any other employment discrimination case. Unlike recent court precedent that holds that summary judgement and judgement as a matter of law should not be granted when the employer’s defenses are vague and subjective, or when they heavily rely on testimony of interested parties, this principle has yet to be applied to a plaintiff in a tenure case. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit provided five reasons for distinguishing between tenure decisions and regular employment …
A Pregnant Teenager's Right To Education In Texas., Amber Hausenfluck
A Pregnant Teenager's Right To Education In Texas., Amber Hausenfluck
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Texas must work to better protect the legal rights of pregnant teenagers within its school districts. Without statewide requirements to ensure the elimination of pregnancy discrimination against students, school districts’ policies vary greatly and often include policies counter to the protections afforded both in Title IX and the Texas Education Code. Title IX requires the choice to attend an alternative school be completely voluntary. However, upon inspection, many Texas schools seem to violate this requirement by compelling or pressuring pregnant students to attend alternative education programs instead of adequately informing them of their educational options. The Texas Education Code guarantees …
The Need For An Innocence Network In Texas., Matthew D. Sharp
The Need For An Innocence Network In Texas., Matthew D. Sharp
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Texas must establish an innocence network to ensure crime lab accountability standards are enforced. The multitude of crime lab scandals around the United States demonstrate why the current system of accountability, self-policing, should be reimagined as one more similar to that of a manufacturer and a consumer. Like manufacturers, crime labs are in the best position to ensure the accuracy of any results. Reshaping the system of accountability in this way would ensure that those responsible for handling evidence, handle it with the utmost care and provide accurate results. Innocence Projects generally adhere to one of three different organizational paradigms. …
The Price Of Education: What Local Control Is Costing American Children., Debra L. Ireland
The Price Of Education: What Local Control Is Costing American Children., Debra L. Ireland
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Wealth and property are not equally distributed in America, and these inequities are exacerbated by the American school system. The current school system is community-centered, meaning children living in poorer districts do not have access to the same level of education as children living in wealthier districts. The comment discusses the impact that budgeting decisions have on community perceptions and expectations, as well as how community favoritism plays a role in the education financing equation. Finally, the author proposes eliminating what is essentially an “educational caste system,” and discusses how to change the attitudes of society and alter the ways …
The Psychological Manipulation Of The Consumer-Patient Population Through Direct-To-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising., Elizabeth C. Melby
The Psychological Manipulation Of The Consumer-Patient Population Through Direct-To-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising., Elizabeth C. Melby
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Drug direct-to-consumer advertisements manipulates the public through the manufacturer’s marketing practices. The goal of pharmaceutical companies is to create consumer demand for their products, and they achieve this goal by showing advertisements that portray their products as life-enhancing. This leads to an exponential increase in demand for and spending on these pharmaceutical drugs. This increased promotion of direct-to-consumer advertising affects the physician-patient relationship, while drug companies face little, if any, liability. Drug companies expend significant efforts to obtain patents to keep their products competitive on the market, and to prevent customers from switching to an inexpensive generic drug. The author …
No Proof Of Force Needed: Changing Texas Policy Regarding Adolescent Victims Of Intrafamilial Aggravated Sexual Assault., Renee R. Hollander
No Proof Of Force Needed: Changing Texas Policy Regarding Adolescent Victims Of Intrafamilial Aggravated Sexual Assault., Renee R. Hollander
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
In Texas, the State has to show sexual penetration occurred in order to convict a perpetrator of a first degree felony of aggravated sexual assault when the victim is under fourteen years of age. However, sexual assault victims between the ages of fourteen and sixteen years old must show that serious bodily injury occurred as a result of force in order to get a charge of aggravated sexual assault. As a result, the State can only charge perpetrators who sexually abuse family members between fourteen and sixteen years of age with sexual assault, which carries a lower penalty. This comment …
Truth Vs. Justice: Promoting The Rule Of Law In Post-Apartheid South Africa., Cassandra Fox Charles
Truth Vs. Justice: Promoting The Rule Of Law In Post-Apartheid South Africa., Cassandra Fox Charles
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Strict adherence to the rule of law provides the strongest protections against gross human rights violations. The aftermath of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, TRC, demonstrates how few protections exist without the rule of law. By exchanging truth for justice, the Commission harmed, and continues to harm, the true victims of apartheid and failed to achieve the national unity and reconciliation promised. Truthful confessions based on voluntary disclosure cannot equalize the overarching systematic disparities required for reconciliation to take root and grow. Instead of amnesty in exchange for voluntary disclosure, South Africa should follow the traditional notions of justice …
Gagging On A Bad Rule: The Mexico City Policy And Its Effect On Women In Developing Countries., Yvette Aguilar
Gagging On A Bad Rule: The Mexico City Policy And Its Effect On Women In Developing Countries., Yvette Aguilar
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
The mortality rate of women living in developing countries is often higher due to lack of family planning services and unsafe abortions. The United States has been providing foreign assistance and financial aid since the conclusion of World War II. One example is the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which focuses on providing long-range economic and social development support to developing countries. Many nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) rely on this aid to fund their programs. However, in 1984, restrictions introduced at the International Conference on Population in Mexico City forbade international planning services which provided or advocated …
Postpartum Psychosis: A Legitimate Defense For Negating Criminal Responsibility?, Sandy Meng Shan Liu
Postpartum Psychosis: A Legitimate Defense For Negating Criminal Responsibility?, Sandy Meng Shan Liu
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Infanticide is the most prevalent violent crime committed by women and has occurred throughout history for various reasons including sacrifice, birth control, eugenics, shame, and fear of punishment for adultery. Postpartum mood disorders have been recognized as a legitimate mental illness since the fourth century, and approximately fifty to eighty percent of new mothers experience some degree of depression after giving birth. Postpartum depression can progress into psychosis so quickly that new mothers may not even notice impairment of thinking skills. Defendants face many problems when using postpartum psychosis as a defense. One of the challenges of presenting postpartum psychosis …
Texas, Step Up To The Plate And Compensate: Face To Face With Joyce Ann Brown, Wrongfully Convicted Never To Receive Compensation, Natasha L. Brooks
Texas, Step Up To The Plate And Compensate: Face To Face With Joyce Ann Brown, Wrongfully Convicted Never To Receive Compensation, Natasha L. Brooks
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Abstract Forthcoming
All Children Can Learn: Providing Equal Education Opportunities For Migrant Students, Michelle R. Holleman
All Children Can Learn: Providing Equal Education Opportunities For Migrant Students, Michelle R. Holleman
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
The United States Supreme Court ruled that once a state undertakes to provide children with educational opportunities, such education services must be available to all children on equal terms. However, even though all states must offer a public education system, certain classes of children are not receiving equal educational opportunities. Migrant children are one of the most disadvantaged groups in today’s education system. Some of the unique challenges these children face include interrupted schooling, limited English proficiency, poverty, lack of health and nutrition, pressures from work and family responsibilities, and a lack of parental involvement in their education. These hurdles …
Unraveling The Cloth That Binds Latina Garment Workers In Texas: A Critical Analysis Of The Texas Pay Day Act, Ina M. Minjarez
Unraveling The Cloth That Binds Latina Garment Workers In Texas: A Critical Analysis Of The Texas Pay Day Act, Ina M. Minjarez
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Abstract forthcoming
Do Minorities Really Benefit? The Untold Truth About Vouchers, Marie A. Galindo
Do Minorities Really Benefit? The Untold Truth About Vouchers, Marie A. Galindo
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Abstract forthcoming