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Articles 1 - 30 of 142
Full-Text Articles in Law
Civil Right Queen: Constance Baker Motley And The Struggle For Equality, Tomiko Brown- Nagin
Civil Right Queen: Constance Baker Motley And The Struggle For Equality, Tomiko Brown- Nagin
Sibley Lecture Series
The 120th John A. Sibley Lecture was delivered by Tomiko Brown-Nagin, dean of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Daniel P.S. Paul Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Brown-Nagin is a member of the history department at the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In 2019, she was appointed chair of the Presidential Committee on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Law Institute, and the American Philosophical Society, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.
Brown-Nagin …
Some Objections To Strict Liability For Constitutional Torts, Michael Wells
Some Objections To Strict Liability For Constitutional Torts, Michael Wells
Scholarly Works
Qualified immunity protects officials from damages for constitutional violations unless they have violated "clearly established" rights. Local governments enjoy no immunity, but they may not be sued on a vicarious liability theory for constitutional violations committed by their employees. Critics of the current regime would overturn these rules in order to vindicate constitutional rights and deter violations.
This Article argues that across-the-board abolition of these limits on liability would be unwise as the costs would outweigh the benefits. In some contexts, however, exceptions may be justified. Much of the recent controversy surrounding qualified immunity involves suits in which police officers …
Legal Work Ahead: Potential Potholes For The Hands-Free Georgia Act, Hunter G. Smith
Legal Work Ahead: Potential Potholes For The Hands-Free Georgia Act, Hunter G. Smith
Georgia Law Review
Georgia’s statutory regulation of distracted driving, the
Hands-Free Georgia Act, went into effect in July 2018. The Act
is rife with ambiguous and uncertain language that fails to
apprise drivers of the legal and practical consequences of their
actions. But in the three years since the Act’s passage, neither
the legislature nor the courts have addressed these issues.
With its many exceptions, the Act neither protects drivers’
constitutional rights nor adequately curtails dangerous
driving. Vagueness in the Act’s numerous exceptions, Fourth
Amendment concerns, and the potential for pretextual stops
and racial profiling present potential legal issues on which
litigants may …
Some Objections To Strict Liability For Constitutional Torts, Michael L. Wells
Some Objections To Strict Liability For Constitutional Torts, Michael L. Wells
Georgia Law Review
Qualified immunity protects officials from damages for
constitutional violations unless they have violated “clearly
established” rights. Local governments enjoy no immunity, but
they may not be sued on a vicarious liability theory for
constitutional violations committed by their employees. Critics
of the current regime would overturn these rules in order to
vindicate constitutional rights and deter violations. This
Article argues that across-the-board abolition of these limits on
liability would be unwise as the costs would outweigh the
benefits. In some contexts, however, exceptions may be justified.
Much of the recent controversy surrounding qualified
immunity involves suits in which police officers …
Minority Rights And The Electoral College: What Minority, Whose Rights?, David Schultz
Minority Rights And The Electoral College: What Minority, Whose Rights?, David Schultz
Georgia Law Review
The Electoral College as a method of selecting U.S.
presidents was allegedly set up to protect one type of minority
rights—those of slave states and small states—but over time
it has operated to deny the rights of racial and other minorities,
especially given the winner-take-all system of electoral vote
allocation used in forty-eight states. This Essay examines the
history and current operation of the Electoral College, detailing
how, despite its changes, it continues to privilege some forms of
minority rights at the expense of others. The Essay also
indicates how in its current form in forty-eight states, the
Electoral College …
Mopping Up The Mess: A Call To Adopt The Seventh Circuit’S Standard For Assessing Comparator Evidence In Title Vii Discrimination Claims, Alexander S. Edmonds
Mopping Up The Mess: A Call To Adopt The Seventh Circuit’S Standard For Assessing Comparator Evidence In Title Vii Discrimination Claims, Alexander S. Edmonds
Georgia Law Review
In McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, the U.S. Supreme
Court developed a framework to assist courts in assessing
individual disparate treatment claims based on
circumstantial evidence. Under that test, plaintiffs alleging
discrimination under Title VII must first show a prima facie
case of discrimination. Since McDonnell Douglas, courts have
modified the test by requiring plaintiffs to demonstrate that
they were treated less favorably than a similarly situated
comparator employee who is outside the plaintiff’s protected
class. Courts disagree, however, on what it means for
employees to be similarly situated. Some courts strictly
interpret the similarly situated requirement; others caution
against …
The Voting Rights Paradox: Ideology And Incompleteness Of American Democratic Practice, Atiba R. Ellis
The Voting Rights Paradox: Ideology And Incompleteness Of American Democratic Practice, Atiba R. Ellis
Georgia Law Review
This Essay describes the “voting rights paradox”—the fact
that despite America’s professed commitment to universal
enfranchisement, voting rights legislation throughout U.S.
history has arisen in some states to serve antidemocratic,
exclusionary ends. This Essay argues that this contradiction
comes into focus when the right to vote is understood as having
as an ideological driving force based on worthiness for
admission to the franchise. This ideology of worthiness persists
because the right to vote is dependent on political decisions left
to the political branches and the majority’s willingness to allow
propaganda to influence the scope of the franchise.
Ultimately, this Essay …
Sacrificing Secrecy, Daniel S. Harawa
Sacrificing Secrecy, Daniel S. Harawa
Georgia Law Review
Juries have deliberated in secret since medieval times. The
historical reason for the secrecy is that it promotes impartiality,
which in turn protects a defendant’s right to a fair trial. But as
it turns out, jurors are not always impartial. Lurid examples
exist of jurors condemning defendants based on the defendant’s
race, sexuality, ethnicity, and religion.
Generally speaking, courts cannot hear evidence of what
transpired during deliberations. In 2017, however, the U.S.
Supreme Court created an exception to this rule, holding that
the Sixth Amendment requires courts to hear evidence of jurors
making racially biased statements. But this exception means …
The Equal Rights Amendment After Bostock: A Means To Expand Constitutional Protections For Sexual Minorities, Courtney M. Hogan
The Equal Rights Amendment After Bostock: A Means To Expand Constitutional Protections For Sexual Minorities, Courtney M. Hogan
Georgia Law Review
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was presumed dead in
the 1980s after a long battle for ratification failed, but it has
recently returned to public discourse with the latest wave of
feminist influence in the United States. The ERA declares that
equal rights under the law cannot be denied on account of sex.
In the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Bostock v. Clayton
County, the Court interpreted similar language from Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which also prohibits sex
discrimination. In that case, the Court interpreted the statutory
prohibition on sex discrimination to include discrimination
against …
Originalism From The Soft Southern Strategy To The New Right: The Constitutional Politics Of Sam Ervin Jr, Logan E. Sawyer Iii
Originalism From The Soft Southern Strategy To The New Right: The Constitutional Politics Of Sam Ervin Jr, Logan E. Sawyer Iii
Scholarly Works
Although originalism’s emergence as an important theory of constitutional interpretation is usually attributed to efforts by the Reagan administration, the role the theory played in the South’s determined resistance to civil rights legislation in the 1960s actually helped create the Reagan coalition in the first place. North Carolina Senator Sam Ervin Jr., the constitutional theorist of the Southern Caucus, developed and deployed originalism because he saw its potential to stymie civil rights legislation and stabilize a Democratic coalition under significant stress. Ervin failed in those efforts, but his turn to originalism had lasting effects. The theory helped Ervin and other …
The Music Of Mass Incarceration, Andrea L. Dennis
The Music Of Mass Incarceration, Andrea L. Dennis
Scholarly Works
Intellectual property law reaches every aspect of the world, society, and creativity. Sometimes, creative expression is at the very crux of societal conflict and change. Through its history, rap music has demonstrated passionate creative expression, exploding with emotion and truths. Now the most popular musical genre in America, rap has always shared—and consistently critiqued—disproportionate effects of the criminal legal system on Black communities. The world is increasingly hearing these tunes with special acuity and paying more attention to the lyrics. Virtually every music recording artist would consider the following numbers a major career achievement: 500 percent increase; 222 percent growth; …
In Honor Of Robert E. “Robbie” Robinson (J.D. ‘74), University Of Georgia School Of Law
In Honor Of Robert E. “Robbie” Robinson (J.D. ‘74), University Of Georgia School Of Law
Robert E. Robinson (J.D. 1974)
Robinson was a beloved civil rights attorney and city alderman in Savannah, GA known for his work in the community and service to numerous indigent clients. A community leader and activist, Robinson served on the executive board and as counsel for the NAACP and was an influential leader in the fight for school desegregation in Savannah. On December 18, 1989, Robinson was tragically killed by a mail bomb that was sent to his Savannah office.
To honor his legacy, the School of Law has established the Robinson Scholars Program, which benefits underrepresented student populations with ties to Georgia and a …
Free Speech And Off-Label Rights, Amy J. Sepinwall
Free Speech And Off-Label Rights, Amy J. Sepinwall
Georgia Law Review
When a litigant invokes a constitutional right to
protect interests different from the ones underpinning
the right, he engages in what this Article calls an
off-label rights exercise. The Free Speech Clause has
recently become an especially prominent, and troubling,
site of off-label rights exercises. Two of the most
prominent cases in the Supreme Court’s last term
involved litigants who invoked their constitutional
rights to free speech to protect interests unrelated to
speech or expression. In Janus v. American Federation
of State, County, & Municipal Employees, a state
employee argued that forcing him to pay for the union’s
bargaining activities …
Discriminatory Dualism, Sarah L. Swan
Discriminatory Dualism, Sarah L. Swan
Georgia Law Review
This Article identifies and theorizes a significant but
previously overlooked feature of structural
discrimination: it frequently develops into two seemingly
opposing, yet in fact mutually supportive practices. This
“discriminatory dualism” occurs in multiple contexts,
including policing, housing, and employment. In
policing, communities of color experience overpolicing
(i.e., the aggressive overenforcement of petty crime) at the
same time as they experience underpolicing (i.e., the
persistent failure to address violent crime). In housing,
redlining (i.e., the denial of credit to aspiring
homeowners based on race) combines with reverse
redlining (i.e., the over-offering of credit on exploitative
terms) to suppress minority homeownership. And …
Detention By Any Other Name, Sandra G. Mayson
Detention By Any Other Name, Sandra G. Mayson
Scholarly Works
An unaffordable bail requirement has precisely the same effect as an order of pretrial detention: the accused person is jailed pending trial. It follows as a logical matter that an order requiring an unaffordable bail bond as a condition of release should be subject to the same substantive and procedural protections as an order denying bail altogether. Yet this has not been the practice.
This Article lays out the logical and legal case for the proposition that an order that functionally imposes detention must be treated as an order of detention. It addresses counterarguments and complexities, including both empirical and …
Boots And Bail On The Ground: Assessing The Implementation Of Misdemeanor Bail Reforms In Georgia, Andrea Woods, Sandra G. Mayson, Lauren Sudeall, Guthrie Armstrong, Anthony Potts
Boots And Bail On The Ground: Assessing The Implementation Of Misdemeanor Bail Reforms In Georgia, Andrea Woods, Sandra G. Mayson, Lauren Sudeall, Guthrie Armstrong, Anthony Potts
Scholarly Works
This Article presents a mixed-methods study of misdemeanor bail practice across Georgia in the wake of reform. We observed bail hearings and interviewed system actors in a representative sample of fifty-five counties in order to assess the extent to which pretrial practice conforms to legal standards clarified in Senate Bill 407 and Walker v. Calhoun. We also analyzed jail population data published by county jails and by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. We found that a handful of counties have made promising headway in adhering to law and best practices, but that the majority have some distance to …
Reconceptualizing Hybrid Rights, Dan T. Coenen
Reconceptualizing Hybrid Rights, Dan T. Coenen
Scholarly Works
In landmark decisions on religious liberty and same-sex marriage, and many other cases as well, the Supreme Court has placed its imprimatur on so called “hybrid rights.” These rights spring from the interaction of two or more constitutional clauses, none of which alone suffices to give rise to the operative protection. Controversy surrounds hybrid rights in part because there exists no judicial account of their justifiability. To be sure, some scholarly treatments suggest that these rights emanate from the “structures” or “penumbras” of the Constitution. But critics respond that hybrid rights lack legitimacy for that very reason because structural and …
Aging On Air: Sex, Age, And Television News, Rebecca H. White
Aging On Air: Sex, Age, And Television News, Rebecca H. White
Scholarly Works
The best piece of advice I received when I began teaching law was to adopt Charlie Sullivan's and Mike Zimmer's casebook for my Employment Discrimination class. Before I became a law professor, I had no clue how important choosing the right textbook is, not only for the students but for the teacher. I also was unaware of how much I had to learn about a subject I thought I knew well. I had been litigating employment discrimination cases for several years, but when I began teaching, I quickly learned how much I did not know. Charlie's and Mike's casebook, through …
Age, Time, And Discrimination, Alexander A. Boni-Saenz
Age, Time, And Discrimination, Alexander A. Boni-Saenz
Georgia Law Review
No abstract provided.
Battle Of The Sexes: Title Vii’S Failure To Protect Women From Discrimination Against Sex-Linked Conditions, Brooks Land
Battle Of The Sexes: Title Vii’S Failure To Protect Women From Discrimination Against Sex-Linked Conditions, Brooks Land
Georgia Law Review
No abstract provided.
A Homestead Act For The 21st Century, Mehrsa Baradaran
A Homestead Act For The 21st Century, Mehrsa Baradaran
Scholarly Works
The goal of the 21st century Homestead Act is to counteract the longstanding legacy of racially discriminatory housing policies by revitalizing distressed communities through public investment. The basic structure of the program is a wholesale transfer of land to residents who meet certain criteria. Accompanied by a holistic plan at the city level to revitalize the community through public investments in infrastructure and jobs, this proposal would benefit people who live in select small and medium-sized cities that are experiencing high vacancies.
Bias In, Bias Out, Sandra G. Mayson
Bias In, Bias Out, Sandra G. Mayson
Scholarly Works
Police, prosecutors, judges, and other criminal justice actors increasingly use algorithmic risk assessment to estimate the likelihood that a person will commit future crime. As many scholars have noted, these algorithms tend to have disparate racial impact. In response, critics advocate three strategies of resistance: (1) the exclusion of input factors that correlate closely with race, (2) adjustments to algorithmic design to equalize predictions across racial lines, and (3) rejection of algorithmic methods altogether.
This Article’s central claim is that these strategies are at best superficial and at worst counterproductive, because the source of racial inequality in risk assessment lies …
Elizabeth Warren’S New Housing Proposal Is Actually A Brilliant Plan To Close The Racial Wealth Gap, Mehrsa Baradaran, Darrick Hamilton
Elizabeth Warren’S New Housing Proposal Is Actually A Brilliant Plan To Close The Racial Wealth Gap, Mehrsa Baradaran, Darrick Hamilton
Popular Media
Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a $450 billion housing plan called the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act. The proposal is a comprehensive and bold step toward providing affordable housing for the most vulnerable Americans. The bill is the first since the Fair Housing Act with the explicit intent of redressing the iterative effects of our nation’s sordid history of housing discrimination. Critically, it has the potential to make a substantive dent in closing our enormous and persistent racial wealth gap.
American Hypocrisy: How The United States' System Of Mass Incarceration And Police Brutality Fail To Comply With Its Obligations Under The International Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Racial Discrimination, R. Danielle Burnette
Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law
No abstract provided.
Teaching The Tough Stuff: The Opportunities And Challenges In Teaching Implicit Bias, Diversity And Inclusion To Supervising Attorneys, Kinda Abdus-Saboor, Gillian Dutton, Rachel Reeves, Marjorie Silver
Teaching The Tough Stuff: The Opportunities And Challenges In Teaching Implicit Bias, Diversity And Inclusion To Supervising Attorneys, Kinda Abdus-Saboor, Gillian Dutton, Rachel Reeves, Marjorie Silver
Externships (X) Conferences
We entrust supervising attorneys with the critical responsibility of providing law students with a meaningful experiential learning experience. Supervising attorneys ultimately control the nature of work students receive, the delivery of feedback, and the work environment that the student inhabits. Thus, it is vital that we equip our supervising attorneys with the basic skills necessary to navigate student supervision effectively. Among those basic skills is the ability to traverse the cross-cultural complexities inherent in working with students whose cultural identities may differ from the supervising attorney. Equally important are the cross-cultural issues that may arise among students and the clients …
Title Vii And The #Metoo Movement, Rebecca White
Title Vii And The #Metoo Movement, Rebecca White
Scholarly Works
The #MeToo movement has drawn unprecedented attention to sexual harassment in the workplace. But there is a disconnect between sexual harassment as popularly understood and sexual harassment as prohibited by Title VII. This Essay identifies those areas where the law and the public understanding of it most starkly diverge. These include the requirements of severity or pervasiveness, the issue of unwelcomeness, the availability of an affirmative defense for hostile work environment claims, and the time limits within which claims must be brought. Additionally, those making claims of sexual harassment fare poorly when they suffer retaliation for stepping forward. Internal complaints …
The Scale Of Misdemeanor Justice, Megan T. Stevenson, Sandra G. Mayson
The Scale Of Misdemeanor Justice, Megan T. Stevenson, Sandra G. Mayson
Scholarly Works
This Article seeks to provide the most comprehensive national-level empirical analysis of misdemeanor criminal justice that is currently feasible given the state of data collection in the United States. First, we estimate that there are 13.2 million misdemeanor cases filed in the United States each year. Second, contrary to conventional wisdom, this number is not rising. Both the number of misdemeanor arrests and cases filed have declined markedly in recent years. In fact, national arrest rates for almost every misdemeanor offense category have been declining for at least two decades, and the misdemeanor arrest rate was lower in 2014 than …
"Never Had A Choice And No Power To Alter": Illegitimate Children And The Supreme Court Of Japan, Shigenori Matsui
"Never Had A Choice And No Power To Alter": Illegitimate Children And The Supreme Court Of Japan, Shigenori Matsui
Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law
No abstract provided.
Voting Rights And The History Of Institutionalized Racism: Criminal Disenfranchisement In The United States And South Africa, Brock A. Johnson
Voting Rights And The History Of Institutionalized Racism: Criminal Disenfranchisement In The United States And South Africa, Brock A. Johnson
Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law
No abstract provided.
Trans-Lating The Eighth Amendment Standard: The First Circuit's Denial Of A Transgender Prisoner's Constitutional Right To Medical Treatment, Bethany L. Edmondson
Trans-Lating The Eighth Amendment Standard: The First Circuit's Denial Of A Transgender Prisoner's Constitutional Right To Medical Treatment, Bethany L. Edmondson
Georgia Law Review
In December of 2014, the First Circuit Court of Appeals
held, en banc, that the Massachusetts Department of
Corrections was not constitutionally obligated to provide
Michelle Kosilek, a transgender prisoner, with sexual
reassignment surgery. Kosilek sued the prison, arguing
that her Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and
unusual punishment were violated. The First Circuit held
that Kosilek did not have a serious medical need, due to
the prison's alternative treatment, and that the prison was
not deliberately indifferent to that need. This Note argues
that the First Circuit erred in applying the "serious
medical need" prong of the cruel and …