Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Civil Rights and Discrimination (10)
- Housing Law (4)
- Labor and Employment Law (4)
- Constitutional Law (3)
- Courts (3)
-
- Legislation (3)
- Dispute Resolution and Arbitration (2)
- Environmental Law (2)
- Law and Gender (2)
- Religion Law (2)
- Contracts (1)
- Disability Law (1)
- Education Law (1)
- Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law (1)
- Immigration Law (1)
- Jurisprudence (1)
- Law and Economics (1)
- Law and Society (1)
- Legal Remedies (1)
- Litigation (1)
- Property Law and Real Estate (1)
- Social Welfare Law (1)
- State and Local Government Law (1)
- Tax Law (1)
- Publication Year
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 30 of 39
Full-Text Articles in Law
A New American Dream For Detroit, Andrea Boyack
A New American Dream For Detroit, Andrea Boyack
Faculty Publications
The problem of neighborhood deterioration is keenly visible in Detroit today, but Detroit’s housing struggles are not unique. Like most of America, the Detroit metropolitan area is racially fragmented, and minority neighborhoods are the most likely to be impoverished and failing. Detroit’s problems of housing abandonment and neighborhood decay are both caused and exacerbated by decades of housing segregation and inequality. The “American Dream” has always been one of equal opportunity, but there can be no equality of opportunity when there is such stark inequality among home environments. Detroit’s neighborhood decline is a symptom of the city’s population loss and …
Setting The Stage For Ferguson: Housing Discrimination And Segregation In St. Louis, Rigel C. Oliveri
Setting The Stage For Ferguson: Housing Discrimination And Segregation In St. Louis, Rigel C. Oliveri
Missouri Law Review
The history of St. Louis is replete with discriminatory housing laws, policies, and practices: racially restrictive covenants, redlining, blockbusting and white flight, and exclusionary zoning. While these were common in virtually every part of the United States, they were particularly egregious, widespread, and pervasive in industrial Midwestern cities like Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis – which saw a large influx of blacks migrating from the south at the close of the nineteenth century. In fact, three of the most foundational housing cases originated in St. Louis. When we look closely at these cases – not just the legal principles that …
Introducing The 'New Handshake' To Expand Remedies And Revive Responsibility In Ecommerce, Amy J. Schmitz
Introducing The 'New Handshake' To Expand Remedies And Revive Responsibility In Ecommerce, Amy J. Schmitz
Faculty Publications
There was a time when individuals would meet in person to make purchases and do deals. They would discuss the terms, assess the trustworthiness and character of their contracting partners, and conclude the deal with a handshake. The handshake helped ensure the enforcement of the deal without need for the rule of law or legal power. That handshake was one’s bond — it was a personal trust mark. With the emergence of eCommerce, however, that handshake has nearly disappeared along with the sense of responsibility it inspired. Accordingly, this article discusses how this has impacted consumers’ access to remedies regarding …
Fighting Hidden Discrimination: Disparate Impact Claims Under The Fair Housing Act, Sean Milford
Fighting Hidden Discrimination: Disparate Impact Claims Under The Fair Housing Act, Sean Milford
Missouri Law Review
This Note will provide a brief overview of the history of disparate impact claims under the FHA and outline why they are an important tool in fighting housing discrimination in the United States. The ruling of the Third Circuit preserves this important tool and will help to protect minority homeowners from future discriminatory redevelopment of their neighborhoods. The parties settled this case on November 13, 2013, before the Supreme Court could rule on its merits. Should the Supreme Court hold in a future case that disparate impact claims are not cognizable under the FHA the Court would strike a serious …
Federalism, Diversity, Equality, And Article Iii Judges: Geography, Identity, And Bias , Sharon E. Rush
Federalism, Diversity, Equality, And Article Iii Judges: Geography, Identity, And Bias , Sharon E. Rush
Missouri Law Review
Each individual has a background, and that background shapes the individual's views about life, creating an inevitable form of bias referred to as "experiential bias." Experiential bias is shaped by many identity traits, including, among others, race, sex, sexual orientation, religion and even geography. The geographic identity of state judges and their potential unfair experiential bias is the common justification for federal court diversity jurisdiction. But experiential bias is inescapable, affecting everyone who's ever had an experience, and is generally not unfair, as demonstrated by most studies regarding the "fairness" justification for diversity jurisdiction. More recently, Justice O'Connor connected racial …
Females On The Fringe: Considering Gender In Payday Lending Policy, Amy J. Schmitz
Females On The Fringe: Considering Gender In Payday Lending Policy, Amy J. Schmitz
Faculty Publications
Payday lending may provide a much-needed safety net for some consumers in need of quick cash for emergencies. However, data suggest that most payday loan borrowers become repeat users caught in a cycle of high-cost debt. Furthermore, empirical evidence indicates consistent overrepresentation of women, including many single mothers, among payday loan borrowers. This takes a toll not only on these women and their families, but also on society as a whole. Indeed, context matters in payday lending debates. It is thus time to think creatively and consider contextualized programs that aim to increase women’s and all consumers’ safe borrowing options, …
Secret Consumer Scores And Segmentations: Separating Consumer 'Haves' From 'Have-Nots', Amy J. Schmitz
Secret Consumer Scores And Segmentations: Separating Consumer 'Haves' From 'Have-Nots', Amy J. Schmitz
Faculty Publications
“Big Data” is big business. Data brokers profit by tracking consumers’ information and behavior both on- and offline and using this collected data to assign consumers evaluative scores and classify consumers into segments. Companies then use these consumer scores and segmentations for marketing and to determine what deals, offers, and remedies they provide to different individuals. These valuations and classifications are based on not only consumers’ financial histories and relevant interests, but also their race, gender, ZIP Code, social status, education, familial ties, and a wide range of additional data. Nonetheless, consumers are largely unaware of these scores and segmentations, …
Sex Matters: Considering Gender In Consumer Contracts, Amy J. Schmitz
Sex Matters: Considering Gender In Consumer Contracts, Amy J. Schmitz
Faculty Publications
We hear about the so-called “War on Women” and persisting salary gaps between men and women in the popular media, but contracts scholars and policymakers rarely discuss gender. Instead, dominant voices in the contracts field often reflect classical and economics-driven theories built on assumptions of gender neutral and economically rational actors. Furthermore, many mistakenly assume that market competition and antidiscrimination legislation address any improper biases in contracting. This Article therefore aims to shed light on gender’s importance by distilling data from my own e-survey of Colorado consumers along with others’ research regarding gender differences in contract outcomes, interests and behaviors. …
Title Vii Works - That's Why We Don't Like It, Chuck Henson
Title Vii Works - That's Why We Don't Like It, Chuck Henson
Faculty Publications
In response to the universal belief that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is not fulfilling its purpose, this Article presents a different perspective on the reality of this federal employment discrimination law. Title VII is fulfilling the purpose of the Congress that created it. The purpose was not the eradication of all discrimination in employment. The purpose was to balance the prohibition of the most obvious forms of discrimination with the preservation of as much employer decision-making latitude as possible. Moreover, the seminal Supreme Court decision, McDonnell Douglas v. Green, accurately implemented this balance. This Article …
The Twelve-Year-Old Girl's Lawsuit That Changed America: The Continuing Impact Of Now V. Little League Baseball, Inc. At 40, Douglas E. Abrams
The Twelve-Year-Old Girl's Lawsuit That Changed America: The Continuing Impact Of Now V. Little League Baseball, Inc. At 40, Douglas E. Abrams
Faculty Publications
In 1972, Little League's national office forced 12-year-old Maria Pepe off her Hoboken (N.J.) team because "[g]irls are not eligible." The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights sustained her gender discrimination claim in 1973, and the courts upheld the administrative decision a year later.
National reaction to Maria Pepe's courageous insistence on gender equity helped sustain the evolution in gender roles that had accelerated since the Women's Movement of the 1960s. Her landmark legal action also likely influenced the Supreme Court's gradual movement toward intermediate scrutiny of gender discrimination claims; the 1975 federal regulations that assured Title IX of the …
Taking In Strays: A Critique Of The Stray Comment Doctrine In Employment Discrimination Law, Kerri Lynn Stone
Taking In Strays: A Critique Of The Stray Comment Doctrine In Employment Discrimination Law, Kerri Lynn Stone
Missouri Law Review
This Article argues that the stray comments "doctrine" does more harm than good and that those courts wishing to grant a defendant summary judgment on a claim should have to do so by looking at the totality of the circumstances, rather than summarily using a single facet of a comment to dismiss it from consideration. It points out that the doctrine and its premises fail to comport with even a basic understanding of social science and how people foment, act upon, and reveal discriminatory bias. Interestingly, another judge-made doctrine built into employment discrimination law - the same actor inference - …
On Precarious Ground: Binding Arbitration Clauses, Collective Bargaining Agreements, And Waiver Of Statutory Workplace Discrimination Claims Post-Pyett - Duraku V. Tishman Speyer Properties, Inc., J. Nicholas Haynes
Journal of Dispute Resolution
During the 1960s, federal and state governments put into place a maze of statutes aimed at protecting the civil rights of minorities, both in society and in the workplace. While these statutes have undoubtedly lessened workplace discrimination for minorities in the United States, there are still some areas that are uncertain or unsettled, especially when a union is involved on behalf of the employees. More to the point, there has been a wealth of confusion as to whether the right to bring a statutory workplace discrimination claim can be waived when a worker joins a union and allows the union …
Role Of Individuals Discrimination In Free Exercise Claims: Putting Iqbal In Its Place, The, Leila Mcneill
Role Of Individuals Discrimination In Free Exercise Claims: Putting Iqbal In Its Place, The, Leila Mcneill
Missouri Law Review
Ashcroft v. Iqbal has been widely discussed for three reasons: (1) its extension of Twombly's pleading standard to cases outside the realm of antitrust suits, (2) its application of the collateral order doctrine to a district court order denying an official's motion to dismiss on the basis of qualified immunity in a Bivens claim, and (3) its implication for national security and postSeptember 11th terrorist detainments and investigations. However, Iqbal also implicates the nature of what constitutes unconstitutional religious discrimination under the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause. Therefore, the Iqbal Court's discussion of religious liberty will present problems of interpretation …
Anti-Discrimination Law In Peril, Trina Jones
Anti-Discrimination Law In Peril, Trina Jones
Missouri Law Review
In this short Essay, I explore the tendency of courts to summarily dismiss employment discrimination claims and consider whether the judicial skepticism, if not outright hostility, we are witnessing is limited to statutory actions under Title VII or is instead part of a broader movement against discrimination claims. In Part II, I suggest that between 1973, when McDonnell Douglas was decided, and 2009 societal beliefs about the prevalence of discrimination in the United States changed. In 1973, as the country emerged from the Jim Crow era, the presumption was one of widespread discrimination. Today, in so-called "post-racial" America, an opposite …
Pretext In Peril, Natasha T. Martin
Pretext In Peril, Natasha T. Martin
Missouri Law Review
This Article addresses the connections among substance, procedure, and equality in the American workplace. Exploring the deepening struggle for plaintifs under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this Article seeks to add clarity to an enduring quandary - why does Title VII fail to combat the prejudicial disparate treatment it was designed to eradicate? This Article offers a critique of the hardships shouldered by plaintiffs in proving contemporary workplace discrimination. Challenging the seemingly unfettered discretion of the courts in evaluating claims of workplace bias, this Article pursues the interplay of procedural and substantive law to expose how …
Discrimination Redefined, Ann. C. Mcginley
Discrimination Redefined, Ann. C. Mcginley
Missouri Law Review
I agree with Professor Martin's premise that it has become increasingly difficult to prove disparate treatment, especially in light of courts' aggressive use of summary judgment. I argue in this essay that the courts' retrenchment in Title VII cases results from a narrow definition of discrimination that focuses on conscious, intentional discrimination. Increasingly social science research demonstrates that much disparate treatment occurs as a result of unconscious biases, but the courts' reluctance to consider this social science has led, in many cases, to a literal, narrow definition of"pretext." Moreover, I posit that the recent Supreme Court case of Ricci v. …
Pretext Without Context, D. Wendy Greene
Pretext Without Context, D. Wendy Greene
Missouri Law Review
First, this response addresses the lower courts' opinions in Ash v. Tyson Foods, Inc., as well as the Supreme Court's per curiam opinion in this case, which espouses a more contextualized analysis of pretext in race-based disparate treatment cases. Next, this response examines Holiness v. MooreHandley, Inc. and the acontextual, colorblind analysis the court applied. Each case illustrates the negative effects of courts analyzing pretext without context at different stages of race discrimination litigation: during post-trial phases in Ash v. Tyson Foods, Inc. and at the summary judgment stage in Holiness v. Moore-Handley, Inc. Ash v. Tyson Foods, Inc. and …
Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Landlords, Latinos, Anti-Illegal Immigrant Ordinances, And Housing Discrimination, Rigel C. Oliveri
Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Landlords, Latinos, Anti-Illegal Immigrant Ordinances, And Housing Discrimination, Rigel C. Oliveri
Faculty Publications
In the face of federal inability to effectively police our national borders and to remove unauthorized immigrants, many local governments have recently sought to take measures into their own hands by passing anti-illegal immigrant ("AII") ordinances. These ordinances usually contain a combination of provisions restricting housing, employment, and public benefits for unauthorized immigrants, among other things.This Article focuses on AII provisions that are targeted at private rental housing, which typically take the form of sanctions against landlords who rent to unauthorized immigrants.
The Application Of Rfra To Override Employment Nondiscrimination Clauses Embedded In Federal Social Services Programs, Carl H. Esbeck
The Application Of Rfra To Override Employment Nondiscrimination Clauses Embedded In Federal Social Services Programs, Carl H. Esbeck
Faculty Publications
General federal employment nondiscrimination legislation permits religious organizations to take religion into account when making employment decisions. However, some federal social service programs have embedded in their authorizing legislation a nondiscrimination clause binding on recipients of program grants. And a few of these embedded clauses require that grantees (including religious grantees) not discriminate in employment on the basis of religion. This extended essay demonstrates how the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 overrides these employment nondiscrimination clauses when applied to faith-based social service grantees. Not only is this the conclusion of the U.S. Department of Justice in its policy announced …
Discrimination After Daugherty: Are Missouri Courts Contributing To Or Motivated By The Number Of Cases On The Discrimination Docket, Amanda Stogsdill
Discrimination After Daugherty: Are Missouri Courts Contributing To Or Motivated By The Number Of Cases On The Discrimination Docket, Amanda Stogsdill
Missouri Law Review
For more than twenty years, Missouri courts have applied the federal McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting analysis to determine the outcome of a defendant's motion for summary judgment in claims of employment discrimination. However, the Missouri Supreme Court recently abandoned the McDonnell Douglas framework in favor of a new method of analysis derived from a Missouri Approved Jury Instruction. This new analysis has become known as the "contributing factor" test. In the months since Daugherty, controversy has surrounded this standard. Many defense attorneys claim that the "contributing factor" test significantly lowers the bar that a discrimination plaintiff must meet in order to …
Pragmatism Over Politics: Recent Trends In Lower Court Employment Discrimination Jurisprudence, Lee Reeves
Pragmatism Over Politics: Recent Trends In Lower Court Employment Discrimination Jurisprudence, Lee Reeves
Missouri Law Review
This Article has five parts. After considering empirical evidence, Part I concludes that judges' political ideology plays only a limited role in their decisionmaking. Part II identifies the increase in case filings over the last two decades as a likely non-ideological cause of the increased judicial skepticism towards claims of employment discrimination. This Part begins by examining aggregate trends in the district and appellate caseload and then translates caseload into the more meaningful metric of workload. Part II next evaluates various steps courts have taken to handle these workload increases. Finally, Part II concludes with a discussion of why employment …
Is Acquisition Everything? Protecting The Rights Of Occupants Under The Fair Housing Act, Rigel C. Oliveri
Is Acquisition Everything? Protecting The Rights Of Occupants Under The Fair Housing Act, Rigel C. Oliveri
Faculty Publications
This article addresses a recent trend among the federal courts to deny housing discrimination claims under the Fair Housing Act in cases where the plaintiff was an occupant of the housing at the time the discrimination occurred. Put another way, the courts have begun to read the FHA as protecting only the right to obtain housing, not the right to occupy that housing free of discrimination.The trend began with a 2004 Seventh Circuit opinion authored by Judge Richard Posner in the case of Halprin v. The Prairie Single Family Homes. Halprin dismissed most of the claims of a Jewish couple …
Viewpoint Discrimination In Law School Clinics: Teaching Students When And How To Just Say No, Jason A. Kempf
Viewpoint Discrimination In Law School Clinics: Teaching Students When And How To Just Say No, Jason A. Kempf
Missouri Law Review
In 1996, the American Bar Association ("ABA") amended its law school accreditation standards and required that all ABA-approved law schools offer "live-client or other real-life practice experience. '' In doing so, the ABA confirmed the increasingly important role of law school clinics in legal education. This unique teaching environment moves students and professors out of the classroom and into real-world courtrooms. As these "student-lawyers" work on behalf of live clients, they "experience the legal ethics issues lawyers face every day, such as client confidentiality, conflict of interest, and competency issues." Not surprisingly, with these ethical issues come difficult decisions for …
Local Man Phones Spiritual Leaders, Ends Up In Federal Prison: Congressional Commerce Power To Curb Discrimination Motivated Violence, Courtney C. Stirrat
Local Man Phones Spiritual Leaders, Ends Up In Federal Prison: Congressional Commerce Power To Curb Discrimination Motivated Violence, Courtney C. Stirrat
Missouri Law Review
In United States v. Corum,12 the Eighth Circuit examined two categories of congressional commerce power used to eradicate religious discrimination.13 The result in this case perpetuates a split among the circuits regarding the extent of congressional authority to regulate non-economic, criminal activity. 14 This Note examines the parameters of the Commerce Clause and the continuing confusion in the Courts of Appeals following the Supreme Court's holdings in United States v. Lopez'5 and United States v. Morrison.16
Hate Speech In The Constitutional Law Of The United States, William B. Fisch
Hate Speech In The Constitutional Law Of The United States, William B. Fisch
Faculty Publications
Our general reporter, Professor Pizzorusso, has given us “incitement to hatred” - primarily against a group of persons defined in terms of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and the like--as the working definition of “hate speech”, and asks to what extent such speech is constitutionally protected in the reporting countries. The United States of America are known at least in recent times for providing exceptionally broad protection for otherwise objectionable speech and expression, and hate speech is understood to be one of the areas in which they have positioned themselves further out on the speech-protective end of …
New Look At Sexual Harassment Under The Fair Housing Act: The Forgotten Role Of 3604, Rigel C. Oliveri, Robert G. Schwemm
New Look At Sexual Harassment Under The Fair Housing Act: The Forgotten Role Of 3604, Rigel C. Oliveri, Robert G. Schwemm
Faculty Publications
This Article argues that § 3604(c) is applicable in virtually every sexual harassment case involving housing and that its applicability means the FHA can be a more effective statute for attacking sexual harassment than Title VII. Part I reviews the law governing sexual harassment in housing, including the role that Title VII precedents have had in shaping this law. Part II shows how § 3604(c) goes further than its Title VII counterpart in prohibiting statements that are often at the heart of a sexual harassment claim and identifies some specific situations in which § 3604(c) may be helpful in challenging …
The Case Against Private Disparate Impact Suits, Thom Lambert
The Case Against Private Disparate Impact Suits, Thom Lambert
Faculty Publications
This article argues that the Third Circuit, and the courts that have implicitly approved private disparate impact suits, have erred in construing Title VI to permit private plaintiffs to sue federally funded entities for discrimination based on disparate impact alone. From a policy standpoint, permitting private disparate impact suits is a bad idea, for the threat of such suits will lead to deterrence of actions and decisions that have incidental disparate effects but are, on the whole, good.
Charitable Choice And The Critics, Carl H. Esbeck
Charitable Choice And The Critics, Carl H. Esbeck
Faculty Publications
First, the statute prohibits the government from discriminating with regard to religion when determining whether providers are eligible to deliver social services under these programs. Second, the statute imposes on government the duty not to intrude into the religious autonomy of faith-based providers. Third, the statute imposes on both government and participating FBOs the duty not to abridge certain rights of the ultimate beneficiaries of these programs. I will touch on these three principles below, and do so in reverse order.
Credit Opportunities, Race, And Presumptions: Does The Mcdonnell Douglas Framework Apply In Fair Lending Cases, Richard A. Hill
Credit Opportunities, Race, And Presumptions: Does The Mcdonnell Douglas Framework Apply In Fair Lending Cases, Richard A. Hill
Missouri Law Review
Congress has recognized that "[i]n a credit oriented society such as ours, impediments to sources of credit based on extraneous factors such as race, color, religion, age, sex, marital status, and the like, have a deleterious effect on both the individual victims of discrimination, and on the economy as a whole."2 Minority borrowers feel the impact of credit discrimination. "They make me feel like I was wasting my time. Like I wasn't worthy of being a home owner."3 Lenders often do not realize what they have done. "The discrimination in mortgage lending with which I've become familiar is not necessarily …
When Physicians Balk At Futile Care: Implications Of The Disability Rights Laws, Philip G. Peters Jr.
When Physicians Balk At Futile Care: Implications Of The Disability Rights Laws, Philip G. Peters Jr.
Faculty Publications
Part I of this article reviews the factual background of the futility debate. Part II introduces the antidiscrimination laws. Thereafter, Parts III, IV, and V examine the three components of the proposal suggested above.