Law Commons^™

The Kids Are Not Alright: Negative Consequences Of Student Device And Account Surveillance, Ashley Peterson

Washington Law Review

In recent years, student surveillance has rapidly grown. As schools have experimented with new technologies, transitioned to remote and hybrid instruction, and faced pressure to protect student safety, they have increased surveillance of school accounts and school-issued devices. School surveillance extends beyond school premises to monitor student activities that occur off-campus. It reaches students’ most intimate data and spaces, including things students likely believe are private: internet searches, emails, and messages. This Comment focuses on the problems associated with off-campus surveillance of school accounts and school-issued devices, including chilling effects that fundamentally alter student behavior, reinforcement of the school-to-prison pipeline, …

Speaking Back To Sexual Privacy Invasions, Brenda Dvoskin

Washington Law Review

Many big players in the internet ecosystem do not like hosting sexual expression. They often justify these bans as a protection of sexual privacy. For example, Meta states that it removes sexual imagery to prevent the nonconsensual distribution of sexual images. In response, this Article argues that banning digital sexual expression is counterproductive if the aim is to alleviate the harms inflicted by sexual privacy losses.

Contemporary sexual privacy theory, however, lacks analytical tools to explain why nudity bans harm the interests they intend to protect. This Article aims at building those tools. The main contribution is an invitation to …

#Metoo In Prison, Jenny-Brooke Condon

Washington Law Review

For American women and nonbinary people held in women’s prisons, sexual violence by state actors is, and has always been, part of imprisonment. For centuries within American women’s prisons, state actors have assaulted, traumatized, and subordinated the vulnerable people held there. Twenty years after passage of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), women who are incarcerated still face shocking levels of sexual abuse, harassment, and violence notwithstanding the law and policies that purport to address this harm. These conditions often persist despite officer firings, criminal prosecutions, and civil liability, and remain prevalent even during a #MeToo era that beckons greater …

Sex Trait Discrimination: Intersex People And Title Vii After Bostock V. Clayton County, Sam Parry

Washington Law Review

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from workplace discrimination and harassment on account of sex. Courts have historically failed to extend Title VII protections to LGBTQ+ people. However, in 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County changed this. Bostock explicitly extended Title VII’s protections against workplace discrimination to “homosexual” and “transgender” people, reasoning that it is impossible to discriminate against an employee for being gay or transgender without taking the employee’s sex into account. While Bostock is a win for LGBTQ+ rights, the opinion leaves several questions unanswered. The reasoning in …

Queer And Convincing: Reviewing Freedom Of Religion And Lgbtq+ Protections Post-Fulton V. City Of Philadelphia, Arianna Nord

Washington Law Review

Recent increases in LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination laws have generated new conversations in the free exercise of religion debate. While federal courts have been wrestling with claims brought under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment since the nineteenth century, city and state efforts to codify legal protections for LGBTQ+ individuals in the mid-twentieth century birthed novel challenges. Private individuals who do not condone intimate same-sex relationships and/or gender non-conforming behavior, on religious grounds seek greater legal protection for the ability to refuse to offer goods and services to LGBTQ+ persons. Federal and state courts must determine how to resolve these …

The Liberty Impact Of Gender, Kingsly Alec Mcconnell

Washington Law Review

Can the federal government unilaterally change your gender? In October of 2018, the New York Times revealed that the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services was considering a new federal definition of “gender.” The policy would redefine gender as a “biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth.” This policy places transsex people at a substantial risk of deprivation of property and speech rights, as gender implicates both property and expression. It also impedes the exercise of substantive due process rights and privileges and immunities. For example, inaccurate gender designations can hinder a transsex parent’s ability to raise …

Sexual Assault By Federal Actors, #Metoo, And Civil Rights, Julie Goldscheid

Washington Law Review

Calls for accountability for gender violence have permeated public discourse in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement. While much attention has focused on high profile individuals accused of harassment, less attention has been paid to sexual assaults of more vulnerable and marginalized people, including low wage workers, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-conforming people, and immigrants. In addition, at the same time that calls for accountability have targeted Hollywood, employers, universities, and even the Catholic church, relatively little outcry has focused on the longstanding and under-recognized problem of sexual assaults by government actors. This Article focuses on sexual assault …

For A Feminist Considering Surrogacy, Is Compensation Really The Key Question?, Julie Shapiro

Washington Law Review

Feminists have long been engaged in the debates over surrogacy. During the past thirty years, thousands of women throughout the world have served as surrogate mothers. The experience of these women has been studied by academics in law and in the social sciences. It is apparent that if properly conducted, surrogacy can be a rewarding experience for women and hence should not be objectionable to feminists. Improperly conducted, however, surrogacy can be a form of exploitation. Compensation is not the distinguishing factor. In this essay I offer two changes to law that would improve the surrogate’s experience of surrogacy. First, …

An Uneasy Union: Same-Sex Marriage And Religious Exemption In Washington State, Peter Dolan

Washington Law Review

Same-sex marriage promises to be one of the defining issues of the twenty-first century. While supporters of same-sex marriage have welcomed a shift in the public’s perception and increasing acceptance of same-sex marriage in the last decade, controversy remains over how to balance the competing rights between marriage equality and religious freedom. While most same-sex marriage statutes around the country include religious exemptions for religious officials, it is unclear how, or whether, these protections should extend to wedding service providers who have a religious objection to same-sex marriage. Conflicts between same-sex couples seeking wedding services and wedding service providers who …

Beyond Rational Relations: The Constitutional Infirmities Of Anti-Gay Partnership Laws Under The Equal Protection Clause, David W. Howenstine

Washington Law Review

Anti-gay partnership laws prevent state and local governments from granting rights, benefits, and obligations associated with marriage to same-sex couples. Fifteen states have anti-gay partnership laws that prohibit the creation of civil unions, domestic partnerships, or specific partnership rights for gay couples. Although enacted under legitimate state authority, these laws come into conflict with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because they isolate gay citizens for special disadvantages and burdens within the traditional political processes. Under equal protection analysis, a law that neither burdens a fundamental fight nor targets a protected class will …

Separating Dick And Jane: Single-Sex Public Education Under The Washington State Equal Rights Amendment, Inessa Baram-Blackwell

Washington Law Review

Single-sex education in public school systems has become increasingly popular in recent years. The Equal Rights Amendment to the Washington State Constitution (ERA) requires that males and females be treated equally where state action, such as public education, is involved. As demonstrated by the ERA's legislative history and Washington case law, the ERA prohibits differentiation on the basis of sex alone, which occurs where an individual would be treated differently in a given situation if that person were of the opposite sex. Legislative history and case law recognize two narrow exceptions to the ERA. Under the first exception, classification based …

Without Distinction: Recognizing Coverage Of Same-Gender Sexual Harassment Under Title Vii, Trish K. Murphy

Washington Law Review

Federal court decisions conflict regarding the applicability of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to sexual harassment cases where the alleged harasser and victim are members of the same gender. This Comment examines the courts' treatment of same-gender sexual harassment claims and argues that same-gender sexual harassment claims fall within the purview of Title VII as impermissible discrimination. In reaching this position, this Comment demonstrates that Title VII lacks gender-based limitations. It then argues that no valid justification exists for distinguishing between same-gender sexual harassment and sexual harassment involving members of different genders. Finally, this Comment suggests …

His And Her Tort Reform: Gender Injustice In Disguise, Thomas Koenig, Michael Rustad

Washington Law Review

This Article is an inquiry into the gendered nature of tort remedies. Modem tort law provides increased protection for injuries suffered by women. Drawing upon a national study of punitive damages in products liability and medical malpractice, Professors Koenig and Rustad argue that tort remedies are bifurcated into "his" and "her" tort worlds based upon gender roles. Nearly half of the punitive damages verdicts awarded to women stemmed from injuries caused by household consumer products and dangerously defective drugs or medical devices. In contrast, the punitive damages awarded to males arose from accidents involving industrial and farm machinery, asbestos, chemicals, …

Constitutional Law—Sex Discrimination Under The Equal Rights Amendment—Marchioro V. Chaney, 90 Wn. 2d 298, 582 P.2d 487 (1978), Prob. Juris. Noted, 99 S. Ct. 718 (1979), Irene Hecht

Washington Law Review

Two of several statutes governing the composition and organization of the major political parties in Washington, R.C.W. § 29.42.020 and R.C.W. § 29.42.030, require that certain pairs of party representatives consist of one man and one woman. Following an intraparty dispute various interested persons filed suit, challenging, inter alia, the constitutionality of R.C.W. §§ 29.42.020-.030 under Washington's Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The trial court granted the plaintiffs summary judgment on this claim. In a five to four decision the Washington Supreme Court reversed, upholding the constitutionality of both statutes under the ERA because they did not discriminate on the basis …

Women's Self-Defense Under Washington Law—State V. Wanrow, 88 Wn. 2d 221, 559 P.2d 548 (1977), Jennifer Marsh

Washington Law Review

The Washington Supreme Court, in State v. Wanrow, examined the issue of self-defense for women under Washington law and held that the application of traditional self-defense rules resulted in prejudicial treatment of women defendants. This note will examine the meaning of the Wanrow decision and offer support for its holding in light of available psychological and sociological data. Additionally, this note will suggest a special analytical framework utilizing social science data to test accepted legal doctrines for latent sex discrimination. The importance of these data in exposing such discrimination will be shown by examining related cases in the area of …

Title Vii: Legal Protection Against Sexual Harassment, Kerri Weisel

Washington Law Review

This comment will focus on the three major themes raised by these decisions: (1) whether sexual harassment is or can be gender-based; (2) whether or not the supervisor must be treated as the representative of the employer; and (3) whether recognition of a Title VII cause of action will inundate the courts with unfounded claims of harassment. After exploring the approaches and analyses of the various courts, the comment concludes that sexual harassment can constitute a violation of Title VII's prohibition against sex discrimination; and that whether it does or not is basically a question of fact.

The Paradox Of Preferential Treatment—Reverse Discrimination—The Implications Of Lindsay V. City Of Seattle, 86 Wn. 2d 698, 548 P.2d 320, Cert. Denied Sub Nom. Brabant V. City Of Seattle, 97 S. Ct. 237 (1976), Kerry Radcliffe

Washington Law Review

In upholding a municipal affirmative action plan, Lindsay provides a point of departure for an analysis of the reverse discrimination questions inherent in such plans. Following a brief history of the development of preferential employment remedies and an examination of the Lindsay decision, this note will evaluate preferential relief and reverse discrimination within the framework of Lindsay, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and recent court decisions. Applicability of the Lindsay methodology to future reverse discrimination cases will be examined in light of apparent Supreme Court approval of a reverse discrimination cause of action under Title VII. …

Implementing Washington's Era: Problems With Wholesale Legislative Revision, Linda H. Dybwad

Washington Law Review

This article will attempt to illustrate the legislative choices available in implementing the equal rights amendment by evaluating the many revisions contained in Chapter 154 in terms of equal rights principles and the policies underlying the criminal, family and employment provisions it amends.