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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Law

George Bundy Smith - A Good Lawyer , John D. Feerick Jan 2004

George Bundy Smith - A Good Lawyer , John D. Feerick

Faculty Scholarship

As I have noted elsewhere, if I were asked to pick one moment in the legal history of the country where what ought to be came together with what is, it would be the unanimous decision of nine white men in Brown v. Board of Education dismantling the segregation of white and black children in public education. This was a watershed moment in the history of law. As Judge Robert Carter of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has written, this decision will "always stand at the highest pinnacle of American judicial expression because …


Understanding The Mark: Race, Stigma, And Equality In Context, Robin A. Lenhardt Jan 2004

Understanding The Mark: Race, Stigma, And Equality In Context, Robin A. Lenhardt

Faculty Scholarship

In its Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence, the Supreme Court regards intentional discrimination as the principal source of racial injury in the United States. In this Article, R.A. Lenhardt argues that racial stigma, not intentional discrimination, constitutes the main source of racial harm and that courts must take the social science insight that most racialized conduct or thought is unconscious, rather than intentional, into account in their constitutional analyses of acts or policies challenged on the grounds of race. Drawing on the social science work of Erving Goffman and the ground-breaking work of Charles H. Lawrence, Professor Lenhardt argues that courts should …


Causation In Antidiscrimination Law: Beyond Intent Versus Impact , Sheila R. Foster Jan 2004

Causation In Antidiscrimination Law: Beyond Intent Versus Impact , Sheila R. Foster

Faculty Scholarship

Antidiscrimination law and scholarship have long been engaged in the debate over whether a discriminatory intent or disparate impact test best captures the type of discrimination the law should, or can, prohibit. This Article suggests that we move beyond this dichotomous debate and focus instead on how courts reason about discrimination cases brought under both the intent and impact doctrines. This Article identifies a distinct pattern, or framework, in the way courts reason about discrimination in both types of cases that defies neat doctrinal labels. reasoning process, which I shorthandedly refer to as "causation," is at the heart of evidentiary …


Challenge Of Environmental Justice, The, Sheila R. Foster Jan 2004

Challenge Of Environmental Justice, The, Sheila R. Foster

Faculty Scholarship

The residents of Camden, New Jersey do not live in a bustling city as do residents living across the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Instead, Camden's largely minority population lives in an environmentally and economically devastated neighborhood replete with two Superfund sites. Garbage incinerators, sewage treatment plants and polluting factories have been placed in Camden because the poor have historically been less likely to protest than wealthier communities. In 1997, concerned Camden residents formed the South Camden Citizens in Action ( SCCA ) association to confront the continued encroachment by polluting factories and sewage treatment centers threatening their lives and …


Playing With Work: Must "Work" Be Treated As A "Major Life Activity" For Purposes Of The Americans With Disability Act?, Daniel A. Mcmillan Jan 2004

Playing With Work: Must "Work" Be Treated As A "Major Life Activity" For Purposes Of The Americans With Disability Act?, Daniel A. Mcmillan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note explores the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”) and how two Supreme Court decisions, Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc. and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky v. Williams, could ultimately restrict the Act's reach. The ADA protects disabled individuals from discrimination in employment, in access to services by both private and public entities, and in access to telecommunications. The Act defines a disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual.” According to the Note, under traditional agency regulations and case law from the lower courts “work” …


The Conception Of Brown, Robert L. Carter Jan 2004

The Conception Of Brown, Robert L. Carter

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article discusses the pervasive racism that continues to exist in the United States and examines the critical role that the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education played in transforming race relations. The Article stresses the need to find a way to rid the country of race and color differentiation and emphasizes the deleterious effect that segregated school systems have on black school childrens ability to learn. The Article examines how Brown came about and states that the Court's rejection of Plessy v. Ferguson is what makes the case so significant. The Article discusses some of the important …


To Be Brown In Brazil: Education And Segregation Latin American Style Colloquium - Relearning Brown: Applying The Lessons Of Brown To The Challenges Of The Twenty-First Century, Tanya K. Hernandez Jan 2004

To Be Brown In Brazil: Education And Segregation Latin American Style Colloquium - Relearning Brown: Applying The Lessons Of Brown To The Challenges Of The Twenty-First Century, Tanya K. Hernandez

Faculty Scholarship

As a scholar who studies civil rights movements from a comparative perspective, the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education1 decision causes me to query the power of Brown as a symbol of equality outside of the United States. Because there is a larger community of African descendants living in Latin America and the Caribbean than there is in the United States, examining the role of Brown in Latin America and the Caribbean is particularly worthwhile. Furthermore, focusing on the Latin American and Caribbean contexts is also relevant due to the significant influence of the …


The Judicial Betrayal Of Blacks - Again: The Supreme Court's Destruction Of The Hopes Raised By Brown V. Board Of Education, Nathaniel R. Jones Jan 2004

The Judicial Betrayal Of Blacks - Again: The Supreme Court's Destruction Of The Hopes Raised By Brown V. Board Of Education, Nathaniel R. Jones

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article discusses the history of school desegregation beginning with the pivotal decision in Brown v. Board of Education and noting the hopes that the case raised for black americans. The Article notes the resistance that Brown faced, especially from political forces who began to subvert the desegregation process, and examines the Supreme Court's subsequent decisions which aimed to secure Brown's objectives. The Article also examines the desegregation attempts in the North and discusses the difficulties plaintiffs faced in proving racial discrimination in school districts. The Article concludes by stating that the commitment to desegregation is waring and that segregation …


"Press Prudence," Nazi Student Orders, And Jim Crow, Louis H. Pollak Jan 2004

"Press Prudence," Nazi Student Orders, And Jim Crow, Louis H. Pollak

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article discusses the 1931 decision of the Austrian Constitutional Court in which it was held that rules promulgated by the University of Vienna, which aimed to separate the student body into four ethnically-defined nations, were invalid. The Article notes the striking similarities of the case to Brown v. Board of Education and other American equal protection education cases. In examining the decision the article states that in declining to uphold an equivalent to the 'separate but equal' doctrine, the Austrian justices did for Austrian law what Plessy had failed to do for US law thirty five years before. The …


Austria's Pre-War Brown V. Board Of Education, Maria L. Marcus Jan 2004

Austria's Pre-War Brown V. Board Of Education, Maria L. Marcus

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the Austrian Constitutional Court's 1931 decision in which it held that the University of Vienna's regulations dividing students into ethnically based groups was unconstitutional. The article compares the similarities and differences between this case and later critical American equal opportunity cases including Brown v. Board of Education and suggests that an understanding of the current racial challenges is most effective by examining both global and American perspectives. This article explores the balance between maintaining universities autonomy and ensuring that racism does not foster in an institution free from judicial intervention. In discussing two cases, this article points …


Every Day Is A Good Day For A Judge To Lay Down His Professional Life For Justice , Jack B. Weinstein Jan 2004

Every Day Is A Good Day For A Judge To Lay Down His Professional Life For Justice , Jack B. Weinstein

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the notion that a judge’s obligation to obey precedent should, if circumstances require, be overridden in an effort to oppose gross injustices and violations. Even in the face of critisicim and outrage, judges, because of their intimate knowledge of the system and unique vantage point, have a duty to speak out against any law that they find morally repugnant and to expose injustices wherever they can. The article analyses the various actions that judges may take to avoid enforcing laws that they believe to be fundamentally unjust, including the option of resignation and the power of lower …