Law Commons^™

Exploring Human Rights Implications Of Microfinance Initiatives, Rebecca Farrar

Rebecca Farrar

Abstract for Article: Exploring the Human Rights Implications of Microfinance Initiatives by Rebecca Farrar

Microfinance and microcredit (“MFI”) programs have been advanced as a way to make the world a better place. These programs involve making small loans to people who would otherwise be unable to borrow money to facilitate them starting their own businesses: frequently, the programs focus on women borrowers in developing countries. Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank says microfinance and microcredit programs can literally end world poverty.

This Article explores MFI from several perspectives, with particular emphasis on human rights issues. The emphasis of MFI programs …

White Women In Peril On Broadcast And Cable Television News, Prof. Leonard M. Baynes

Prof. Leonard M. Baynes

Abstract White Women in Peril on Broadcast and Cable Television News By Leonard M. Baynes It has been approximately forty years since the U.S. Supreme Court found the Fairness Doctrine constitutional and approximately twenty years since the Federal Communications Commission (the “FCC”) eliminated it. The Fairness Doctrine provided that the broadcasters were required to air important issues and to make sure that the other side of the issue was also covered. In 1969 in Red Lion, the U.S. States Supreme Court found the Fairness Doctrine constitutional under the First Amendment. In the late 1980s, the FCC decided that because of …

The Trouble With Putting All Of Your Eggs In One Basket: Using A Property Rights Model To Resolve Disputes Over Cryopreserved Embryos, Bridget M. Fuselier

Bridget M Fuselier

“The Trouble With Putting All of Your Eggs in One Basket:

Using a Property Rights Model to Resolve Disputes Over Cryopreserved Embryos”

Bridget M. Fuselier

ABSTRACT

This article covers a very current and relevant topic in today’s legal environment. Previous articles have merely discussed competing models or coverage of the disputes in the case law. My article embarks upon a comprehensive look at the specific problem presented and then goes on to offer a specific model with proposed legislation to address these disputes in a fundamentally more efficient manner.

As evidenced by current efforts in a number of states, the …

People As Crops, Evelyn L. Wilson

Evelyn L. Wilson

In 1807, Congress passed a law prohibiting the importation of slaves. The South began to feel the effect of labor shortages and prices escalated. To meet this demand, farmers in the upper south states, especially Virginia, began the systematic breeding of slaves for sale to the southwest. Through the use of statements from Virginia statesmen and from some of Virginia’s former slaves, my paper discusses slave breeding, first as a consequence of slavery, as an added benefit to the labor obtained from the slave.

My father was born in Virginia, as was his father, as was his father, as was …

Do You Want To Be An Attorney Or A Mother? Arguing For A Feminist Solution To The Problem Of Double Binds In Employment And Family Responsibilities Discrimination, Heather Bennett Stanford

Heather P Bennett

This article is a research paper analyzing and proffering solutions to family responsibilities discrimination in the workplace. The article centers around a case filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. This case was filed by a female partner at the law firm Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote claiming discrimination based on family responsibilities. I chose this topic because I feel that it is an increasingly important and emerging area of employment discrimination law. This article introduces the background of the case and analyzes possible outcomes in light of caselaw involving employment discrimination in various contexts. …

An Inconvenient Truth: Recognizing Andrea Yates Was A Victim Of Spousal Abuse: She Killed Her Children To Save Her Life, Shelby A.D. Moore

Shelby A.D. Moore

The definition of domestic violence is broad and includes physical as well as psychological and sexual abuse. However, the legal system gives considerably less attention to these latter forms of abuse. One reason for the relative neglect in the area is the assumption that physical abuse causes more harm than do psychological and sexual abuse. In reality these forms of abuse may have a far greater impact on their victims. Apart from physical abuse, greater attention must be given to those who suffer on-going psychological and sexual abuse at the hand of a spouse or intimate partner. We must consider …

Passions We Like...And Those We Don't: Anti-Gay Hate Crime Laws And The Discursive Construction Of Sex, Gender, And The Body, Yvonne Zylan

Yvonne Zylan

This article examines an oft noted, but largely unexplored, aspect of law’s functioning: its ability to constitute social reality. Specifically, I investigate the ways in which law helps define and delimit sexuality as a set of practices, experiences, and identifications. I do so by analyzing the discursive dimensions of anti-gay hate crime laws, demonstrating that such laws produce discrete discursive objects (doctrine and argument) within a specific set of institutional practices (the juridical field), and that these objects and practices in turn legitimate certain limiting narratives, instantiating them as social knowledge and as the ground of sexed and gendered performances. …

The Search For June Cleaver: International Marriage Brokerages And Mail-Order Brides, Itta C. Englander

Itta C. Englander

This paper chronicles a journey through the modern mail-order bride industry. It examines the mail-order bride industry from its early roots in the Western Hemisphere to its current permutations. It discusses the risks that mail-order brides face and explores possible solutions offered through domestic and international instrumentalities.

Left Hand, Third Finger: The Wearing Of Wedding (Or Other) Rings As A Form Of Assertive Conduct Under The Hearsay Rule, Peter Nicolas

Peter Nicolas

In this manuscript, I examine the social phenomena of making use of what I call “ring evidence” to determine an individual’s marital status or sexual orientation. More specifically, I note the common practice of identifying people as married based on the presence of a ring on the ring finger of the left hand, as gay and in a committed relationship based on the presence of a ring on the ring finger of the right hand, and as single based on the absence of a ring.

Next, I identify two problems with making use of ring evidence to draw conclusions about …

Prenatal Drug Exposure: The Impetus For Overreaction By The Legal Community Or A Serious Problem Needing A Serious Solution, Janet W. Steverson

Janet W. Steverson

In 1994 this author argued for the adoption of a legislative scheme that addressed the problems of children exposed prenatally to drugs and alcohol. Under that scheme fetal abuse became a crime. However, the sentence for the crime was probation with drug treatment and no-pregnancy conditions, rather than incarceration. Although no state has enacted the proposed legislative scheme in total, a number of states have enacted bits and pieces of the scheme. No state has, however, made fetal abuse a crime.

In addition to the legislation that has been enacted since 1994, a number of other changes have occurred that …

Domestic Violence, The Rucker Decision Interpretation Of 42 U.S.C. 1437d (1) (6), Sexual Harassment In Public Housing, And Municipal Violations Of The Eighth Amendment: Making Women Homeless And Keeping Them Homeless, Shirley D. Howell

Shirley D. Howell

I spent this past summer researching explanations for the rapidly increasing phenomenon of female homelessness in America. While personal deficiencies such as alcoholism, mental illness and previous incarceration account for some female homelessness, I concluded that domestic violence, a flawed interpretation of 42 U.S.C. 1437d(1)(6), sexual harassment in public housing, and municipal violations of the Eighth Amendment are pervasive, but less frequently recognized, causes of female homelessness.

This article examines the great poverty that has befallen so many women in America and its causes. Section I discusses homelessness statistically. Section II examines domestic violence, flawed judicial interpretations, and sexual harassment …

Gender, Masculinities And Immigrant Workers: Using Gendered Experiences In The Las Vegas Residential Construction Trades To Reframe Title Vii Analysis, Leticia M. Saucedo

Leticia M. Saucedo

This Article explores the intersection of gender, immigration and masculinities in the context of the immigrant workplace in the United States. It does so by analyzing some of the findings from the Immigrant Construction Worker Study, a qualitative empirical study conducted in Las Vegas, Nevada of immigrant construction workers employed in the residential construction industry. Between 2006 and 2007 the author and her collaborator, sociologist Cristina Morales, interviewed over seventy-five (75) male and female construction workers in Las Vegas, with the purpose of understanding the demographic changes in the residential construction industry and their effects on workers. The study’s empirical …

The New Boys: Women With Disabilities And The Legal Profession, Carrie G. Basas

Carrie G Basas

This essay fuses the fields of law, feminist theory, and cultural studies to examine the status of women attorneys with disabilities. It is the first study of its kind in the United States. The author conducted an empirical, qualitative, and ethnographic study of women attorneys with disabilities in the United States. Thirty-eight attorneys participated and their narratives form the basis for critical analysis of disability animus and discrimination in the legal profession. The results show an alarming trend toward disabled women attorneys self-accommodating in the workplace, rather than enforcing their employment rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Relying on …

Good Ole’ Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Good Ole’ Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Good Ole’ Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Good Ole’ Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Good Ole’ Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Crime And Moral Condemnation, John H. Bogart

John H Bogart

“Crime and Moral Condemnation” considers the relationship between enforcement of criminal law and moral condemnation of conduct by examining the enforcement of California’s feticide statute over a 50 year period in Sacramento. The article focuses in particular on the trial of Dr. T. Wah Hing, one of only three persons prosecuted during the period, and for whom a full trial transcript exists. The article suggests that abortion was not the object of widespread moral condemnation for reasons in addition to the paucity of prosecution, and that enforcement of the feticide statute was more the result of action by the California …

Gender And The Chinese Legal Profession In Historical Perspective: From Heaven And Earth To Rule Of Woman?, Mary Szto

Mary Szto

This article first discusses the current phenomenon of women judges and male lawyers in China. Many women have joined the ranks of the Chinese judiciary because this is considered a stable job conducive to caring for one’s family, as opposed to being a lawyer, which requires business travel and heavy client entertaining. I then trace this phenomenon to ancient views of Heaven, earth, gender and law in China. In this yin/yang framework, men had primary responsibility for providing sustenance for both this life and the life to come and women were relegated to the “inner chambers”. Also, law was secondary …

Good Ole’ Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Good Ole’ Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Good Ole' Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Good Ole’ Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Good Ole' Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Good Ole’ Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Good Ole’ Boys Apply Only: How The Ncaa Discriminates Against Minorities & Women In Collegiate Coaching, Nathan Berkeley

Nathan Berkeley

This note discusses the early-2008 NCAA Rule mandating that every NCAA Division I football team interview at least one minority head coach candidate when a vacancy evolves. I explore the possible reasons for the racial inequities and the unique circumstances in trying to implement an affirmative action program for unique high level positions. I argue that the NCAA Rule, as it stands now, is ineffective because there is currently no enforcement mechanism and that the Rule should be expanded to include other sports and women.

Of Authorship And Audacity: An Empirical Study Of Gender Disparity And Privilege In The “Top Ten” Law Reviews, Minna J. Kotkin

Minna J. Kotkin

In today’s law schools, article placement is a significant consideration in hiring, promotion, tenure, and lateral mobility. This article analyzes authorship by gender and home school “privilege” in 15 law reviews (the “top ten”) over a three year period. It compares these data with the gender composition of the professoriate and of the 15 schools’ faculties, using Association of American Law Schools and American Bar Association statistics. The mean percentage of articles authored by one or more women (and no men) is 20.3. Nationally, women comprise 31% of the tenured/tenure-track professoriate and 28.3% at the 15 schools. At the associate …

Gendercide And The Cultural Context Of Sex Trafficking In China, Susan W. Tiefenbrun, Susan W. Tiefenbrun

Susan W Tiefenbrun

Abstract:Gendercide and the Cultural Context of Sex Trafficking in China

By Susan Tiefenbrun and Christie Edwards

Women in China are bought and sold, murdered and made to disappear in order to comply with a strict government One Child Policy that coincides with the cultural tradition of male-child preference and discrimination against women. Everyday “500 female suicides” occur in China because of “violence against women and girls, discrimination [against women] in education and employment, the traditional preference for male children, the country’s birth limitation policies, and other societal factors…” As a result of a widespread and arguably systematic disappearance and death …

Some Penetrating Observations On The Fifth Anniversary Of Lawrence V. Texas: Privacy, Dominance, And Substantive Equality Theory, Shannon Gilreath

Shannon Gilreath

This article, “Some Penetrating Observations on the Fifth Anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas: Privacy, Dominance, and Substantive Equality Theory,” asks the reader to look at the equality claims of minority groups at a new conceptual level. With the Lawrence decision as its critical paradigm, the essay proceeds through several observations on the failure of privacy/substantive due process grounded opinions to deliver rights to minorities. This discussion feeds an ultimate criticism of the equality analysis (or lack thereof) of many of the Court’s principal minority rights opinions. Particularly, I am critical of the longstanding notion that equal protection of the laws …