Law Commons^™

Snyder V. Louisiana: Continuing The Historical Trend Towards Increased Scrutiny Of Peremptory Challenges, John P. Bringewatt

Michigan Law Review

In March 2008, the Supreme Court decided Snyder v. Louisiana, the latest in the line of progeny of Batson v. Kentucky. This Note demonstrates that Snyder is part of a historical pattern of Supreme Court decisions concerning the use of peremptory challenges in which the Court has moved away from permitting the unfettered use of the peremptory challenge in favor of stronger Equal Protection considerations. Snyder alters the requirements for trial judges in deciding Batson challenges by requiring them to provide some explanation of their reasons for accepting a prosecutor's justification of a peremptory challenge. Snyder is the …

Diversity V. Colorblindness, Patrick S. Shin

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Moving Beyond The Immutability Debate In The Fight For Equality After Proposition 8., M.K.B. Darmer, Tiffany Chang

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court issued its historic decision regarding marriage rights for same-sex couples. In the course of its opinion, the court found that classifications based upon sexual orientation are subject to the protections of “strict scrutiny” for purposes of the state’s equal protection clause. The court also found that marriage is a fundamental right that extends to same-sex couples. On November 4, 2008, 52% of California voters voted for Proposition 8, which purported to “amend” the state constitution by adding fourteen words in a new clause following the equal protection clause: “only marriage between a …

Law's Expressive Value In Combating Cyber Gender Harassment, Danielle Keats Citron

Michigan Law Review

The online harassment of women exemplifies twenty-first century behavior that profoundly harms women yet too often remains overlooked and even trivialized. This harassment includes rape threats, doctored photographs portraying women being strangled, postings of women's home addresses alongside suggestions that they are interested in anonymous sex, and technological attacks that shut down blogs and websites. It impedes women's full participation in online life, often driving them offline, and undermines their autonomy, identity, dignity, and well-being. But the public and law enforcement routinely marginalize women's experiences, deeming the harassment harmless teasing that women should expect, and tolerate, given the internet's Wild …

How To Write A Life: Some Thoughts On Fixation And The Copyright/Privacy Divide, Laura A. Heymann

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lilly Ledbetter, Take Two: The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Of 2009 And The Discovery Rule's Place In The Pay Discrimination Puzzle, Nancy Zisk

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Employment Law - Antidiscrimination - Heading Toward Federal Protection For Sexual Orientation Discrimination?, Matthew Barker

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword: What North Carolina Can Learn From The League Of Women Voters Of Indiana, Inc. V. Rokita Decision, J. Christopher Heagarty

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Equal Opportunities Do Not Always Equate To Equal Representation: How Bartlett V. Strickland Is A Regression In The Face Of The Ongoing Civil Rights Movement, Brandon Roseman

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Is Indiana's Voter Id Law A Bridge To Nowhere, Matthew D. Neumann

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Discriminatory Acquittal, Tania Tetlow

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This article is the first to analyze a pervasive and unexplored constitutional problem: the rights of crime victims against unconstitutional discrimination by juries. From the Emmett Till trial to that of Rodney King, there is a long history of juries acquitting white defendants charged with violence against black victims. Modem empirical evidence continues to show a devaluation of black victims; dramatic disparities exist in death sentence and rape conviction rates according to the race of the victim. Moreover, just as juries have permitted violence against those who allegedly violated the racial order, juries use acquittals to punish female victims of …

Transgender Bathroom Usage: A Privileging Of Biology And Physical Difference In The Law, Jill D. Weinberg

Buffalo Journal of Gender, Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Sexual Identity As A Fundamental Human Right, Anthony R. Reeves

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Narco-Terrorism: Could The Legislative And Prosecutorial Responses Threaten Our Civil Liberties?, John E. Thomas, Jr.

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Many Plaintiffs Are Enough? Venue In Title Vii Class Actions, Piper Hoffman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article critiques the recent rash of federal district court opinions holding that all named plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit alleging employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 must satisfy the venue requirements in the court where they filed the action. Neither the text nor the history of Title VII requires this prevailing interpretation; to the contrary, requiring every named plaintiff to satisfy venue requirements in the same court undermines the legislative purpose behind both Title VII and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 by creating a new obstacle to employees seeking to enforce …

Civil Rights In International Law: Compliance With Aspects Of The "International Bill Of Rights", Beth Simmons

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

International law has developed what many might consider a constitutional understanding of individual civil rights that individuals can claim vis-à-vis their own governments. This article discusses the development of aspects of international law relating to civil rights and argues that if this body of law is meaningful, we should see evidence of links between acceptance of international legal obligation and domestic practices. Recognizing that external forms of enforcement of civil rights is unlikely (because doing so is not generally in the interest of potential "enforcers"), I argue that international civil rights treaties will have their greatest effect where stakeholders-local citizens-have …

Restraining The Heartless: Racist Speech And Minority Rights, Jeannine Bell

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: An Ocean Apart? Freedom of Expression in Europe and the United States. This Article was originally written in French and delivered as a conference paper at a symposium held by the Center for American Law of the University of Paris II (Panthèon-Assas) on January 18-19, 2008.

Discriminatory Retaliation: Title Vii Protection For The Cooperating Employee, Megan E. Mowrey

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Felon Disenfranchisement: A Call For Legislative Reform, Timothy P. Gilligan

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

Felon Disenfranchisement As A Legitimate State Regulation, Boyoung Kang

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

"One Of The Dirty Secrets Of American Corrections": Retaliation, Surplus Power, And Whistleblowing Inmates, James E. Robertson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Retaliation is deeply engrained in the correctional office subculture; it may well be in the normative response when an inmate files a grievance, a statutory precondition for filing a civil rights action. This Article, the first to address comprehensively the sociological and constitutional aspects of retaliation, argues for protecting grievants through safeguards much like those accorded whistleblowers. Part I of the Article provides a socio-legal primer on correctional officer retaliation by addressing the frequency of retaliation, its causes, and its constitutional taxonomy. Part II describes the elements of a prima facie case of unconstitutional retaliation under § 1983. Part III …

Charting The Course To Same Sex Marriage, William J. Rich

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

The Shot Heard Around The Lgbt World: Bowers V Hardwick As A Mobilizing Force For The National Gay And Lesbian Task Force, Elizabeth Sheyn

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

On Lilly Ledbetter's Liberty: Why Equal Pay For Equal Work Remains An Elusive Reality, Katie Putnam

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Separate But Unequal - When Overcrowed: Sex Discrimination In Jail Early Release Policies, Lara Hoffman

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

It is currently constitutional to house male and female prisoners in separate jail facilities based solely on gender. But is it also constitutional to provide separate early release policies to male and female prisoners convicted of the same crime, in the same county, and sentenced to the same length of time based solely on gender and separate housing arrangements? For decades, jail officials in many counties have released some prisoners before the end of their judicially mandated sentences to relieve overcrowding and meet budget constraints. A small study of jails around the country conducted as research for this Article reflects …

Transforming Transsexual And Transgender Rights, L. Camille Hebert

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

State and federal employment anti-discrimination statutes have failed to adequately protect transsexual and transgendered individuals in the workplace. Although advancements have been made in recent years regarding the protection of sexual minorities, transsexual and transgendered employees continue to receive sporadic and noncomprehensive protection. Various approaches have been taken to extend protection against discrimination to these individuals, including the utilization of disability protection statutes, the expansion of anti-discrimination statutes, and the protection of transsexual and transgendered individuals as a class; however, these approaches have proven flawed in providing adequate protection.

An examination of anti-discrimination law shows that these measures, while perhaps …

Let 'Em Work, Let 'Em Nurse: Accommodation For Breastfeeding Employees In West Virginia, Matthew L. Williams

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Desegregating Resegregation Efforts: Providing All Students Opportunities To Excel In Advanced Mathematics Courses, Spencer C. Weiler, Susan Walker

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Nervous Laughter And The High Cost Of Equality: Renewing "No Child Left Behind" Will Safeguard A Vibrant Federalism And A Path Toward Educational Excellence, Anthony Consiglio

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Global Crisis Writ Large: The Effects Of Being Stateless In Thailand On Hill-Tribe Children,, Joy K. Park, John E. Tanagho, Mary E. Weicher Gaudette

San Diego International Law Journal

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), "[n]o region of the world has been left untouched by the statelessness issue." International law defines a stateless person as someone "who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law." Yet across the nations, stateless persons do not desire citizenship simply for the sake of citizenship. Ultimately, citizenship, or membership in a nation, provides a link between an individual and that nation and carries with it fundamental benefits and rights. Correspondingly,lack of citizenship translates into a denial of benefits and rights, including basic …