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Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Law

Racial Discrimination In Business Transactions, Robert E. Suggs Dec 2009

Racial Discrimination In Business Transactions, Robert E. Suggs

Robert E. Suggs

When the Supreme Court invalidated a municipal minority business set-aside in City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co., it failed to recognize the special circumstances confronting the minority entrepreneur. Contrary to the Court’s own erroneous assertion that “[s]tates and their local subdivisions have many legislative weapons at their disposal both to punish and prevent present [business] discrimination ….” – they do not. Nor can they create effective antidiscrimination remedies as a practical matter. As a result that decision leaves minority business owners vulnerable to discrimination from other business firms but without a remedy. Part I identifies the glaring failure of …


Felon Disenfranchisement And The Systemic Racism Of The Criminal Justice System, Matthew D. Itkin May 2009

Felon Disenfranchisement And The Systemic Racism Of The Criminal Justice System, Matthew D. Itkin

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.


Poll Workers, Election Administration, And The Problem Of Implicit Bias, Antony Page, Michael J. Pitts Jan 2009

Poll Workers, Election Administration, And The Problem Of Implicit Bias, Antony Page, Michael J. Pitts

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Racial bias in election administration-more specifically, in the interaction between poll workers and voters at a polling place on election day-may be implicit, or unconscious. Indeed, the operation of a polling place may present an "optimal" setting for unconscious racial bias. Poll workers sometimes have legal discretion to decide whether or not a prospective voter gets to cast a ballot, and they operate in an environment where they may have to make quick decisions, based on little information, with few concrete incentives for accuracy, and with little opportunity to learn from their errors. Even where the letter of the law …


The Bfoq Defense: Title Vii’S Concession To Gender Discrimination, Katie Manley Jan 2009

The Bfoq Defense: Title Vii’S Concession To Gender Discrimination, Katie Manley

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Should the BFOQ exception still exist? Because permitting discrimination under Title VII seems fundamentally contrary to the anti-discrimination purpose of the statute, this article questions whether the BFOQ defense is consistent with the aims of Title VII or whether, in actuality, the defense undermines the Act's effectiveness by providing a loophole for employers to participate in the discriminatory practices Title VII seeks to forbid.


Performing Discretion Or Performing Discrimination: Race, Ritual, And Peremptory Challenges In Capital Jury Selection, Melynda J. Price Jan 2009

Performing Discretion Or Performing Discrimination: Race, Ritual, And Peremptory Challenges In Capital Jury Selection, Melynda J. Price

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Research shows the mere presence of Blacks on capital juries-- on the rare occasions they are seated--can mean the difference between life and death. Peremptory challenges are the primary method to remove these pivotal participants. Batson v. Kentucky developed hearings as an immediate remedy for the unconstitutional removal of jurors through racially motivated peremptory challenges. These proceedings have become rituals that sanction continued bias in the jury selection process and ultimately affect the outcome of capital trials. This Article deconstructs the role of the Batson ritual in legitimating the removal of African American jurors. These perfunctory hearings fail to meaningfully …


Civil Rights Litigation From The October 2007 Term, Martin A. Schwartz Jan 2009

Civil Rights Litigation From The October 2007 Term, Martin A. Schwartz

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.


Confusing Cause And Effect, Lawrence Rosenthal Dec 2008

Confusing Cause And Effect, Lawrence Rosenthal

Lawrence Rosenthal

This brief essay commenting on Paul Butler's article, "Race Based Jury Nullification: Black Power in the Criminal Justice System," prepared for the Criminal Law Conversations project, argues that Professor Butler's proposal of race-based jury nullification to address the African-American community's perception of racial injustice in the administration of the criminal laws, particularly the drug laws, confuses cause and effect. The most important cause of African-American dissatisfaction with the criminal justice system is its inability to keep inner-city communities safe. A regime of race-based jury nullification, in turn, would aggravate rather than ameliorate this serious problem.