Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

Defining The Lifeblood: The Search For A Sensible Ministerial Exception Test, Summer E. Allen

Pepperdine Law Review

Over the past 40 years, the circuit courts have acknowledged a ministerial exception to Title VII and other anti-discrimination laws that gives churches the freedom to determine who serves in ministerial roles as a voice of a church’s faith. In January of 2012, the Supreme Court officially adopted the exception into its jurisprudence. The opinion, however, left many questions unanswered. Mainly, the decision failed to give any guidance to lower courts regarding who is and who is not a minister. This article traces the history of the ministerial exception and the church autonomy doctrine back to the Religion Clauses in …

Seen But Not Heard: Advocating For Children In New York State, Sarah L. Marx

Touro Law Review

On November 1, 2008, the New York State Bar Association House of Delegates approved a resolution affirming their commitment towards establishing a civil right to counsel in New York State. One of the issues identified is a child's right to representation not only in criminal, but also civil proceedings. Unlike other litigant groups, children have a statutorily established right to council in civil proceedings. However, as the white paper, adopted by the New State Bar Association, details, there are gaps in children 's advocacy throughout New York State. While significant steps towards improvement have recently taken place, there is still …

Special Populations: Mobilization For Change

Touro Law Review

This Article is based on a transcript of a break-out discussion which took place at An Obvious Truth: Creating an Action Blueprint for a Civil Right to Counsel in New York State, held at Touro Law Center, Central Islip, New York, in March 2008. The discussion was moderated by Karen L. Nicolson, Michael Williams, and Toby Golick.

This Article assesses the needs of various special populations and the possible strategies and solutions to create change through enacting a civil right to counsel. The Article is intended to capture information and viewpoints of the people who participated in the break-out discussion …

Advocacy In Health Proceedings In New York State, Kia C. Franklin

Touro Law Review

Individuals and communities navigating the healthcare system without an advocate often experience devastating outcomes and become burdened with unnecessary costs. These negative outcomes undermine the very utility of our healthcare system. The creation of a legal right to counsel for individuals with critical health related claims would meet an important and unmet need in our health and legal systems by empowering patients, improving the quality of health for many, and preventing unnecessary costs to the health care system.

A dedicated group of healthcare advocates, lawyers, public policy analysts, and other concerned individuals gathered together at Touro Law Center to strategize …

The Tipping Point On The Scales Of Civil Justice, Dennis A. Kaufman

Touro Law Review

The right to counsel in civil cases-metaphorically known as Civil Gideon-has gained traction in segments of the legal community, but advances have thus far been legislative, and while significant, adoption has been slow, less than cohesive or thematic and inconsistent across the country. Patchwork recognition and implementation by legislatures forms a fragile and uneven safety net. The availability of counsel is far from comprehensive. The preferred path to a comprehensive right to counsel in civil matters goes through the United States Supreme Court, but the Court refused to recognize a due process constitutional right to counsel in a civil matter …

Gideon Meets Goldberg: The Case For A Qualified Right To Counsel In Welfare Hearings, Stephen Loffredo, Don Friedman

Touro Law Review

In Goldberg v. Kelly, the Supreme Court held that welfare recipients have a right under the Due Process Clause to notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard before the state may terminate assistance. However, the Court stopped short of holding due process requires states to appoint counsel to represent claimants at these constitutionally mandated hearings. As a result, in the vast majority of administrative hearings involving welfare benefits, claimants- desperately poor, and often with little formal education- must appear pro se while trained advocates represent the government. Drawing on the theory of underenforced constitutional norms, first articulated by Dean …

Sheltering Counsel: Towards A Right To A Lawyer In Eviction Proceedings, Raymond H. Brescia

Touro Law Review

This Article provides an overview of the current arguments presented by advocates who seek to establish a right to counsel for indigent tenants in eviction proceedings and assesses the strength of those arguments in the current political, social, and economic milieu. It is beyond question that the overwhelming majority of low-income tenants are unrepresented in proceedings in which their homes are in jeopardy and having counsel in such proceedings often prevents eviction and homelessness. Preventing those evictions reduces the human cost of homelessness, saves government substantial money by not having to provide shelter to the homeless, and preserves the stock …

In The Interests Of Justice: Human Rights And The Right To Counsel In Civil Cases, Martha F. Davis

Touro Law Review

This report examines the international human rights treaties binding on the United States as well as other non-binding international human rights documents to ascertain the status of the right to counsel in civil cases, the so-called "Civil Gideon" right. The United Nations treaty monitoring bodies responsible for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination have both indicated that legal assistance may be required to ensure fairness in civil cases. The Charter of the Organization of American States, to which the United States is a party, goes farther …

Current Developments In Advocacy To Expand The Civil Right To Counsel, Paul Marvy, Laura Klein Abel

Touro Law Review

Around the country, state and local bar associations, access to justice commissions, and local advocacy groups are working to expand the right to counsel in their jurisdictions. The passage of three statutes in the past three years is tangible evidence of their efforts. Many civil right to counsel advocates take as their mandate a resolution passed unanimously by the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates two years ago, calling on the government to provide counsel in cases in which “basic human needs are at stake.” This Article describes efforts underway in eleven states to expand the right to counsel, as …

Panel Discussion: International, National, And Local Perspectives On Civil Right To Counsel, Andrew Scherer, Martha F. Davis, Debra Gardner, Rosie Mendez, Juanita B. Newton, Adriene Holder, Laura K. Abel

Touro Law Review

The following is based on a transcript of a panel discussion which took place at An Obvious Truth: Creating an Action Blueprint for a Civil Right to Counsel in New York State, held at Touro Law Center, Central Islip, New York, in March, 2008.

Keynote Address: The Evolution And Importance Of Creating A Civil Right To Counsel, Wade Henderson

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Advocating For A Civil Right To Counsel In New York State, Kathryn G. Madigan

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Brief Of Amici Curiae Committee Of Interns And Residents Seiu; Doctors Council Seiu; And Korean American Medical Association In Support Of Respondent, Charlotte Garden, Anjana Malhotra, Robert S. Chang, Lorraine K. Bannai, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Student clinic at Seattle University School of Law files amicus brief in employment discrimination retaliation case before the U.S. Supreme Court; brief warns of the adverse consequences weak anti-retaliation protections will have on public health

Should Healthcare Be A Fundamental Right?, Andrea "Truth" Mcdavid, Brandon A. Robinson

North Carolina Central University Science & Intellectual Property Law Review

No abstract provided.

Catch Twentywu The Oral Argument In Fisher V. University Of Texas And The Obfuscation Of Critical Mass, Sheldon Bernard Lyke

NULR Online

No abstract provided.

Pimping Brown V. Board Of Education: The Destruction Of African-American Schools And The Mis-Education Of African-American Students, Irving Joyner

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Social Change Requires Civic Infrastructure, Harold A. Mcdougall Iii

School of Law Faculty Publications

Article explores how civil society might become sufficiently organized to hold business accountable beyond consumer choice, and government beyond merely voting.

“Queering The Rainbow Nation”: An Analysis Of 11 Gay And Lesbian Capetonians’ Perceptions Of Lgbt Identity In Cape Town And The South African Government’S Commitment To Lgbt Equality, Ryan Sasse

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The South African government has made vast strides in the fight for LGBT equality, strides that are unparalleled by any other nation on the African continent. Unfortunately, the lack of hate crime legislation within the country—as well as the government’s unwillingness to address the nation’s resulting violence—often overshadows the accomplishments that have been made over the last few years. Keeping in mind that “[f]eminist research goals foster empowerment and emancipation for women and other marginalized groups, and feminist researchers often apply their findings in the service of promoting social justice for women,” we can see how the LGBT community is …

Federal Incarceration By Contract In A Post-Minneci World: Legislation To Equalize The Constitutional Rights Of Prisoners, Allison L. Waks

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In the 2012 case Minneci v. Pollard, the United States Supreme Court held that federal prisoners assigned to privately-run prisons may not bring actions for violations of their Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment and may instead bring actions sounding only in state tort law. A consequence of this decision is that the arbitrary assignment of some federal prisoners to privately-run prisons deprives them of an equal opportunity to vindicate this federal constitutional right and pursue a federal remedy. Yet all federal prisoners should be entitled to the same protection under the United States Constitution-regardless of the type …

The Meaning Of The Seventeenth Amendment And A Century Of State Defiance, Zachary D. Clopton, Steven E. Art

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Nearly a century ago, the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution worked a substantial change in American government, dictating that the people should elect their senators by popular vote. Despite its significance, there has been little written about what the Amendment means or how it works. This Article provides a comprehensive interpretation of the Seventeenth Amendment based on the text of the Amendment and a variety of other sources: historical and textual antecedents; relevant Supreme Court decisions; the complete debates in Congress; and the social and political factors that led to this new constitutional provision. Among other things, this analysis …

After Dothard: Female Correctional Workers And The Challenge To Employment Law, Brenda V. Smith, Melissa C. Loomis

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This article examines a profession where women have made great strides - corrections. Using an equality framework, corrections and other non-traditional professions were the first target of the feminist movement in the 1970s. By and large, feminists were successful in creating greater porosity for women in law enforcement, emergency services, corrections, and the military. While women have entered these traditionally masculine spaces, they still suffer from an achievement gap. They are still underrepresented in leadership positions and marginalized in these settings; are still the targets of discrimination based on race, gender, and perceived sexual orientation; and are less likely than …

Capacity And Implementation For Judicial Reforms In Morocco: “Painting A Building That Is Collapsing”, Hally Bert

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Currently in Morocco the country awaits the legitimate implementation of the 2011 assurances of rights and freedoms, an undertaking that would require a great amount of resources, state capacity, and political will. As Morocco changes and policies evolve the nation is balancing tradition with modernity. In terms of the judiciary, reform programs have been heavily funded by the west with the aim of modernizing and amending the entire legal system in Morocco. This means that influence and leadership in reforms has come in part from sources outside of Morocco. Looking at reforms over the last ten years and especially with …

The Surprising Role Of Racial Hierarchy In The Civil Rights Jurisprudence Of The First Justice John Marshall Harlan, Davison M. Douglas

Faculty Publications

The first Justice John Marshall Harlan’s status as one of the greatest Supreme Court Justices in American history rests largely upon his civil rights jurisprudence. The literature exploring the nuances of Harlan’s civil rights jurisprudence is vast. Far less attention has been paid to the reasons for Harlan’s strong civil rights views. Developing a rich sense of Harlan’s thinking has been difficult because Harlan did not leave behind a large trove of non-judicial writings. There is, however, a remarkable source of Harlan’s thought that has been largely overlooked by scholars: Harlan’s constitutional law lectures at George Washington Law School of …

Rights Lawyer Essentialism And The Next Generation Of Rights Critics, Alan K. Chen

Michigan Law Review

Richard Thompson Ford does not care much for the current state of civil rights. In his provocative new book, Rights Gone Wrong: How Law Corrupts the Struggle for Equality, Ford lends an original, if often misdirected, voice to the chorus of contemporary critics of the American legal regime of rights. Situating himself among "second generation" rights critics (p. 259), Ford lays out a comprehensive indictment of current approaches to civil rights litigation as well as civil rights activism. His work is both intriguing and provocative, and it raises a number of issues that are surely worth serious consideration and discussion. …

Tyrone Garner's Lawrence V. Texas, Marc Spindelman

Michigan Law Review

Dale Carpenter's Flagrant Conduct: The Story of Lawrence v. Texas has been roundly greeted with well-earned praise. After exploring the book's understanding of Lawrence v. Texas as a great civil rights victory for lesbian and gay rights, this Review offers an alternative perspective on the case. Built from facts about the background of the case that the book supplies, and organized in particular around the story that the book tells about Tyrone Garner and his life, this alternative perspective on Lawrence explores and assesses some of what the decision may mean not only for sexual orientation equality but also for …

Law And Local Activism: Uncovering The Civil Rights History Of Chambers V. Mississippi, Emily Prifogle

Articles

Countless academics have examined and discussed the importance of Chambers v. Mississippi in a multitude of areas including compulsory due process, admission of hearsay, third party guilt evidence, false confessions, racial evaluations of hearsay and witnesses, and morally reasonable verdicts. In contrast, this article attempts to excavate the account of a rural Mississippi community’s struggle for rights that underlies the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Chambers. On its face, the case has no link or reference to the civil rights movement. However, this paper reveals that local civil rights activists took armed, direct economic action for equal rights Woodville, Mississippi, …

Next Generation Of Civil Rights Lawyers: Race And Representation In The Age Of Identity Performance, Anthony V. Alfieri, Angela Onwuachi-Willig

Faculty Scholarship

This Book Review addresses two important new books, Professor Kenneth Mack’s Representing the Race: The Creation of the Civil Rights Lawyer and Professors Devon Carbado and Mitu Gulati’s Acting White? Rethinking Race in Post-Racial America, and utilizes their insights to both explore the challenges that face the next generation of civil rights lawyers and offer suggestions on how this next generation of civil rights lawyers can overcome these difficulties. Overall, this Book Review highlights one similarity in the roles of black civil rights attorneys past and present: the need for lawyers in both generations to perform their identities in ways …

If The Supreme Court Listens To Millennials, Same Sex Marriage Will Become Legal, Tanya M. Washington

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

Understanding Insurance Anti-Discrimination Laws, Ronen Avraham, Kyle D. Logue, Daniel Benjamin Schwarcz

Law & Economics Working Papers

Insurance companies are in the business of discrimination. Insurers attempt to segregate insureds into separate risk pools based on their differences in risk profiles, first, so that they can charge different premiums to the different groups based on their risk and, second, to incentivize risk reduction by insureds. This is why we let insurers discriminate. There are, however, limits to the types of discrimination we will allow insurers to engage in. But what exactly are those limits and how are they justified? To answer these questions, this Article articulates the leading fairness and efficiency arguments for and against limiting insurers’ …

That Thing That You Do: Comment On Joseph Massad’S 'Empire Of Sexuality', Lama Abu-Odeh

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Massad’s thesis is simple, in fact, perfect in its simplicity. Empire is a terrible force that wants to penetrate, overpower and hegemonize. It has a center, a headquarters if you like, the West. It functions with two arms: capitalism (later neoliberal) and Euro-American hegemony. The first arm represents the objective drive of capital that transforms sites and cultures as it spreads the market in the shape of commodity exchange. It has become a universal system, Massad contends, though with varying effects on the center (West) from the periphery (rest). Whereas its march on the former has been totally transformative, in …