Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

Title Vii, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Disclosure Policy, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission V. Associated Dry Goods Corp, Kenneth L. Wittenauer

Akron Law Review

Amid judicial turmoil, the EEOC developed procedural guidelines to best effectuate its interpretation of Title VII policies. The Commission's procedural regulations permit the disclosure of the investigative files of the individual and of individuals with similar charges against the same employer even before a lawsuit has been filed. However, the EEOC has been forced to restrict access to its files in those jurisdictions which follow Sears while maintaining a more liberal disclosure policy in the remaining jurisdictions.

Affirmative Action, Reverse Discrimination Bratton V. City Of Detroit, John T. Dellick

Akron Law Review

In Bratton v. City of Detroit, the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals examined charges of reverse discrimination' arising from a voluntary affirmative action plan adopted by the City of Detroit. These reverse discrimination claims were presented as alleged violations of Title VIP and the fourteenth amendment. The Bratton court reviewed the leading Title VII reverse discrimination case, United Steelworkers of America v. Weber, and the leading fourteenth amendment reverse discrimination case, Regents of University of California v. Bakke. From these cases, the court in Bratton extracted the major guidelines of each, comingled them, and developed …

Measuring The Reach Of Title Ix: Defining Program And Recipient In Higher Education, James H. Brooks

Akron Law Review

Two main issues are raised by Grove City College v. Bell and will be analyzed in this article. First, should the Supreme Court construe a post-secondary institution as a "program" for purposes of Title IX? Second, should aid to students be considered federal financial assistance to the institution?

Denial Of Tax Exempt Status For Racially Discriminatory Schools, Bob Jones University V. U.S., Margaret K. Cassidy

Akron Law Review

The extent to which the government may deny tax-exempt status in order to further its goal of eliminating racial discrimination is a question of paramount importance. The United States Supreme Court recently addressed this question in the case of Bob Jones University v. U.S., a consolidated action which involved a conflict between two established public policies: racial equality and religious freedom. The Court held that this nation's policy of racial equality overrides any interest that an educational and religious institution may have in promoting racial discrimination.

Title Vii Discrimination Actions: Applicable Or Inapplicable To The Partnership Decision? Hishon V. King & Spalding, Gus Yogmour

Akron Law Review

An underlying premise of a partnership is that it is a strictly voluntary association between two or more persons for a business purpose. The concept that a partnership can be forced against its will to accept another individual into the organization as a partner is repugnant to the underlying premise of voluntariness of association. One purpose of Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex and to place men and women on an equal footing. In order for this equal footing to exist, an individual's capabilities can be the only …

Mandatory Retirement And Impact Discrimination Under The Age Discrimination In Employment Act: You'll Get Yours When You're 70, Maxine S. Thomas

Akron Law Review

This article will consider disparate impact analysis in the context of mandatory retirement of the pre-seventy employee under the ADEA. While disparate treatment analysis is clearly appropriate under the current legislative scheme, disparate impact analysis should also be available in age discrimination cases which consider mandatory retirement.

The Propriety Of Prospective Relief And Attorney's Fees Awards Against State-Court Judges In Federal Civil Rights Actions, Stephen J. Shapiro

Akron Law Review

During the past thirty years, the United States Supreme Court has refined a system of immunities for governmental officials when those officials are sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of constitutional rights. The kind of immunity granted varies with the kind of governmental function exercised by the official when committing the alleged constitutional violation. Persons exercising legislative functions are absolutely immune from suit either for damages or for prospective (declaratory or injunctive) relief. Those exercising prosecutorial functions are absolutely immune from damages but may be sued for prospective relief. Those exercising executive functions are granted only a conditional, …

Expanding The Quasi Suspect Class To Include Mentally Retarded Persons: Cleburne Living Center, Inc. V. City Of Cleburne, Annette E. Skinner

Akron Law Review

The Cleburne Living Center, Inc. v. City of Cleburne court faced the issue with a well-reasoned and carefully structured opinion. The court explored the indicia of suspectness promulgated by the Supreme Court in various opinions, and held that the mentally retarded share sufficient indicia of a suspect class to be accorded quasi-suspect status; therefore, intermediate scrutiny is the proper level of scrutiny to employ when examining the constitutionality of a statute. The largest part of the court's opinion dealt with the analysis of whether the discriminatory classification bore a substantial relationship to an important governmental objective - the required test …

The Writ-Writers: Jailhouse Lawyers Right Of Meaningful Access To The Courts, John F. Myers

Akron Law Review

This comment will focus on the evolution of jailhouse lawyers, the rights they possess and the problems they face in a system that continually seeks to limit their activities

Affirmative Action: Alive And Well After Stotts, Ralph J. Conrad

Akron Law Review

This comment examines the current state of affirmative action in light of the special protection that the Supreme Court grants seniority systems. This comment also discusses the future of affirmative action and how the changes in affirmative action will affect collective bargaining agreements and consent decrees.

National Gay Task Force V. Board Of Education Of Oklahoma City, Susan Fitch

Akron Law Review

The National Gay Task Force (NGTF) looked to the courts for relief in challenging an Oklahoma statute which attempted to regulate teachers' speech. National Gay Task Force v. Board of Education of Oklahoma City marks the first time since the beginning of the gay rights movement that the United States Supreme Court has granted certiorari to a case which had homosexuality as its central issue. The result in National Gay Task Force has left both the challengers and the defenders of the Oklahoma statute claiming victory.

The NGTF claims that although the portion of the statute which prohibits teachers from …

My Body, Not My Say: Regulation Of Reproductive Freedom In America, Kisha K. Patel

Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies Summer Fellows

Women’s bodies have been legislated for years. Many people associate regulation beginning in 1973 when Roe V. Wade was decided, however legislation has affected women for much longer. These infringements on women’s rights create a major roadblock in gender equality. During summer fellows I researched how the law regulates aspects of American women's lives particularly in reproductive freedom (birth control, day-after pill, abortion, maternity discrimination). Conducting this research included thorough research of 48 pieces of congressional legislation from the 114^th Congress that limit women's reproductive freedom through abortion bans, non-accessible health care, and cuts in federal spending towards Planned …

Meritor Savings Bank V. Vinson: The Supreme Court's Recognition Of The Hostile Environment In Sexual Harassment Claims, Victoria T. Bartels

Akron Law Review

This casenote will examine Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson in light of the brief legal history of Title VII sexual harassment claims and will consider the implications of both the Court's holding and its dicta regarding the undecided issues.

Batson V. Kentucky: Can The 'New' Peremptory Challenge Survive The Resurrection Of Strauder V. West Virginia?, Brian Wilson

Akron Law Review

It cannot be denied that our jury selection process has lent itself to invidious racial discrimination in the selection of jurors who ultimately decide the black defendant's guilt or innocence. This practice manifested itself in a line of decisions, beginning with Strauder v. West Virginia. The Strauder Court held that excluding qualified venirepersons on the basis of race violated the fourteenth amendment. However, the Supreme Court's refusal in Swain v. Alabama to subject petit jury peremptory challenges to constitutional scrutiny spawned much criticism from courts and commentators. As a result, the Court in Batson v. Kentucky decided to re-examine …

Making And Meeting The Prima Facie Case Under The Fair Housing Act, Frederic S. Schwartz

Akron Law Review

This article will deal almost exclusively with cases in the Individual Discrimination category.

Analysis of the housing discrimination cases requires that the fundamental substantive issue and the fundamental procedural issue be carefully distinguished. The substantive issue is simply whether the Act has been violated. That issue will be ultimately decided by the jury (or the judge in a trial to the court). The fundamental procedural issue with which we shall be concerned is whether the plaintiff has established his "prima facie case."

Part II of this paper will deal with the substantive issue and Part III with the procedural one. …

The Constitutional Right Of The Indigent Facing Involuntary Civil Commitment To An Independent Psychiatric Examination, Scott F. Uhler

Akron Law Review

The recently established constitutional right to an independent psychiatric examination for a criminal defendant, when the defendant's sanity is at issue,' has not been extended to the involuntary civil commitment process However, for the following reasons, the right should be so extended.

First, the interpretation of due process in the involuntary commitment procedure, as construed by lower federal courts and state courts to require an exam, shows greater uniformity and logical cohesiveness than that defined by applicable Supreme Court decisions. Second, the area of juvenile adjudication presents great similarity of purpose to civil commitment, yet the due process protections deemed …

The Respective Burdens Of Proof In Title Vii Cases: Price Waterhouse V. Hopkins Confuses The Issue, Gregory T. Rossi

Akron Law Review

employed women, and other minorities throughout the United States. The opinion has several significant aspects. First, the case defines the respective evidentiary burdens of a plaintiff-employee and defendant-employer in a Title VIP suit, when the plaintiff-employee has shown that the defendant-employer's employment action resulted from a consideration of legitimate and illegitimate factors (i.e., "mixed motive case"). Second, the express allocation of the burdens of proof resolved a conflict among the various Courts of Appeals. Third, the Court failed to issue a majority opinion. This is significant in light of the current republican administration and its influence on what is now …

Pleading Civil Rights Complaints: Wheat And Chaff, Lawrence W. Moore S.J.

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this Article is two-fold. First, there will be a brief survey of the opinions that have required specificity in pleading civil rights complaints. Courts ought to speak for themselves before being criticized. The second part will evaluate the reasons federal courts provide for this requirement.

Edmonson V. Leesville Concrete Co.: State Action Or Inaction - Does It Matter?, Chad Murdock

Akron Law Review

This note first reviews the facts of Edmonson. Second, this note examines the history of judicial inquiry into the use of peremptory challenges. Third, this note reviews the application of Batson to civil cases. Finally, this note analyzes the extension of the state action doctrine in Edmonson and discusses an alternative to the Edmonson approach to state action

Watson And Subjective Hiring Practices: The Continuing Saga Of Industrial Psychology, Title Vii And Personnel Selection, Daniel L. Bell

Akron Law Review

This comment will analyze Watson from both a legal and industrial psychological perspective. Part one of the comment discusses the legal impact of Watson. First, the Supreme Court's analytical framework for Title VII discrimination claims is presented. Next, Watson is analyzed in the context of prior case law to consider its potential impact on employment discrimination litigation.

Part two concentrates on the role of industrial psychology in the Watson decision. First, the comment introduces industrial psychology. The association of industrial psychology, Title VII, and personnel selection is presented next. Finally, the comment presents current industrial psychological research concerning several …

United States V. Moore: Aids And The Criminal Law: The Witch Hunt Begins, Robert Louis Stauter Md., J.D.

Akron Law Review

The United States v. Moore opinions written by Federal District Judge Diana E. Murphy and Circuit Judge Timbers reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of the disease process of AIDS. The purpose of this article is to help the reader critically analyze these court opinions. To facilitate this discussion the article will first provide the reader with some very basic, yet very technical, vocabulary used by medical specialists who care for and study patients with AIDS.

Brief Of Amici Curiae South Asian Bar Association Of Washington, D.C., Et Al. In Support Of Appellee And Affirmance, South Asian Bar Association Of Washington D.C., National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Racially Disparaging Trademarks

Mugwump, Mediator, Machiavellian, Or Majority? The Role Of Justice O'Connor In The Affirmative Action Cases, Thomas R. Haggard

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this article is to provide a critical analysis of Justice O'Connor's affirmative action opinions. It will show that while her early record provides justification for all three characterizations, her more recent decisions suggest the emergency of a more favorable image. Her opinions in Croson and Media Broadcasting reflect the realization that a narrow, hair-splitting approach to this critical social and constitutional crisis will do little to hasten its resolution; that there is apparently no form of affirmative action that the liberal wing of the Court is unwilling to endorse, making her consensus by compromise approach a futile …

Civil Rights In The 1990'S: Non-Discrimination Or Quotas?, Donald B. Ayer

Akron Law Review

I would like today to offer some thoughts on the way that we as a country have handled the issue of reverse discrimination as a means of pursuing equal opportunity.

My first observation is that there is an undeniable tension between competing approaches to racial and gender justice that have been advanced and pursued in recent years. I take as my starting point the fundamental principle embodied in the Equal Protection Clause (as well as the Declaration of Independence), that, as the elder Justice Harlan said in dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson,' the Constitution is colorblind, and does not allow …

Edmonson V. Leesville Concrete Company: Pre-Empting Prejudice, Andrea K. Huston

Akron Law Review

In Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co., the United States Supreme Court decided the issue of whether parties in a civil case may use their peremptory challenges to exclude black venirepersons from the jury.

This Note will discuss the various limitations that courts have placed on the use of peremptory challenges, and the position of the Supreme Court. This Note will also discuss the Court's expansion of the state action doctrine, and the impact Edmonson will have on future cases.

United Auto Workers V. Johnson Controls, Inc.: One Small Step For Womankind, A. L. Cherry

Akron Law Review

In United Auto Workers v. Johnson Controls, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court was faced with the task of deciding whether women's childbearing capacity could be used to limit women's job choices and opportunities within certain industrial/ manufacturing fields. The Court decided that the ability to bear children could be used to so limit women, but only if the employer met a high standard. In Johnson Controls, employees who worked in a toxic work environment sought a determination that their employer's fetal protection policy discriminated on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act …

Pre-Employment Inquiries: Drug Testing, Alcohol Screening, Physical Exams, Honesty Testing, Genetics Screening - Do They Discriminate? An Empirical Study, Donald H. Stone

Akron Law Review

Statistics serve as a reminder that many disabled people continue to face obstacles in gaining access into the employment arena. This Article will reveal how disabled persons are at greater risk when employers increase their screening and testing arsenal in the job selection area.

Justice Brennan's Gender Jurisprudence, Rebecca Korzec

Akron Law Review

However, less attention has been focused on Justice Brennan's dramatic impact on the Supreme Court's gender jurisprudence. More than any other member of the Court, Justice Brennan recognized the complexity and pervasiveness of sex discrimination and its costs to society as a whole. Brennan's opinions recognized that sex differentiation is largely cultural in origin, rather than based on "real" gender differences. As a result, Justice Brennan created a truly independent gender jurisprudence, eventually emerging as the architect of the Supreme Court's contemporary test for evaluating claims of sex-based discrimination.

Understanding the significance of Brennan's contribution requires an appreciation of the …

The Supreme Court's Impact On Litigation, Stephen L. Wasby

Akron Law Review

The focus of this article is on that segment of the litigation cycle in which lawyers' attention to the Court's rulings affects the cases they bring and how they bring them. To indicate the Court's importance for litigating organizations' existence and functioning, we first explore a set of cases involving the NAACP. These cases, involving the organization's survival, show how the need for organizational maintenance affects an organization's ability to litigate as it would like to do. Drawing on the law of procedure, we next examine cases affecting organizations' ability to bring cases. Then we turn to see how Supreme …

The Second Rodney King Trial: Justice In Jeopardy?, Robert C. Gorman

Akron Law Review

This Comment will trace the roots of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and provide a detailed look at the development of the dual sovereignty doctrine. After this overview, it will analyze the historical, legal and policy arguments advanced by supporters and opponents of the doctrine. It will examine proposals for altering or abolishing the doctrine. Finally, in light of the underlying analysis, it will revisit the Rodney King case and examine whether the defendants' second trial - or any successive prosecution - is justified.