Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

Disney's Illusion Of Inclusion, Marissa Davis

All Theses

Walt Disney’s films were not simply entertainment, but a use of racial stereotypes as a profit strategy. Even scholarship that explores these tactics and critically analyzes his most problematic misrepresentations do not to consider the role of Walt Disney, as a man, in creating and promoting these narratives. These depictions, while somewhat in line with the culture when he first entered the business, failed to evolve as society changed. Rather, they were deliberate choices to attract white audiences and increase revenue.

Over time, these tropes became socially unacceptable, yet Disney maintained them for public consumption. While Disney and his company …

Upr Report Submissions: Compiled By The International Human Rights Clinic At The University Of Illinois Chicago School Of Law And The Human Rights At Home Litigation Clinic At The Saint Louis University School Of Law, Sarah Dàvila A., Lauren E. Bartlett

Faculty White Papers

This unofficial summary compiles information from reports submitted by civil society and others for the Fourth Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review of the United States.

The authors reviewed the submissions, which are reports from civil society and others, and grouped issues thematically, using the 2020 UPR themes and recommendations as the organizing framework. Within each theme, the authors synthesized recurring issues, patterns, and concerns identified across multiple submissions. For each issue, the unofficial summary follows a structured approach that presents international obligations first, followed by United States domestic law, and then facts drawn from the submissions. However, where reports …

Pussy Protest! Protest Zines To Uplift Marginalized Voices, Alekz Nelson

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

A publication of 4 separate zines made up of 12 pages each. The zines delve into the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act, trans women and their music artistry, lack of lesbian media, and inmate working conditions. These zines aim to not only raise awareness towards these issues, but spark action from readers by providing practical and doable options to pursue. With societal attitudes and political administrations becoming more conservative, spreading this information and awareness is vital to ensure that these alternatives ways of life are not forcibly erased.

The Historical And Systemic Effects On Racial Disparities In Incarceration Rates Among Black Individuals, Vanessa Valentine

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Racial disparities in incarceration rates within the United States have existed for decades. This paper will examine these disparities in order to understand how Black individuals and communities are disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system. By exploring historical and systemic factors that have contributed to these disparities such as structural racism, discriminatory policing, and unequal sentencing policies this research will highlight how these practices have reinforced racial inequality within the criminal justice system. The significance of the presenting issue will be explored by analyzing how these disparities affect the incarcerated individual and their family and community. Using a mixed …

The Eviction Caste System, Allison Freedman

Faculty Scholarship

The United States is facing a dire housing crisis, and most Americans agree that housing is a universal necessity. Yet under current Supreme Court jurisprudence, housing is not a fundamental right, and individuals facing housing insecurity from an eviction are generally not members of a suspect class. This is because eviction is often viewed as an individual problem and a symptom of poverty, which the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed is not a suspect classification. This Article disrupts the superficial narrative that eviction is an individualistic symptom of poverty, and instead views evictions from a systemic and historical perspective. It …

Statutory Backups For Endangered Constitutional Rights, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl

Faculty Publications

This Article concerns the phenomenon of “statutory backup rights,” or statutes that provide protections parallel to constitutional rights that are believed to be at risk of judicial abrogation. Proposals for backup rights gained attention in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which not only eliminated the constitutional right to abortion but called into question some other constitutional rights as well. Shortly after Dobbs, Congress enacted a limited statutory backup for same-sex marriage. States have created backup rights across a range of topics, some of which appeal mostly to those …

Expressive Association At Work, Elizabeth Sepper, James D. Nelson, Charlotte Garden

Michigan Law Review

Do employers have constitutional rights of expressive association? Two decades ago, in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, the Supreme Court held that a state law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation could not be applied to a membership organization that wished to exclude a gay leader. Today, courts face a rising tide of claims from employers, who argue that Dale constitutionally insulates their hiring and firing decisions from antidiscrimination law. A narrow majority of courts have denied such claims, holding that Dale does not apply at work. Increasingly, however, courts are siding with these employers, eliding any distinction …

An Analysis Of Global And Regional Human Rights Standards On Gender-Based Violence, Tamar Ezer, R. Denisse Córdova Montes

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Black Labor Matters, Michael Z. Green

Faculty Scholarship

Black and organized workers increasingly find themselves threatened by two key outside forces: one seeking to stop anti-racism efforts via diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and the other curtailing employees’ union organizing. This Article argues that a response must be grounded in uniquely local strategies by two specific worker coalitions. One coalition–the New Black Workers Movement (NBWM)–arose from Black Lives Matter civil rights protests in 2020 that captivated the workplace and heightened awareness about anti-Blackness and concerns of systemic racism. The other coalition–the New Labor Workers Movement (NLWM)–developed in 2020 as a workplace response to a global pandemic that …

Maga's Blue State Strategy: How Democrats And University Leaders Helped The Reactionary Right Weaponize Antisemitism Against Higher Education, Jonathan Feingold, Isaac Kamola

Faculty Scholarship

The professors are the enemy. Professors are the enemy. Write that on the blackboard 100 times and never forget it.

—President Richard Nixon, 1972¹

[I]f any of us wants to do the things we want to do[,] . . . we have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country.

—J.D. Vance, 2021²

October 7, 2023 was many things. One of those things was a lucky break for the Heritage Foundation (“Heritage”). For decades, Heritage and its allied think tanks, donors, and officials had labored to discredit and, if possible, take over higher education in the …

Chicago, Arbitrary Detention And Torture: An Examination Of Human Rights Violations And Legal Responses Under The Second Trump Administration, Gianna Keuer

Bates College Undergraduate Law Review

This paper uses a human rights-based analysis to explore the legal implications of the second Trump administration’s deportation policies, using frameworks enacted by international legal organizations and state-level bodies. Drawing upon the Convention Against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and established state policies, the paper identifies important jus cogens norms against arbitrary detention and torture. With Chicago serving as a case study, the paper explores different avenues that have been employed to counter violations of prohibitions of arbitrary detention and torture, ultimately concluding that state-level policy responses and impact litigation cases serve as a more efficacious …

The Paradox Of Equal Protection: Anti-Subordination Rhetoric In Service Of Anti-Classification Ends, Aanya Ghosh

Bates College Undergraduate Law Review

This article examines the evolution of Equal Protection jurisprudence through the competing lenses of anti-classification and anti-subordination. Anti-classification holds that the Constitution prohibits governmental use of racial categories regardless of purpose; anti-subordination holds that the Equal Protection Clause targets the perpetuation of racial hierarchy rather than the mere use of racial categories. Beginning with the foundational ambiguity of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and tracing the doctrinal trajectory through Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007), and Students for Fair Admissions …

Front Matter And Table Of Contents

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

No abstract provided.

Qualified Immunity: Emerging Fault Lines In The Eleventh Circuit, Ricky J. Marc

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

Qualified immunity operates as a central doctrine in federal civil rights litigation, defining the threshold between government accountability and official protection from suit. Within the Eleventh Circuit, this doctrine has developed into a highly structured yet fact-dependent framework that shapes litigation strategy and judicial outcomes. This article offers a comprehensive analysis of qualified immunity in the Eleventh Circuit from 2022 to 2025, drawing on recent precedents involving law enforcement officers and correctional officials. It examines the Circuit’s treatment of clearly established rights, the role of objective reasonableness in determining constitutional violations, and the evidentiary dynamics that influence summary judgment and …

Presumed Guilty By Proximity: How Geofence Warrants Undermine The Fourteenth Amendment, Radha Patel

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

Geofence warrants are utilized as a surveillance tool to gather location data on every user within a specific area and are being integrated into policing without a stable legal framework. This integration threatens individual rights and disproportionately impacts people and communities of color. While these warrants are often scrutinized under the Fourth Amendment, this note argues that they significantly undermine the Fourteenth Amendment by granting law enforcement excessive discretion. This unchecked discretion allows systemic bias and racial profiling to influence criminal investigations, creating the potential for wrongful convictions. The analysis in this note details the three-step execution process of geofence …

On The “Storied” History And Sustained Impact Of A Thriving Social Justice Journal, Mario L. Barnes

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

No abstract provided.

Separate But Equal In The Bold New City Of The South: A Shadow Of What Remains, Charity Dera

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

This project undertakes the task of analyzing the historical and contemporary landscape of Jacksonville, Florida, the “Bold New City of the South,”1 from a multidisciplinary vantage point. It argues that the spirit of the overturned “separate but equal” holding of Plessy v. Ferguson2 and its bold segregationist ideologies reverberate today in both subtle and overt ways. Yet, that reality has not come without the resilience and perseverance of pioneering natives who have resisted such ideals in bold ways. While segregation is deeply rooted in U.S. history and scholars have readily addressed the contemporary effects of landmark cases such as Plessy …

Reasonable, Legal, Voluntary? Grants Pass Decision Sparks Need For A Revised Fourth Amendment Search Analysis In The Context Of Homelessness, Hali R. Woods

Catholic University Law Review

On June 28, 2024 the Supreme Court decided City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson.  The case addressed whether the enforcement of city ordinances regulating camping on public property against individuals including respondents, unhoused individuals residing in the city of Grants Pass, constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.  The Court upheld enforcement of the ordinances and since then approximately 150 cities across the United States have passed similar ordinances or strengthened existing similar laws.  This comment evaluates how Grants Pass is an Eighth Amendment case with Fourth Amendment consequences which sparks a need for a revised …

Institutional Timidity: Reading Len Rubinowitz Toward A Structural Theory Of Civil Rights Enforcement, Sheldon Bernard Lyke

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

This Article first documents institutional timidity in fair housing enforcement through Rubinowitz’s empirical account of HUD and then extends the analysis to higher education admissions. It shows that universities defending affirmative action uniformly adopted the diversity rationale while declining to argue that race-conscious admissions correct for bias embedded in their own criteria. These choices did not merely weaken outcomes; they also helped produce the doctrinal frameworks that later constrained them. In identifying institutional timidity as a mechanism of doctrinal production, this Article extends Rubinowitz’s insights across domains and into constitutional law. It concludes by proposing strategies that shift civil rights …

Restrain, Seclude, Repeat: Seeking Solutions To End The Troubled Teen Industry’S Cycle Of Harm, Elizabeth James

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

Although there is a consensus that children receiving mental health treatment in youth residential programs should only be restrained and secluded in emergency situations, youth residential program staff routinely restrain and seclude children in non-emergency situations, causing significant physical and psychological harm to the child and, on occasion, leading to the child’s death. Current federal and state laws do not adequately regulate this practice, nor correct a business model that wrongly prioritizes profits over a child’s well-being, but private action through 42 U.S.C. § 1983 may provide a powerful remedy to victims of the troubled teen industry and the necessary …

Censorship And Human Rights Violations: The Suppression Of Freedom Of Expression, Press, And Assembly In Cuba, Nicaragua, And Venezuela, Elisabell Laura Velázquez

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

As the days, months, and years go by, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela continue to violate the fundamental human rights of their citizens. Despite worldwide technological advancements and increased access to the digital world, these regimes continuously monitor and censor their citizens, depriving them of the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, press, and assembly. This article explores how censorship can represent a systemic violation of human rights. This article argues that strengthening cooperation between different international organizations is necessary because censorship in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela is a human rights crisis that impacts civil society. Furthermore, this article explains the …

Maurice Q. Robinson ’09 Honored At 16th Annual Ballsa Celebration, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Archive

Cardozo School of Law honored alumnus Maurice Q. Robinson ('09) at the 16th Annual BALLSA Celebration for his leadership, service, and commitment to mentoring students and strengthening the law school's alumni community. The event also recognized recipients of the BALLSA Scholarship and celebrated the contributions of Cardozo's affinity groups.

Causes, Effects, And Solutions Of Wrongful Convictions, Allison B. Gobuzzi

Honors Theses

This study examines the wrongful conviction of Anthony Hinton and other examples that illustrate the causes of wrongful convictions in the United States and the effects that wrongful convictions have on the wrongfully accused and their families. This study uses research from scholarly articles and legal cases to analyze the factors that contribute to wrongful convictions and the impact on the wrongfully accused and their families. The research concludes that wrongful convictions are frequently the result of both evidentiary and procedural issues within the criminal justice system.

Glossip’S Road Map To Nowhere, Vida Johnson

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Glossip v. Oklahoma was heralded as a victory for the defense. This essay argues that the 2025 Glossip decision does little to fix the myriad problems that led to Mr. Glossip’s wrongful conviction. While ultimately the Supreme Court reached the correct outcome this time, the ordinary judicial process and its purported safeguards were not what saved Mr. Glossip’s life. Rather, it was random chance that came to Mr. Glossip’s aid.

Ten years earlier, the Supreme Court, with many of the same Justices on the bench now, paved the way for Mr. Glossip’s execution. The …

Racial Bias In Jury Selection: The Fundamental And Pragmatic Issues With Batson Challenges, Abigail Lindsey

Arkansas Law Review

In April of 2024, the District Attorney of Alameda County in California revealed evidence of “serious misconduct” by several prosecutors who oversaw a murder trial in 1993, in which the jury found a Black man guilty and sentenced him to death. The evidence of misconduct included the prosecutors’ trial notes. The notes that have been released suggest the prosecutors struck potential jurors from the jury pool because they were Jewish—the notes include: “I liked him better than any other Jew but no way.” The District Attorney is now looking into the county’s other death penalty cases, some of which took …

Citizenship As Control: Lessons From Athenian Democracy And Modern U.S. Immigration Practices, Máire Sullivan

Northwestern Law Journal des Refusés

No abstract provided.

Property Without Shelter: How Anti-Public-Camping Laws Violate The Substantive Due Process Rights Of The Homeless, Aaron Rissman

University of Miami Law Review

In City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, the Supreme Court held that enforcing anti-public-camping ordinances against homeless individuals does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on status crimes. While the Court foreclosed the Eighth Amendment as a vehicle for challenging such laws, it suggested that other constitutional protections may remain available. This Note takes up the Court’s invitation and argues that many anti-public-camping laws violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s substantive due process guarantees.

Drawing on historical sources from common-law England through the Founding and Reconstruction eras, this Note demonstrates that the right to acquire, own, control, use, enjoy, and protect …

Pronouns On The Clock: The Eleventh Circuit’S Broad Limitation Of Teacher Speech In Wood V. Florida Department Of Education, Carter E. Pannell

Mercer Law Review

Few settings test the limits of free speech more sharply than public schools, where questions of personal identity, government authority, and constitutional rights often intersect. Because the government has an interest in regulating what its employees do and say, First Amendment protections afforded to government employees are diluted in comparison to those afforded to private citizens. A contemporary example of this tension is the question of whether the government may regulate a public-school teacher’s use of pronouns or titles in their own classroom.

In 2023, Florida enacted a statute forbidding teachers from using pronouns or titles that differ from the …

Head Shot, Joanmarie Ilaria Davoli

Mercer Law Review

The prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment in the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires that execution methods avoid “superadding pain.” The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the imposition of a death sentence should include no additional pain beyond that needed to kill. That means, for example, that while pain may be inherent in the method of killing, torture is prohibited. As concerns about the pain involved in lethal injections has increased, states have begun executions by shooting inmates in the heart and by suffocation through gas mask. These methods have been used despite evidence that they superadd …

Deliberately Silenced, Rachel Kincaid

Mercer Law Review

The Prison Litigation Reform Act is celebrating its 30^th birthday this year. It was designed to make it harder for incarcerated people to file lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of their conditions of confinement and to restrict their remedies even when they do so successfully. It has been wildly effective at achieving those objectives. It has also propped up mass incarceration and facilitated the persistence of dismal conditions of confinement in carceral facilities in the United States.

The PLRA’s exhaustion requirement—arguably its most damaging provision—silences carceral voices without regard for the merit of their complaints. It does so by mandating …