Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

The Elephant And The Four Blind Men: The Burger Court And Its Federal Tax Decisions, Beverly I. Moran, Daniel M. Schneider

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

All the federal tax decisions of the Burger Court are reviewed in order to demonstrate that widely held beliefs about statutory interpretation in tax cases are misleading. For example, although the literature asserts that courts do not distinguish between legislative and interpretive regulations, the Burger Court did give greater deference to legislative regulations. Further, despite some Justices antipathy to legislative history, the Burger Court relied heavily on legislative histories in making its decisions. In addition, the widely held view that the Court eschews tax controversies was found false when compared to other business areas.

Race And National Origin As Influential Factors In Juvenile Detention, Arthur L. Burnett Sr.

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

The focus of this Article, however, is on the more pervasive problem of overzealous police officers acting on less than probable cause or even less than reasonable articulable suspicion. Police officers may frequently act on hunches or suspicions with the attitude that their actions will not be questioned, especially when the victim is a minor and may not be savvy enough to know his or her legal rights. Officers may believe they can act with impunity because of the combination of socio-economic conditions in public housing areas and in other low-income housing areas, or where there are a substantial number …

Who's Black, Who's White, And Who Cares: Reconceptualizing The United States Definition Of Race And Racial Classifications, Luther Wright, Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

How much would it be worth to a young man entering upon the practice of law, to be regarded as a white man rather than a colored one?... Probably most white persons if given a choice, would prefer death to life in the United States as a colored person.... Indeed, [being white] is the master-key that unlocks the golden door of opportunity.

There is no law of the United States, or of the state of Louisiana defining the limits of race-who are white and who are "colored'? By what rule then shall any tribunal be guided in determining racial character? …

Equal Protection

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Language And Silence: Making Systems Of Privilege Visible, Adrienne D. Davis, Stephanie M. Wildman

Scholarship@WashULaw

A colleague of mine once had a dream in which I appeared. My colleague, who is African-American, was struggling in this dream to be himself in the presence of a monolithic white maleness that wanted to oppress my friend and deny his intellect, his humanity, and his belonging in our community. In his dream, I, a white woman, attempted to speak on his behalf, but the white man and I spoke as if my friend were not there.

This portrayal disturbed me because I know my friend can speak for himself. Recognizing this fact, he described my discomfort at participating …

Social Justice And The Myth Of Fairness: A Communal Defense Of Affirmative Action, Phillip J. Closius

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article shall examine the characteristics of the current analytical framework by first examining some harmful effects resulting from the prioritization of fairness: excessive generalization, formalism and superficiality, and materialism. The Article will then examine in detail the Supreme Court's resolution of modern affirmative action issues. The Court has generated confusion and discord by applying simplistic concepts to complex problems and by adhering to the primacy of fairness in a context in which all interested parties claim that fairness favors their result. Finally, this Article will critique the Court's inability to provide a consistent doctrinal basis for discussing affirmative action …

'If Black Is So Special, Then Why Isn't It In The Rainbow?', Sharon E. Rush

UF Law Faculty Publications

In the modern day, defining "family" becomes less of a theoretical debate when one's own family unit is different from the traditional married, middle-class mother and father with their biological children. For non-traditional families, redefining family takes on enormous practical significance and may actually enable people to create families. Laws permitting transracial adoptions and surrogacy are illustrative. Moreover, a broader definition of family provides greater legal security to non-traditional families. Without such legal protection, non-traditional families live in fear of traditional laws tearing them apart. Rather than using a standard that promotes hegemony in custody disputes, decisionmakers should become aware …

Queer Intersectionality And The Failure Of Recent Lesbian And Gay "Victories", Darren Rosenblum

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Amidst the juridical heterosexism of our legal system, the few successful lesbian and gay cases stand out as brilliant, hopeful harbingers of the future. With good cause, lesbian and gay people have hailed state cases that indicate Bowers v. Hardwick has not contaminated all American courts. Although termed "victories" for the lesbian and gay community, several recent New York cases exclude many queer legal needs. Four cases, Braschi v. Stahl Assoc., In the Matter of the Adoption of Evan, M.A.B. v. R.B. and Thomas S. v. Robin Y., embody the law's progress on lesbian and gay issues. This essay …

Legal Indeterminacy, Judicial Discretion And The Mexican-American Litigation Experience: 1930-1980, George A. Martinez

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article explores a jurisprudential point: legal indeterminacy in the context of Mexican-American civil rights litigation. The article argues that because of legal uncertainty or indeterminacy the resolution of key issues was not inevitable. Judges often had discretion to reach their conclusions. In this regard, the article concludes that the courts generally exercised their discretion by taking a position on key issues against Mexican-Americans. The article points out that exposing the exercise of judicial discretion and the lack of inevitability in civil rights cases is important for two major reasons. At one level, exposing the exercise of judicial discretion is …

Rights Held Hostage: Race, Ideology And The Peremptory Challenge, Kenneth B. Nunn

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article addresses the Supreme Court's application of the Equal Protection Clause to the selection of juries in criminal trials. Focusing on Black-white relations, it takes the position that efforts to eliminate racial discrimination in jury selection are successful only to the extent that they also eliminate the result of the discrimination- racial subjugation of Blacks through the criminal justice process. By this measure, the Supreme Court's recent jury selection cases are an abject failure.

An Education Of Their Own: The Precarious Position Of Publicly Supported Black Colleges After United States V. Fordice, Darryll K. Jones

Journal Publications

In United States v. Fordice, the United States Supreme Court revisited the awesome task of eliminating race from educational policy. Fordice ostensibly involved the duty of a state to remedy past discrimination in its formerly segregated system of higher education. Mississippi argued that it need only cease further discrimination, while private petitioners and the United States argued that the state must also undertake remedial measures beyond simply ending present discriminatory practices. The Court's rejection of Mississippi's approach and its adherence to the Brown v. Board of Education demand to eliminate race as a factor in educational opportunity uncovered the hidden …

After The Desegregation Era: The Legal Dilemma Posed By Race And Education, Kevin D. Brown

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Legal Rhetorical Structure For The Conversion Of Desegregation Lawsuits To Quality Education Lawsuits, Kevin D. Brown

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Peremptory Challenges: Free Strikes No More, H. Patrick Furman

Publications

No abstract provided.

Justice For Rodney King, Scott C. Burrell, Alan R. Dial, Thomas W. Mitchell

Faculty Scholarship

May 1992 letter from three Howard University School of Law students to President George H.W. Bush advocating that the United States Department of Justice invoke the Petite Policy to initiate a criminal action against the Los Angeles Police Department police officers responsible for brutally beating Rodney King despite the fact that these offers had been acquitted in a California state court. The letter, which was read in front of the White House by Thomas Mitchell to hundreds of people who had gathered to urge the federal government to take action, sets forth a clear legal basis to permit the Justice …

Babies, Parents, And Grandparents: A Story In Two Cases, Karen Czapanskiy

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Racist Speech On Campus, Kingsley R. Browne

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Equal Protection

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Quantum Leap: A Black Woman Uses Legal Education To Obtain Her Honorary White Pass, Beverly I. Moran

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The nature of privilege is that it is hidden from those who possess it even more than it is hidden from those who lack privilege. Privilege's invisibility to its owner makes privilege difficult to both identify and fight.

Of Love And Liberation: A Book Review Of Breaking Bread, Adrienne D. Davis

Scholarship@WashULaw

The label "Black intellectual" may be either oxymoronic or redundant, depending on the content one ascribes to the term and the historic context in which it is situated.

After We're Gone: A Commentary, Michael A. Middleton

Faculty Publications

Professor Bell has placed before us a basic question that must be dealt with by all who wish to resolve the difficulties inherent in governing a free society. That question is one with which the framers of our Constitution grappled and that baffles us still. How does a society effectively govern itself and at the same time guarantee equal liberty for all? More specifically, in the racial context presented by The Chronicle of the Space Traders, when may government act for the benefit of society in a manner that is detrimental to some of its citizens because of their race?

Affirmative Action Doctrine And The Conflicting Messages Of Croson, Doug D. Scherer

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Proving Discrimination After Price Waterhouse And Wards Cove, Candace Kovacic-Fleischer

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

INTRODUCTION Anyone involved in litigation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 19641 or similar state statutes may wonder what is entailed in proving or disproving discrimination after the United States Supreme Court's October 1988 Term. In fact, in the pending Civil Rights Act of 1990, Congress is considering reversing some of what the Supreme Court did during that Term. One of the issues that the Supreme Court addressed during the 1988 Term involved allocating burdens of proof in two major types of Title VII claims, dis- parate-treatment and disparate-impact. Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, dealt with a disparate-treatment …

Gender And Race Bias Against Lawyers: A Classroom Response, Suellyn Scarnecchia

Articles

In reviewing other clinicians' approaches to teaching about bias, I identified problems that eventually led me to design a two-hour class session on bias against lawyers. The following is a review of a few other teaching methods and a description of my own approach, detailing its own strengths and weaknesses. This is not an exhaustive review of all possible approaches to bias. It is offered to promote classroom discussion of bias against lawyers and to invite the development of innovative alternatives to my approach.

Race And Economic Opportunity, Robert L. Woodson

Vanderbilt Law Review

The true character of a nation can be judged in part by the way it treats its weakest or most vulnerable members. In the past decades, no-where has this test been more evident than in the quest for civil rights by black Americans. Civil rights has also become the leading indicator of the moral health of the Nation.

With the passage of civil rights laws, one-third of black Americans-those prepared by family status, education, or economic circumstance-walked through the doors of opportunity once they were opened. For unprepared blacks, removing racial barriers did not enable them to join the mainstream …

Racial Reflections: Dialogues In The Direction Of Liberation , Derrick Bell, Tracy Higgins, Sung-Hee Suh

Faculty Scholarship

"New voices" of future lawyers are particularly important in the area of civil rights because racial problems are theirs to confront in the next decades. Teaching techniques developed by Paulo Freire have facilitated the enlistment of students in the racial struggle. By these techniques teachers, as well as students, learn through sharing, and students become active participants, rather than passive observers, in the learning process. The educational process, Freire counsels, ''must begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students. In the fall of 1988, two …

Risky Business: Age And Race Discrimination In Capital Redeployment Decisions, Marley S. Weiss

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Employment Discrimination, Charles Stephen Ralston, Paul Kamenar, William Bradford Reynolds, Gail Wright-Sirmans

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Welcome To The Funhouse: The Incredible Maze Of Modern Divorce Taxation, Beverly I. Moran

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Using legislative histories the article shows how the incidence of taxation began to fall more heavily on women in the context of divorce as women's social and political status rose during World War II and that this trend continued through several sets of divorce tax reform.

Private Enforcement And The Fair Housing Act, Robert G. Schwemm

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The first section of the Fair Housing Act declares that "[i]t is the policy of the United States to provide, within constitutional limitations, for fair housing throughout the United States." If the United States has been officially committed to providing for fair housing for the past 20 years, why is segregated housing still the prevailing norm throughout our nation? Why does discrimination still regularly occur when minority homeseekers venture into white areas? Why are the opportunities for living in stable, integrated neighborhoods only marginally better now than they were a generation ago in the days of Lyndon Johnson, Everett McKinley …