Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

Note, A Birthright Rearticulated: The Politics Of Bilingual Education, Nirej S. Sekhon

Faculty Publications By Year

This Note addresses Proposition 227, California's recently enacted voter initiative banning bilingual education in public schools. Nirej Sekhon argues that the proposition functions rhetorically as a racially inflected exhortation to nonwhite peoples in the United States. The proposition equates American identity with white identity by claiming English as the birthright privilege of white Americans. As such, the proposition is continuous with the history of language and education politics in the United States. The author concludes by sketching the broad challenge that his analysis poses to current legal mechanisms.

Broadening Our World: Citizens And Immigrants Of Color In America, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

This article was originally presented at a symposium. The article discusses affirmative action and ways of increasing diversity in higher education.

The Imposition Of The Death Penalty In The United States Of America: Does It Comply With International Norms?, Beverly Mcqueary Smith

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

53 Years In The Struggle For Equal Rights: An African-American Jurist's Life In The Law (Equal Justice Under The Law: An Autobiography By Constance Baker Motley), Lancelot B. Hewitt

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Past, Present And Future Of Title Vi Of The Civil Rights Act As A Tool Of Environmental Justice, Michael B. Gerrard, Nicholas Johnson, Peggy Shepard, Melva J. Hayden, Sheila Foster, Elizabeth Georges

Faculty Scholarship

Mr. Michael Gerrard: I am going to try to do something a little unconventional. After hearing some remarks from Professor Johnson, I will try to start a dialogue. I have been requested to ask very tough questions of our panelists, so I will do that in the hope of drawing all of you in the audience into the dialogue. First, we will hear some remarks from Professor Nicholas Johnson of Fordham University School of Law.

California's Attempts To Disarm The Black Panthers, Cynthia Deitle Leonardatos

San Diego Law Review

When the Black Panthers screamed of an armed black populace on the verge of a revolution in 1966, the California Legislature responded with a gun control statute. While many journal articles have been written on the topic of race and guns, none have examined the history and motivations behind the California Legislature's decision to enact a gun control statute in 1967 for the purpose of disarming the members of the Black Panther Party. This Article examines and analyzes this particular California law to enhance the Second Amendment literature on the topic of discriminatory gun control statutes. Accordingly, Part II of …

Separating Equals: Educational Research And The Long-Term Consequences Of Sex Segregation, Nancy Levit

Faculty Works

The article imports into the legal literature for the first time the full range of single sex education research, from this country and others, and examines sociological research that has been omitted from the debate. Rarely do proponents consider what educational and social effects sex-exclusive schooling will have on boys. Rarer still is any consideration of the effect of educational segregation in a society that is already relentlessly segregated by sex.

While the educational research regarding the efficacy of single sex schools is mixed at best, the sociological research is absolutely clear that separation on the basis of identity characteristics …

Antidiscrimination Laws & Artistic Expression, Steven H. Shiffrin, Gregory R. Smith

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Some Thoughts On The Conduct/Status Distinction, Sherry F. Colb

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Compelling Arbitration Of Claims Under The Civil Rights Act Of 1866: What Congress Could Not Have Intended, Jean R. Sternlight

Scholarly Works

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was a very special statute, designed at minimum to eliminate all "badges and incidents of slavery" and to ensure that the freed slaves would be provided with civil rights equal to those of white persons. Its enforcement depends on the availability of a neutral public system of justice. Private arbitration cannot assure these characteristics. Thus, courts should not enforce agreements to arbitrate future disputes that may arise under this statute. This Article, however, does not argue that arbitration of claims under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 should be prohibited altogether. Disputants who mutually …

A Second Redemption?, Bradley W. Joondeph

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Gideon's Muted Trumpet, Victoria Nourse

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Once the darling of the legal academy, criminal procedure has fallen into disrepute. Thirty-five years ago, when Gideon was decided, criminal procedure was the flagship of constitutional law, criminal defense attorneys were heroes, and courts and lawyers were perceived as themselves agents of social justice. Today, there are still heroes. But the conventional wisdom, within the academy and the country at large, no longer associates criminal law or procedure with heroism. Indeed, in some quarters, criminal procedure has become the enemy. Increasingly, scholars urge revisionism, popular pundits brand procedural innovations as a loss of "common sense," and philosophers warn that …

Affirmative Action And Discrimination, Girardeau A. Spann

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The contemporary debate about race in the United States is perplexing. Each side seems genuinely to feel distressed at the demands being made by the other. Racial minorities point to Dred Scott's insistence on racial castes, Plessy's endorsement of official segregation, and Brown's reluctance to remedy unlawful discrimination as evidence that the white majority is inevitably inclined to advance its own interests at minority expense. Minority group members, therefore, tend to argue that the only way to arrest this majoritarian inclination is through the use of race-conscious remedial programs that will ensure an equitable distribution of resources. Most members of …

Charlotte And The American Dilemma, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Review of Davison Douglas, Reading, Writing and Race: The Desegregation of the Charlotte Schools (1995).

Redressing The Imbalances: Rethinking The Judicial Role After R. V R.D.S., Dianne Pothier, Richard Devlin

Dianne Pothier Collection

The Decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. R.D.S. dealt with whether a trial judge's comments, about interactions between police officers and "non-white groups", gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias in the circumstances. They strongly criticize the contrary ruling of the dissent as inappropriately drawing a false dichotomy between decisions based on evidence and decisions based on generalizations, and as improperly ignoring social context with an unwarranted confidence in the ideology of colour blindness. While more supportive of the majority's analysis, the authors also find cause for concern, with somewhat different emphasis in the nature …

Women In The New Millennium: The Promises Of The Past Are Now The Problems For The Millennium, Lundy R. Langston

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article argues that the equality principle, while intended to promote gender equality, has failed to address the unique challenges and needs of women, particularly in legal and workplace contexts. Despite advancements in women's rights, structural disparities persist, with women bearing disproportionate burdens in caregiving, employment, and legal proceedings. The analysis critiques how courts and policies often ignore the biological and societal differences between men and women, leading to outcomes that perpetuate gender inequality. The article emphasizes the need for a more nuanced approach to equality that accounts for these differences and addresses systemic power imbalances.

Multicultural Participation In The Public Hearing Process: Some Theoretical, Pragmatical, And Analeptical Considerations, John C. Duncan, Jr.

Journal Publications

Ideally, public participation in rule-making leads to better rules. Failure to involve the public obviously dilutes or vitiates democracy in crucial ways. This Article will discuss the hearing process of administrative rule-making, and ways that agencies can accommodate multi-cultural differences so as to improve both access to participation and the efficacy of that participation. Specifically, this paper will discuss the environmental justice movement. Part II of this Article places participation problems in context by looking at specific issues of environmental equity in the rule-making process. Part III examines the need to expand public participation as a desirable goal, discusses obstacles …

Apartheid As A Crime Against Humanity: A Submission To The South African Truth And Reconciliation Commission, Ronald C. Slye

Michigan Journal of International Law

The question of whether apartheid is a crime against humanity might seem an odd one for many people living outside South Africa-and indeed for the vast majority of people living inside South Africa. With the recent demise of legalized apartheid in South Africa, one might ask if apartheid's status under international law has any contemporary relevance beyond a small group of legal academics. The status of apartheid under international law-in particular whether apartheid constitutes a crime against humanity-is a question that the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission ("TRC") was obligated to address in its final report.

Gendered Identities: Women And Household Work, Naomi R. Cahn

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Burdens Of Benefits, Edward J. Mccaffery

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Do Minorities Really Benefit? The Untold Truth About Vouchers, Marie A. Galindo

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

A Uniform Standard For Exemplary Damages In Employment Discrimination Cases, Judith J. Johnson

University of Richmond Law Review

The standards for exemplary damages in employment discrimination cases are in disarray. The major federal provisions that prohibit private employment discrimination, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"),2 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ("§ 1981"), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), and the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), all have an indistinguishably worded standard for assessing exemplary damages: "reckless indifference to federally protected rights."

Holding The Same-Sex Sexual Harassment Claim At Arm's Length: The Supreme Court's Strict [And Correct] Interpretation Of Title Vii In Oncale V. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc., Thomas I. Queen Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids an employer from "discriminat[ing] against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's ...sex." In addition to prohibiting discriminatory hiring practices based on the potential employee's sex, the Supreme Court has extended the language of Title VII to afford employees a remedy for sexual harassment in the workplace.

Free Movement: A Federalist Reinterpretation , Jide Nzelibe

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Beyond 43 Million: The "Regarded As" Prong Of The Ada And Hiv Infection - A Tautological Approach , Brian K. Esser

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Reparative" Therapy: Whether Parental Attempts To Change A Child's Sexual Orientation Can Legally Constitute Child Abuse , Karolyn Ann Hicks

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Women In The New Millennium: The Promises Of The Past Are Now The Problems For The Millennium, Lundy Langston

Journal Publications

In this Article, I will explore the roles of women and the expectations that society maintains for them in the past and the expectations for the present and future. As we enter the millennium, the courts appear to administer the law in the same way as laws were administered prior to the women's rights movement. Judges appear to implement notions of equal rights while society attaches the notions of the "difference group" without any special treatment for the dual roles. Something interesting appears to be happening to the dual roles of women. There is one standard stating that women must …

Dignity And Discrimination: Toward A Pluralistic Understanding Of Workplace Harassment, Rosa Ehrenreich Brooks

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Part I of this article briefly examines some of the drawbacks and inconsistencies of Title VII sexual harassment jurisprudence and shows that Title VII does not provide an adequate framework for understanding many common forms of workplace harassment. Title VII is unquestionably a critical means of fighting against workplace discrimination; however, by emphasizing discrimination at the expense of dignity, the Title VII workplace harassment paradigm provides an incomplete understanding of the wrongs of workplace harassment.

Part II of this article asserts the importance of an approach to sexual harassment that distinguishes between the nature of the harm of workplace sexual …

Hanging With The Wrong Crowd: Of Gangs, Terrorists, And The Right Of Association, David Cole

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Part I will sketch the current contours of the right of association, a right limited to "expressive" and "intimate" association, and will describe the government's attempts to extend this categorical approach by limiting associational protection still further to membership per se. Part II will argue that the Court's limitation of associational rights to expressive and intimate associations and the government's attempt to distinguish association from conduct are unworkable, inconsistent with the Court's own precedents, and fail to reflect the normative reasons for protecting the right of association. Part III will offer an alternative framework for addressing the right of association, …

A Colony At Risk, Derrick Bell

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.