Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

’We Didn’T Think It Would Be Well Received’: The Gay Alliance Of Students’ Legal Victory Over Virginia Commonwealth University, 1974–1976, Michael S. Hevel, Timothy Reese Cain

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Faculty Publications and Presentations

In 1974, a group of college students attempted to undertake the simple act of registering an official student organization at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). In contrast to every other student group that had sought such status, the group, the Gay Alliance of Students (GAS), was denied registration. They were denied because the group was composed of LGBTQI+ students who wanted to promote the well-being and understanding of themselves and other LGBTQI+ individuals on campus. This article examines the founding, experience, and legal battles of GAS, an important organization in both the history of LGBTQI+ students and the history of LGBTQI+ …

Two Approaches To Equality, With Implications For Grutter, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

The question “what is equality?”, applied to the distribution of resources across races, suggests the following answer: when there appears to be no need for a policy that focuses on improving the welfare of one race relative to another. There is another way to approach the same question: equality is when traditionally-recognized paths to advancement do not give preference to or disadvantage an individual because of his race. Notice the difference here is between end-state and process-based notions of equality, a distinction Nozick emphasized in his examination of justice in distribution. Nozick rejected end-state theories of justice in distribution. I …

Un-Erasing Race In A Medical-Legal Partnership: Antiracist Health Justice Advocacy By Design, Danielle Pelfrey Duryea, Peggy Maisel, Kelley Saia

Faculty Scholarship

This Article covers a potential response to a Massachusetts state law which has been interpreted to require health care providers and birthing hospitals to report to state authorities any infant born to a person taking medication of opioid use disorder. While the statute mandates reports where a professional has "reasonable cause to believe that a child is suffering physical or emotional injury" as a result of substance dependence at birth, the Article highlights that many institutions report all infants born to persons with substance abuse disorders, regardless of risk of harm, for fear of penalty for failure to report. As …

Affirmative Action After Sffa, Jonathan Feingold

Faculty Scholarship

In SFFA v. Harvard (SFFA), the Supreme Court further restricted a university’s right to consider the racial identity of individual applicants during admissions. The ruling has spawned considerable confusion regarding a university’s ongoing ability to pursue racial diversity, racial inclusion, and other equality-oriented goals—whether through “raceconscious” or “race-neutral” means. To assist institutions attempting to navigate the ruling, this article outlines a set of key legal rights and responsibilities that universities continue to possess following SFFA.

Dilema Pendewasaan Hukum Bagi Pemilih Pemula Di Indonesia, Sarip Sarip

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Penelitian didasarkan usia pendewasaan antara hukum dan praktik pengawalan demokrasi Indonesia. Pendewasaan hukum jadi patokan melakukan perbuatan hukum, secara khusus berlaku bagi subjek hukum sesuai ketentuan hukum positif. Lex specialis, merupakan upaya khusus memberi kepastian dan keadilan selama memenuhi lex specialis. Bila tidak terpenuhi sifat khusus, legi generali menjadi rujukan atas produk hukum sejajar. Pendekatan perundang-undangan sebagai pilihan penelitian dengan bertumpu pada asas lex specialis derogat legi generali atas pendewasaan hukum pemilih pemula. Temuan dalam penegakan pendewasaan hukum terkesan memanfaatan pemilih pemula sebatas eksistensi kekuasaan. Ketidakonsistenan terlihat pada larangan keterlibatan pelajar SMA atau sederajat dalam setiap demonstrasi, termasuk …

Protecting Corporations From Discrimination Under The Convention On The Elimination Of Racial Discrimination, William Thomas Worster

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

This article argues that legal persons derive rights under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and can enforce those rights by individual or inter-state complaint. It uses the case study of media corporations, following from the recent judgment by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the litigation between Qatar and the UAE over the application of CERD to the treatment of the Al Jazeera media corporation. However, the implications of this study apply to all private corporations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The CERD protects against certain forms of racial, ethnic and national origin …

Different Countries, Same Homophobia And Transphobia: A Cross-Cultural Survey Of So-Called Conversion Therapy Practices And The Move Toward Legislative Protections For The United States Lgbtq+ Community, Samantha J. Past

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

So-called “conversion therapy” consists of dangerous practices that inflict detrimental, long-lasting effects on its victims. As a form of sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression change efforts, conversion therapy is fostered by global homophobia and transphobia. Despite formal public rejection and scientific discreditation, conversion therapy providers across the world continue to target LGBTQ+ individuals, predominately under the guise of offering health care services or obeying religious practices. The following piece compares conversion therapy in three countries with recently introduced LGBTQ+ legislation––(1) Ghana; (2) Canada; and (3) the United States (U.S.)–––in order to identify factors furthering conversion therapy and …

Hiring Criteria And Title Vii: How One Manifestation Of Employer Bias Evades Judicial Scrutiny, Max Londberg

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Pro Se Plight: A Comprehensive Review Of Access To Justice Initiatives In Ohio Landlord-Tenant Law, Caleigh M. Harris

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Freeze-Frames And Blanket Bans: The Unconstitutionality Of Prisons’ Denial Of Gender Confirmation Surgery To Transgender Inmates, Aranda Stathers

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

It is long established that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against imposing cruel and unusual punishments requires prisons to adequately address their inmates’ medical needs. Inmates identifying with the LGBTQ+ community are not exempt from this constitutional mandate. Trans inmates with gender dysphoria require specific treatment, including, but not limited to, gender confirmation surgery. While courts acknowledge that prisons owe a duty to provide some transition-related care, the extent of that duty remains contested. With no guidance from Congress or the Supreme Court, the constitutionality of prisons’ denial of gender confirmation surgery is in the hands of the circuit courts, which …

Meaningless Dna: Moore’S Inadequate Protection Of Genetic Material, Natalie Alexander

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Moore v. Regents of the University of California represents the seminal case regarding the protection of genetic material. In this case, the California Supreme Court held that patients do not retain property rights in their excised genetic material; instead, informed consent laws serve as genetic material’s only protection. Many states have accepted the Moore court’s decision not to extend property rights to genetic material, and most states choose to protect genetic material through informed consent alone. Moore and informed consent do not adequately protect genetic material, creating unjust results in which “donors” of genetic material have little to no recourse …

The Culture War Over Girls' Sports: Understanding The Argument For Transgender Girls' Inclusion, Kimberly A. Yuracko

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Second Amendment Is History: Ninth Circuit Takes Originalist Approach In Finding No Right To Public Carry In Young V. Hawaii, Scott Kingsbury

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Kengerski V. Harper: The Third Circuit Clarifies The Scope Of Title Vii's Protection For Associational Discrimination Claims, Maureen O'Kane

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Black Fourth Amendment, Charisma Hunter

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

Policing Black bodies serves at the forefront of the American policing system. Black bodies are subject to everlasting surveillance through institutions and everyday occurrences. From relaxing in a Starbucks to exercising, Black bodies are deemed criminals, surveilled, profiled, and subjected to perpetual implicit bias when participating in mundane activities. Black people should have the same protections as white people and should possess the ability to engage in everyday, commonplace, and routine activities.

The Fourth Amendment was not drafted with the intention of protecting Black bodies. In fact, Black bodies were considered three-fifths of a person at the drafting of the …

Deitche Earns Karen Hastie Williams Fellowship, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

La’Kendra Deitche, a 2L from Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been selected as one of eight—and the only one from outside the Washington, D.C. area—Karen Hastie Williams Leadership Fellows, a prestigious fellowship awarded by the D.C. Bar.

Deitche will complete a leadership orientation session followed by a six-month fellowship, from January through June 2023, on the D.C. Bar’s Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources community. The D.C. Bar offers 20 communities that help members develop expertise in specific practice areas.

Keep Your Hands To Yourself! How Law Enforcement Intrusion Into Education Records Makes Campus Title Ix Courts Necessary: Why Our System Might Be Better Than Most, Jeremy S. Ribando

Global Business Law Review

Sexual harassment deprives students of equal educational opportunities, and sexual crimes on campus have been and continue to be a serious threat to student safety. Congress established Title IX and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), in part, to guarantee and safeguard both student records and student safety. However, Title IX and FERPA are difficult doctrines to harmonize, and implementing them present serious challenges for University administrations. This Note explores the University’s responsibility to protect students from sexual crimes and their responsibility to prosecute the perpetrators, while simultaneously protecting student records and student confidentiality. This Note also explores …

Gender Identity, Sports, And Affirmative Action: What's Title Ix Got To Do With It?, Michael E. Rosman

St. Mary's Law Journal

There is much talk these days of promoting “equity” rather than “equality.” When applied outside athletics, Title IX promotes non-discrimination, usually associated with equality. As it has been applied to sports, though, it may be our most prominent “equity” statute, making sure each sex gets its fair share.

The questions this article seeks to address are legal ones that the debate about trans females seems to bring to the fore. How did we start with a statute whose language looks very similar to every other civil rights statute—and, indeed, that acts just like every other civil rights statute outside of …

Who’S The Fairest Of Them All: Circuit Split Over Landlord Liability For Tenant-On-Tenant Discrimination Under The Fair Housing Act, Kelli Conway

Brooklyn Law Review

This note explores a circuit split between the Second and Seventh Circuits regarding whether landlords and property owners can be held liable for postacquisition, tenant-on-tenant discrimination. This issue is one of first impression in recent years, resulting in divergent holdings. To address conflicting judicial approaches to an increasingly prevalent civil claim, this note argues for the necessity of a Congressional amendment to the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the law which generally governs housing discrimination. Specifically, the proposed amendment would recognize postacquisition discrimination as an actionable claim and append a test to the FHA for postacquisition liability as employed by the …

Last Rights: A Theory Of Individual Impact, Kenneth R. Davis

Brooklyn Law Review

Title VII recognizes both individual and group disparate treatment claims, which allege intentional discrimination. But Title VII recognizes only group claims for disparate impact. Conspicuously absent are claims for individual impact. The reason for the absence of an individual-disparate-impact claim is a problem of proof. To establish a Title VII claim, a plaintiff must prove that he or she lost a job opportunity was “because of” membership in a protected class. Showing that a single individual lost a job opportunity because of a test score, resume evaluation, or interview does not prove that any of these selection criteria unlawfully discriminated …

Answering The Call

DePaul Magazine

With a strong spirit of service, DePaul initiatives aid displaced populations in Chicago and internationally.

The People's Advocate

DePaul Magazine

DePaul Magazine chats with Cook County Public Defender and DePaul alumnus Sharone Mitchell Jr. about his opinion on representing the underserved, the paths that shaped his career and the pursuit of justice for all.

New Light On The History Of Free Exercise Exemptions: The Debates In Two Eighteenth-Century State Legislatures, Stanton D. Krauss

Catholic University Law Review

As Justice Gorsuch pointed out in his concurring opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 138 S. Ct. 1719, 1734 (2018), there is an ongoing debate about whether the First Amendment ever requires the recognition of religion-based exemptions to neutral and generally applicable laws. The leading proponent of such exemptions has argued that the original understanding of the Free Exercise Clause supports his claim, and that the existence of such exemptions in preconstitutional American statutes – which he believed to have been granted because legislators thought them mandated by “the free exercise principle” – is one factor …

Beware What You Google: Fourth Amendment Constitutionality Of Keyword Warrants, Chelsa Camille Edano

Washington Law Review

Many Americans have potentially had their privacy rights invaded through invisible, widespread police searches. In recent years, local and federal governments have compelled Google and other search engine companies to produce the personal information of users who have conducted a search query related to a crime. By using keyword warrants, the government can conduct a dragnet search for suspects, imposing suspicion on users and exposing their personal information. The keyword warrant is a symptom of the erosion of the Fourth Amendment protection against suspicionless searches. Not only is scholarship scarce on keyword warrants, but also instances of these warrants are …

The Legal Origins Of Catholic Conscientious Objection, Jeremy Kessler

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Article traces the origins of Catholic conscientious objection as a theory and practice of American constitutionalism. It argues that Catholic conscientious objection emerged during the 1960s from a confluence of left-wing and right-wing Catholic efforts to participate in American democratic culture more fully. The refusal of the American government to allow legitimate Catholic conscientious objection to the Vietnam War became a cause célèbre for clerical and lay leaders and provided a blueprint for Catholic legal critiques of other forms of federal regulation in the late 1960s and early 1970s—most especially regulations concerning the provision of contraception and abortion.

Over …

Sex Trait Discrimination: Intersex People And Title Vii After Bostock V. Clayton County, Sam Parry

Washington Law Review

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from workplace discrimination and harassment on account of sex. Courts have historically failed to extend Title VII protections to LGBTQ+ people. However, in 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County changed this. Bostock explicitly extended Title VII’s protections against workplace discrimination to “homosexual” and “transgender” people, reasoning that it is impossible to discriminate against an employee for being gay or transgender without taking the employee’s sex into account. While Bostock is a win for LGBTQ+ rights, the opinion leaves several questions unanswered. The reasoning in …

The Times They Are A-Changin’?: #Metoo And Our Movement Forward, Terry Morehead Dworkin, Cindy A. Schipani

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Social movements like #MeToo have gained public traction like never before. In this Article, we place those developments within their historical context and chart a path forward. First, we provide a history of the prior unsuccessful attempts to ratify an Equal Rights Amendment, and we discuss that effort’s current legal status and prospects. Then, we briefly review the history of sexual harassment law. Having outlined this historical context, we move to contemporary developments. We describe actions that state legislatures and local municipalities have taken to address the concerns raised by the #MeToo movement. Finally, we discuss how inflection points can …

Optimizing Disaster Preparedness Planning For Minority Older Adults: One Size Does Not Fit All, Omolola E. Adepoju, Luz E. Herrera, Minji Chae, Daikwon Han

Faculty Scholarship

By 2050, one in five Americans will be 65 years and older. The growing proportion of older adults in the U.S. population has implications for many aspects of health including disaster preparedness. This study assessed correlates of disaster preparedness among community-dwelling minority older adults and explored unique differences for African American and Hispanic older adults. An electronic survey was disseminated to older minority adults 55+, between November 2020 and January 2021 (n = 522). An empirical framework was used to contextualize 12 disaster-related activities into survival and planning actions. Multivariate logistic regression models were stratified by race/ethnicity to examine the …

When Sexual Assault Becomes Incident To Military Service, Lauren C. Brady

Journal of Law and Policy

For seventy-two years, federal courts have barred military servicemembers who are survivors of sexual assault from recovery under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). The Feres doctrine, promulgated from the Supreme Court case Feres v. United States, became the foundation for federal courts’ decisions that sexual assault is incident to one’s service in the military. Courts’ over-deference to the military has enabled a system that turns a blind eye to perpetrators and abusive environments on bases. However, the Ninth Circuit recently turned the tide in FTCA cases, holding in Spletstoser v. Hyten that military sexual assault survivors should be permitted …

Unending Reform: Police Resistance To Consent Decrees And Federal Monitors, Finn Mayock

Journal of Law and Policy

The murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests that engulfed the United States in 2020 reignited public attention towards the violent and discriminatory practices of police departments across the country. While methods of reforming these institutions were debated with new vigor, the federal courts have been quietly overseeing efforts to obtain constitutionally compliant policing in numerous cities for decades. Using legal tools such as consent decrees and monitors, the Department of Justice has enlisted the assistance of federal courts to ensure that police practices are in congruence with the Constitution. As pervasive police violence against black and brown people …