Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

Table Of Contents

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

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Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Pandemic And The Public Nuisance: Judicial Intervention In The Era Of Covid-19 And The Collective Right To Public Health, Kyra Ziesk-Socolov

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Amidst the unprecedented disruption caused by COVID-19, workplace lawsuits around the country began to apply a longstanding common law theory in a novel way: employee plaintiffs argued that their employers’ noncompliance with state and federal public health guidance designed to curb the spread of the virus should be enjoined as a public nuisance. Although some of these initial public nuisance suits were dismissed, others successfully forced defendant businesses to either alter their COVID safety practices or temporarily close. This Article explores the first pandemic-era public nuisance suit, Rural Community Workers Alliance v. Smithfield Foods, brought by meatpacking plant workers …

Pretext After Bostock—Disproving One Of The Employer’S Reasons Is Enough, Robert S. Mantell

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

When an employer gives a pretextual reason for an employee’s termination, that falsehood can help prove that the true reason was discrimination. The dishonesty constitutes “affirmative evidence of guilt.” The trier of fact may “infer the ultimate fact of discrimination from the falsity of the employer’s explanation.” However, when an employer provides multiple reasons for firing an employee, there has been a split of opinion whether the plaintiff must disprove one or all of those reasons.

The Supreme Court’s recent discussion of multiple motives in Bostock v. Clayton County provides the tools to resolve this split and compels rejection of …

Reproductive Privacy In The World: Critical Examination Of June Medical Services, L.L.C. V. Russo And Buck V. Bell, Kumiko Kitaoka

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Using insights from Professor Stephen A. Simon’s Universal Rights and the Constitution, this Article argues that national courts should continue to assume an active role in the protection of privacy rights by giving due consideration to the nature of the privacy right in combination with the merits of the universal right theory. This Article then demonstrates that both foreign national courts and domestic state courts have recognized the right to procreate and key aspects of the right to abortion as fundamental rights.

Part II introduces the universal right theory, explaining why the theory is particularly relevant to the protection …

Senseless Sentencing: The Uneven Application Of The Career Offender Guidelines, Christopher Ethan Watts

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Federal appellate courts are currently split on the definition of “controlled substance” in the career offender guideline, with one side using federal law to define the phrase, and the other side allowing standalone state law offenses to trigger the guideline. Allowing state law to define the phrase allows countless substances Congress never intended to penalize to be able to trigger one of the most severe penalties in the Sentencing Guidelines. This Note assesses the landscape of the circuit split and analyzes the arguments for and against federally defining “controlled substance offense.” This Note then proposes a novel way to resolve …

As Fires Blaze Through California, Could They Blaze A New Path For Incarcerated Individuals: A Model For Back-End Abolition, Jacquelyn Kelsey Arnold

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

This Note provides a critique on the current system of prison labor through the lens of the California wildfires and the lack of inmate labor due to early release in the wake of COVID-19. This Note provides an overview of the relevant history of the Thirteenth Amendment, contextualizes mass incarceration as a product of the “War on Drugs” in the United States, and consequently, discusses the significant and dramatic expansion of the prison industrial complex and the use of prison labor as a growing source of production labor. It concludes with a recommendation for a provisional back-end abolition model that …

Minority And Vulnerable Populations Voting By Mail: A Convenience Or A Disadvantage, Kylan Sophia Josephine Memminger

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Mail-in voting has feverishly gained popularity in the United States over the last few primary and general elections. In light of this new balloting reality, a trend has emerged. Statistics from minority and vulnerable populations reveal that mail-in ballots composed and sent by these groups have been consistently rejected at a higher rate compared to majority populations. This Note begins by surveying the constitutional background for bringing a challenge to voting rights legislation, while confronting the divisive history of legal precedent surrounding these claims. This Note then analyzes the Supreme Court’s decision in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board and …

Blood, Sweat, Tears: A Re-Examination Of The Exploitation Of College Athletes, Keely Grey Fresh

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

2021 Louise Halper Award Winner for Best Student Note

The unrest revolving around compensation for college athletes is not a new concept. However, public attitudes are shifting. With spirited arguments on both sides, and the recent Supreme Court decision of National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston regarding antitrust exemptions, the issue has been placed in a spotlight. This Note examines the buildup of discontentment through the history of the NCAA and amateurism, specifically how the term “student-athlete” became coined. It will then move to litigation efforts by athletes in an attempt to gain employment status, and an alternative route of …

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Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Why Arkansas Act 710 Was Upheld, And Will Be Again, Mark Goldfeder

Scholarly Works

The recent Eighth Circuit ruling in Arkansas Times, LP v. Waldrip, a lawsuit revolving around an Arkansas state anti-discrimination bill, has been widely misreported and generally misunderstood. While the decision was actually very narrow, case-specific, and ripe for review, the misleading information presented to the public has led to speculation and fear that similar anti-discrimination legislation in dozens of other states might somehow be constitutionally deficient. This essay will clarify what actually happened in the Arkansas case, and explain why legislators and advocates around the country do not have to worry about this very limited opinion affecting the legality of …

Solving The Procedural Puzzles Of The Texas Heartbeat Act And Its Imitators: The Potential For Defensive Litigation, Charles W. "Rocky" Rhodes, Howard M. Wasserman

SMU Law Review

The Texas Heartbeat Act (SB8) prohibits abortions following detection of a fetal heartbeat, a constitutionally invalid ban under current Supreme Court precedent. But the law adopts a unique enforcement scheme—it prohibits enforcement by government officials in favor of private civil actions brought by “any person,” regardless of injury. Texas sought to burden reproductive-health providers and rights advocates with costly litigation and potentially crippling liability.

In a series of articles, we explore how SB8’s exclusive reliance on private enforcement creates procedural and jurisdictional hurdles to challenging the law’s constitutional validity and obtaining judicial review. This piece explores defensive litigation, in which …

Roadmap For Anti-Racism: First Unwind The War On Drugs Now, André Douglas Pond Cummings, Steven A. Ramirez

Law Faculty Scholarship

The War on Drugs (WOD) transmogrified into a war on communities of color early in its history, and its impact has devastated communities of color first and foremost. People of color disproportionately suffer incarceration in the WOD even though people of color use illegal narcotics at substantially lower rates than white Americans. As a result, the WOD led to mass incarceration of people of color at many times the rate of white Americans. Indeed, as a stark illustration of the power of race in America, even after Illinois and Colorado legalized cannabis, over-policing in communities of color resulted in a …

Cause For Concern Or Cause For Celebration?: Did Bostock V. Clayton County Establish A New Mixed Motive Theory For Title Vii Cases And Make It Easier For Plaintiffs To Prove Discrimination Claims?, Terrence Cain

Law Faculty Scholarship

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee “because of” race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This seems simple enough, but if an employer makes an adverse employment decision partly for an impermissible reason and partly for a permissible reason, i.e., if the employer acts with a mixed motive, has the employer acted “because of” the impermissible reason? According to Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, the answer is no. The Courts in Gross and Nassar held that …

Tinkering With The Schoolhouse Gate: The Future Of Student Speech After Mahanoy Area School District V. B.L., Victoria R. Bonds

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

When the Supreme Court last created a rule about students’ First Amendment rights, MySpace was the most popular social media platform. Students’ use of social media and technology has radically changed since then, and it is time the First Amendment case law reflects that. With the transition to online learning after the COVID-19 pandemic and overall increased reliance on technology, students need clear answers about when school officials can punish them for their social media posts.

The Supreme Court had a chance to clarify First Amendment student speech law this year in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., but …

Zero To Hero: The Unavailability Of Bivens And Why Congress Should Intervene, Amanda Pulido

FIU Law Review

n Bivens, the Supreme Court held that although 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is silent as to its application to federal agents, the plaintiff had an implied cause of action against federal agents for violation of his constitutional rights. Since this decision, the Court has heavily narrowed the implied Bivenscause of action and punted the decision to Congress to codify a cause of action against federal agents. As the law currently stands, plaintiffs must overcome a confusing framework that conflates constitutional merits with whether a cause of action exists, affords extreme deference to executive decisions, and is presumptively unavailable. In June …

Can Social Science Teach Congress New Tricks?: Addressing The Need For Educational Support Dogs In Classrooms, Elaina H. Wilson

Indiana Law Journal

In the United States, children with disabilities are afforded protections in three federal statutes: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. However, these laws fail to provide for educational support dogs in public schools, despite the common and successful use of educational support dogs in other countries. The success of educational support dogs abroad is not suprising, as recent waves of social science research make clear the benefits of dogs in schools, from increased productivity within the classroom to improved morale within the school community …

Discrimination On Wheels: How Big Data Uses License Plate Surveillance To Put The Brakes On Disadvantaged Drivers, Nicole Mcconlogue

Faculty Scholarship

As scholarly discourse increasingly raises concerns about the negative societal effects of “fintech,” “dirty data,” and “technochauvinism,” a growing technology provides an instructive illustration of all three of these problems. Surveillance software companies are using automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology to develop predictive analytical tools. In turn, software companies market those tools to auto financers and insurers as a risk assessment input to evaluate consumers seeking to buy a car. Proponents of this technology might argue that more in-formation about consumer travel habits will result in more accurate and individualized risk predictions, potentially increasing vehicle ownership among marginalized groups. …

Balancing Clashing Scholars’ Academic Freedoms, Sharona Aharoni-Goldenberg, Gerry Leisman

Touro Law Review

The paper analyzes the scope of scholars’ academic freedom and maintains that it is composed of two pillars. First, inclusion, which is subject to capacity, equality, and the provision of a pro-educational academic environment. Second, academic expression, which refers to teaching and research, freedom of opinion, political participation outside academia and freedom to receive academic materials. Scholars’ academic freedom is limited by professional standards and is subject to the respect of the rights of fellow scholars.

The paper argues that scholars’ academic freedom is not confined to a scholar-state relation but is also relevant to scholar-scholar relations. Hence, scholars’ academic …

Baby, We Were Born This Way: The Case For Making Sexual Orientation A Suspect Classification Under The Equal Protection Clause Of The Fourteenth Amendment, Jennifer R. Covais

Touro Law Review

Currently, the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides minimal constitutional safeguards against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Laws that treat queer Americans differently than their straight counterparts are presumptively constitutional if those laws bear a rational relationship to any legitimate government interest. Consequently, states may limit same-goods and services of certain businesses, and qualify for government programs. The Supreme Court established enhanced equal protection guarantees for classifications based on race, ethnicity, and national origin which are deemed suspect classifications. These classifications will only survive judicial review if the government proves the law is necessary …

How Covid-19 Put The Spotlight On The Emtala, Ikra Kafayat

Touro Law Review

There was a time when those that were unable to afford medical care risked being denied treatment in emergency situations. Before Congress passed Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA), patients were being transferred to different hospitals, without being screened, because they did not have insurance and could not afford the treatment. Hospitals are no longer allowed to transport patients without properly screening and stabilizing them. Patients can bring a suit against a hospital if they believe the hospital violated EMTALA, however, in certain circuits the patient will need to prove that hospital had an “improper motive” for failing to …

Improper Distinction Under The Ada Leads To An Irrational Outcome: Favoring One Life Over Another, Daniel Frederick Parise

Touro Law Review

Society has a distorted view of those battling addiction and essentially marks them with a sign of disgrace; however, what society may not fully understand is that addiction is a disability beyond the afflicted individual’s control. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates that 19.7 million Americans have battled a substance use disorder in their life. Of the 19.7 million Americans who battled illicit substance use disorders, approximately seventy-four percent also struggled with alcohol use disorder.

Based on these statistics, it is clear that illicit drug use disorders are often interconnected with alcohol use disorders. However, Congress makes …

Modification Requests In Community Associations: Do We Know What’S Reasonable?, Beth M. Gazes

Touro Law Review

The Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) as well as the New York State Human Rights Law (“HRL”) provide, inter alia, that qualifying individuals shall be granted reasonable modifications or accommodations to afford such individuals either full enjoyment of the premises or an equal opportunity to enjoy their dwelling, respectively. Both laws likely extend to common areas of the development but arrive at this protection in different ways. Namely, through the FHA’s implementing rules (“Rules”) and with guidance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), courts have easily interpreted the FHA to extend to common areas but stop short …

Denial Of Housing To African Americans: Post-Slavery Reflections From A Civil Rights Advocate, Elaine Gross

Touro Law Review

In this article, I draw on two decades of experience as a civil rights advocate to reflect on the denial of housing to African Americans in post-slavery America. I do so as Founder and President of the civil rights organization, ERASE Racism. I undertake historical research and share insights from my own experience to create and reflect upon six lessons related to understanding the systematic discrimination and segregation of African Americans. The lessons encompass: (1) the role of the federal government, (2) the role of municipal governments, (3) White supremacy ideation and actions, (4) legislative advocacy and legal actions, (5) …

Recent Case Law, Disparate Impact, And Restrictive Zoning, Michael Lewyn

Touro Law Review

The Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) prohibits housing discrimination, including the refusal to sell or rent housing based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status or national origin,and any policy or conduct that “otherwise make[s] unavailable or den[ies], a dwelling [based on these impermissible factors].”In 2015, the Supreme Court interpreted the “otherwise make unavailable” language of the Act to mean that the FHA includes not only claims for intentional discrimination, but also claims for disparate impact. Under the disparate impact doctrine, a defendant may be liable for facially neutral rules or policies that disproportionately favor one racial group over another.

Zoning …

This Aggression Will Not Stand, Schools: The Need For Federal Legislation Protecting Bullied Students With Disabilities, Russell A. Vogel

Touro Law Review

A boy with Autism comes home from school, visibly upset. His parents ask him why, and he responds that nobody in his class likes him. To his parents’ horror, they learn that their son’s teacher encouraged a class discussion about why they dislike their son. When the boy’s parents complain to the school about this issue, school administrators brush it aside. The next day, students sitting near the boy move their desks away from him and taunt him for the way he acts every time he tries to socialize with them. The boy then refuses to go to school each …

Critical Tax Theory: Combatting Racial And Income Inequality In America, Anthony Rychkov

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Free Appropriate Public Education: The Unfulfilled Promise Of The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, Madison Flores

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Abortion Bans On Low-Income Women, Jeni Siegel

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Applying Constitutional Due Process Rights In Immigration Detainment, Gabrielle Risolvato

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.