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Articles 91 - 108 of 108

Full-Text Articles in Law and Gender

Reviving The Public/Private Distinction In Feminist Theorizing Symposium On Unfinished Feminist Business, Tracy E. Higgins Jan 1999

Reviving The Public/Private Distinction In Feminist Theorizing Symposium On Unfinished Feminist Business, Tracy E. Higgins

Faculty Scholarship

The public/private distinction has been a target of thoroughgoing feminist critique for quite some time now. Indeed, attacking the public/private line has been one of the primary concerns (if not the primary concern) of feminist legal theorizing for over two decades. If Carole Pateman is correct, one would think that this particular problem might be assigned to the category of "finished business" by this time. In this Essay, I do argue that the critique is, in certain ways, finished business in that it is no longer particularly useful in its most common forms. More importantly, however, I suggest several ways …


Regarding Rights: An Essay Honoring The Fiftieth Anniversary Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights Introduction: Locating Culture, Identity, And Human Rights Symposium In Celebration Of The Fiftieth Anniversary Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Tracy E. Higgins Jan 1998

Regarding Rights: An Essay Honoring The Fiftieth Anniversary Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights Introduction: Locating Culture, Identity, And Human Rights Symposium In Celebration Of The Fiftieth Anniversary Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Tracy E. Higgins

Faculty Scholarship

The half-century since the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights' has been famously heralded as the "Age of Rights" and the concept of human rights described as "the only political-moral idea that has gained universal acceptance." During the same period, however, both terms defining the subject-human and rights-have become increasingly contested. Informed by the emergence of identity-based political movements, critics have attacked the category human has as bearing the baggage of Western Enlightenment assumptions about personhood and community, inherently racist, sexist, and classist. Theorists across the political spectrum have criticized the concept of rights as indeterminate, destructive of …


Principles And Passions: The Intersection Of Abortion And Gun Rights , Nicholas J. Johnson Jan 1997

Principles And Passions: The Intersection Of Abortion And Gun Rights , Nicholas J. Johnson

Faculty Scholarship

In this article, Professor Nicholas J. Johnson explores the parallels between the right of armed self-defense and the woman's right to abortion. Professor Johnson demonstrates that the theories and principles advanced to support the abortion right intersect substantially with an individual's right to armed self-defense. Professor Johnson uncovers common ground between the gun and abortion rights - two rights that have come to symbolize society's deepest social and cultural divisions - divisions that prompt many to embrace the abortion right while summarily rejecting the gun right. Unreflective disparagement of the gun right, he argues, threatens the vitality of the abortion …


(Dis)Assembling Rights Of Women Workers Along The Global Assembly Line: Human Rights And The Garment Industry Symposium: Political Lawyering: Conversations On Progressive Social Change, Laura Ho, Catherine Powell, Leti Volpp Jan 1996

(Dis)Assembling Rights Of Women Workers Along The Global Assembly Line: Human Rights And The Garment Industry Symposium: Political Lawyering: Conversations On Progressive Social Change, Laura Ho, Catherine Powell, Leti Volpp

Faculty Scholarship

Some observers would like to explain away sweatshops as immigrants exploiting other immigrants, as "cultural, or as the importation of a form of exploitation that normally does not happen here but occurs elsewhere, in the "Third World." While the public was shocked by the discovery at El Monte, garment workers and garment worker advocates have for years been describing abuses in the garment industry and have ascribed responsibility for such abuses to manufacturers and retailers who control the industry. Sweatshops, like the one in El Monte, are a home-grown problem with peculiarly American roots. Since the inception of the garment …


Democracy And Feminism , Tracy E. Higgins Jan 1996

Democracy And Feminism , Tracy E. Higgins

Faculty Scholarship

Although feminist legal theory has had an important impact on most areas of legal doctrine and theory over the last two decades, its contribution to the debate over constitutional interpretation has been comparatively small. In this Article, Professor Higgins explores reasons for the limited dialogue between mainstream constitutional theory and feminist theory concerning questions of democracy, constitutionalism, and judicial review. She argues that mainstream constitutional theory tends to take for granted the capacity of the individual to make choices, leaving the social construction of those choices largely unexamined. In contrast, feminist legal theory's emphasis on the importance of constraints on …


Straying From The Path Of The Law After One Hundred Years, The, Tracy E. Higgins Jan 1996

Straying From The Path Of The Law After One Hundred Years, The, Tracy E. Higgins

Faculty Scholarship

What common ground can be found between modern feminist legal theory and a century-old essay advocating understanding the law from the perspective of the "bad man"? The question admits of no simple answer. Feminists, including myself, might agree with some irony that "[i]f you want to know the law and nothing else, you must look at it as a bad man" but would add that this is precisely the problem. Of course, Holmes does not use the concept of the bad man in a feminist sense to suggest that the law empowers the bad man at the expense of women. …


Anti-Essentialism, Relativism, And Human Rights , Tracy E. Higgins Jan 1996

Anti-Essentialism, Relativism, And Human Rights , Tracy E. Higgins

Faculty Scholarship

Confronted with the challenge of cultural relativism, feminism faces divergent paths, neither of which seems to lead out of the woods of patriarchy. The first path, leading to simple tolerance of cultural difference, is too broad. To follow it would require feminists to ignore pervasive limits on women's freedom in the name of an autonomy that exists for women in theory only. The other path, leading to objective condemnation of cultural practices, is too narrow. To follow it would require feminists to dismiss the culturally distinct experiences of women as false consciousness. Yet to forge an alternative path is difficult, …


Why Mandatory Hiv Testing Of Pregnant Women And Newborns Must Fail: A Legal, Historical, And Public Policy Analysis Special Issue: Mandatory Hiv Testing Of Newborns And Their Mothers, Elizabeth B. Cooper Jan 1996

Why Mandatory Hiv Testing Of Pregnant Women And Newborns Must Fail: A Legal, Historical, And Public Policy Analysis Special Issue: Mandatory Hiv Testing Of Newborns And Their Mothers, Elizabeth B. Cooper

Faculty Scholarship

The debate surrounding mandatory HIV testing of newborns and pregnant women requires an understanding of the historical context of women in the epidemic. Although the epidemic first was recognized in gay men in 1981, anecdotal reports reveal that women already were dying from what seems to have been HIV-related symptomatology. Indeed, in Gena Corea's book, The Invisible Epidemic, we learn that, as early as 1981, not insignificant numbers of drug-using and former drug-using women were falling ill and not recovering from conditions that normally are not fatal, including bacterial pneumonia. Yet, because we did not necessarily expect these populations to …


By Reason Of Their Sex: Feminist Theory Postmodernism And Justice , Tracy E. Higgins Jan 1994

By Reason Of Their Sex: Feminist Theory Postmodernism And Justice , Tracy E. Higgins

Faculty Scholarship

Both the Supreme Court's jurisprudence of gender and feminist legal theory have generally assumed that some identifiable and describable category of woman exists prior to the construction of legal categories. For the Court, this woman-whose characteristics admittedly have changed over time-serves as the standard against which gendered legal classifications are measured. For feminism, her existence has served a different but equally important purpose as the subject for whom political goals are pursued. To the extent that the definitions of the category diverge, the differences among definitions are played out in feminist critiques of the Court's gender jurisprudence, and, occasionally, in …


Women Judges And Better Justice For All, John D. Feerick Jan 1993

Women Judges And Better Justice For All, John D. Feerick

Faculty Scholarship

According to the most recent report of The New York Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts, published in October 1992, out of a total of 1,129 judges, only 183 are female. It is clear women are under-represented in the judiciary. Decisive action is required in order to increase opportunities for women to become judges. In January 1992, Governor Cuomo's Task Force on Judicial Diversity ("the Task Force") issued its report. The Task Force strongly supported diversity and set forth compelling reasons why a diverse bench is in the public interest. The report reminded us that "diversity is vital because …


Five Year Report Of The New York Judicial Committee On Women In The Courts, The Judicial Committee On Women In The Courts Jan 1992

Five Year Report Of The New York Judicial Committee On Women In The Courts, The Judicial Committee On Women In The Courts

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In response to a report submitted by the Judicial Committee on Women, which concluded gender bias to be a "pervasive problem" in the New York State Court System, a Task Force was created to implement the recommendations of that committee. The Five Year Report is a summary of the work done by the Committee and notes the progress made in the fight for more gender equality in our courts. The Committee concluded that although significant progress has been made, there is still a long way to go in the fight for gender equality.


The Domestic Violence Component Of The New York Task Force Report On Women In The Courts: An Evaluation And Assessment Of New York City Courts, Sarah Eaton, Ariella Hyman Jan 1992

The Domestic Violence Component Of The New York Task Force Report On Women In The Courts: An Evaluation And Assessment Of New York City Courts, Sarah Eaton, Ariella Hyman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This piece contains the findings of a survey conducted to evaluate the impact of the New York Task Force On Women in the Court's Report in the area of domestic violence and of the progress that has taken place since the Report's publication. The authors hope to provide insight not only into the next steps that should be taken in New York City, but also into the most effective methods of implementing change to combat bias against women in the courtroom. The authors conclude that although progress has been made in the area of combating bias against women in the …


Charleston Policy: Substance Or Abuse, The , Kimani Paul-Emile Jan 1989

Charleston Policy: Substance Or Abuse, The , Kimani Paul-Emile

Faculty Scholarship

In 1989, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) adopted a policy that, according to subjective criteria, singled out for drug testing, certain women who sought prenatal care and childbirth services would be tested for prohibited substances. Women who tested positive were arrested, incarcerated and prosecuted for crimes ranging from misdemeanor substance possession to felony substance distribution to a minor. In this Article, the Author argues that by intentionally targeting indigent Black women for prosecution, the MUSC Policy continued the United States legacy of their systematic oppression and resulted in the criminalizing of Black Motherhood.


A Message From The Dean, John D. Feerick Jan 1987

A Message From The Dean, John D. Feerick

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Thanking the Fordham Urban Law Journal for bringing to light, through its publication of the Task Force on Women Report and related scholarly works, the sexist practices persisting in the legal community and the practical challenges facing women in the legal industry.


Report Of The New York Task Force On Women In The Courts Jan 1987

Report Of The New York Task Force On Women In The Courts

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Charged by the New York State Unified Court System with the responsibilities of reviewing and reporting on gender biases existing throughout the New York legal industry, the New York Task Force on Women, comprised of judges, leading practitioners, and academic scholars, set forth a plethora of evidence revealing the depth of gender biases in the New York legal industry. Concluding that gender bias is rampant and pervasive both in the court system and in the private legal industry, the Report reasons that the quickest and most effective way by which reform can be achieved is through the enlistment of the …


Foreword, Hon. Judith S. Kaye Jan 1987

Foreword, Hon. Judith S. Kaye

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In this foreword, Hon. Judith S. Kaye praises the diligent work done by the Task Force on Women in helping raise awareness about the undue hardships facing women in the legal field. She hails the Task Force's accomplishments as heroic and inspires it to continue its important mission in securing a brighter future for equality among women lawyers.


The Lady In The Harbor And The Lady In Albany, Hon. Sol Wachtler Jan 1987

The Lady In The Harbor And The Lady In Albany, Hon. Sol Wachtler

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Commemorating the 100 year anniversary of Kate Stoneman's entrance into legal practice in the State of New York, the first women to achieve this milestone, Hon. Sol Wachtler hails the achievements of the Task Force on Women and relays its future plans about how, in its continued pursuing of equality, it will help eradicate sexual biases still persisting in the legal industry.


Conjugal Violence: The Law Of Force And The Force Of Law , Maria Marcus Jan 1981

Conjugal Violence: The Law Of Force And The Force Of Law , Maria Marcus

Faculty Scholarship

The Article concludes that neither the impartial mission of the rule of law nor the neatly tooled goal of individual justice has been served by the governmental response to conjugal violence, and suggests the elements from which a valid approach may be constructed.