Law and Gender Commons^™

You Haven't Come A Long Way, Baby: The Courts' Inability To Eliminate The Gender Gap Fifty-Two Years After The Passage Of The Equal Pay Act, Morgan A. Tufarolo

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

A Remedy For Male-To-Female Transgender Inmates: Applying Disparate Impact To Prison Placement, Janei Au

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

#Sayhername Captured: Using Video To Challenge Law Enforcement Violence Against Women, Amber Baylor

Faculty Scholarship

Recorded encounters between women of color and police officers have been invaluable in bringing the reality of these interactions into the living rooms of otherwise unknowing Americans. The recordings are instrumental pieces of documentation and evidence, with the power to impact verdicts and galvanize the domestic struggle for human rights outside of the courtroom. They also are fraught with ethical issues that must be addressed by attorneys and activists hoping they effect change. Complexities such as implicit biases, editing and sourcing of videos, anonymity for those attacked and bystanders, and vicarious trauma on affected communities complicate use of violent police …

Testimony On Pennsylvania Sb1306: No Additional Protections For Religious Freedom, Katherine M. Franke, Burton Caine, Lenore F. Carpenter, Eric A. Feldman, Thersa Glennon, Nancy J. Knauer, Jules Lobel, Wendell Pritchett, Dara E. Purvis, Brishen Rogers, Victor C. Romero, Kathryn M. Stanchi, Nancy A. Welsh

Faculty Scholarship

On behalf of the Public Rights/Private Conscience Project (PRPCP) at Columbia Law School I offer the following legal analysis of Senate Bill 1306. Overall, the current version of the bill promises to modernize Pennsylvania’s Human Relations Act by expanding antidiscrimination protections in employment to include sexual orientation and gender identity-based discrimination. Were the Pennsylvania legislature to pass SB 1306, the Commonwealth would join twenty-two states that include sexual orientation and nineteen states that include gender identity in their laws assuring equal employment opportunities for their citizens.

Class Warfare: The Disappearance Of Low-Income Litigants From The Civil Docket, Myriam Gilles

Articles

In recent years, much attention has been paid to the startling disparities in income and wealth in contemporary U.S. society. The enormous concentration of economic power in the top 1% is the culmination of decades of significant income and wealth gains for the top, combined with stagnant or decreasing growth for the majority - a trend that continues apace. But nowhere is the gap more glaring than in the civil docket, where class actions brought by or on behalf of low-income consumers and employees are on the verge of disappearing.

To be sure, the decline in class actions is only …

A Bare Desire To Harm: Transgender People And The Equal Protection Clause, Kevin M. Barry, Brian Farrell, Jennifer Levi, Neelima Vanguri

Faculty Scholarship

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges establishing marriage equality for same-sex couples marks a major shift in recognizing gay, lesbian, and bisexual people as a central part of the fabric of American society. Obergefell also marks the passing of the torch from “LGB” to “T”; the next civil rights frontier belongs to transgender people, for whom key barriers still remain. In January 2015, a transgender woman filed an equal protection challenge to a provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), which explicitly excludes several medical conditions closely associated with transgender people. In support of this challenge, …

Gay Rights Versus Religious Freedom, And The Influence Of Obergefell V. Hodges On Distinguishing The Dividing Line, Kathleen Rainey Mcstravick

St. Mary's Law Journal

Obergefell v. Hodges, a United States Supreme Court case, added more fuel to the fire, leaving many to wonder how to voice religious opposition to same-sex marriages, and what are the second order effects for religious opposition in light of the new rule. The Court held the Equal Protection Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Obergefell, brings the conflict between freedom of religion and LGBT rights to a new level by questioning how far freedom of religion can be used to refuse anti-discrimination statutes regarding sexual …

Same-Sex Harassment After Boh-Brothers, Alex Reed

Utah Law Review

Because Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Boh Brothers Construction Company ostensibly represents the first faithful application of the gender-stereotyping theory in the context of same-sex harassment litigation, additional courts may elect to abandon the objective-evidence standard in favor of adopting the Fifth Circuit’s subjective-perception test. Employers, therefore, must resist the temptation to dismiss Boh Brothers as a legal aberration confined to the Fifth Circuit and instead take steps to prepare for the possibility of a legal environment in which overtly masculine men and patently feminine women may assert viable same-sex harassment claims. By eliminating the requirement that harassees exhibit readily …

Reconsidering The Remedy Of Gender Quotas, Tracy A. Thomas

Akron Law Faculty Publications

When newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked by surprised reporters why he appointed women as fifty percent of his new cabinet, he responded simply, “Because it’s 2015.” Just because. Because it’s time. In fact, he suggested, it is long past time for having to justify including women as one-half of the power structure when women constitute one-half of the population. And it’s time for meaningful change in shared governance by something as pragmatically simple as selecting fifteen women and fifteen men for appointments. Similarly, it is long past time for justifying the need to reform American institutions that …

Healthcare Access In Women’S Prisons: An Intersectional Perspective, Megan R. Bray

Undergraduate Research Posters

This project will be identifying the key factors that contribute to the significant lack of health care in prisons in the U.S., specifically in women’s correctional facilities. I will be lending my focus to disparities in mental health, HIV/AIDs care, reproductive health, trans health, and physical health issues among women who are either currently incarcerated or those who have completed their sentences and are at higher risk for re-entry after attempting re-integration. There is a lack of care, access, and proper treatment for women inmates in U.S. prisons and reform is needed. I foresee the best possible way to accomplish …

Alternative Restrictions Of Sex Offenders' Social Media Use & The Freedom Of Speech, Norah M. Sloss

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

How Women's Organizations Are Changing The Legal Landscape Of Reproductive Rights In Latin America, Fabiola Carrión

City University of New York Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Constitution And Societal Norms: A Modern Case For Female Breast Equality, Brenna Helppie-Schmieder

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

“The Constitution and Societal Norms: A Modern Case for Female Breast Equality” argues that laws prohibiting the public display of the female breast, but not the male breast, are unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. That these laws discriminate against women is obvious, yet courts have historically refused to recognize an Equal Protection Clause violation. However, the primary reasons courts rely upon are ripe for review. Most significantly, courts typically justify female breast censorship laws based on the government interest in protecting public sensibilities, without recognizing that public sensibilities change. Indeed, perceptions of the public female breast have …

All Is Not Fair In Love And War: An Exploration Of The Military Masculinity Myth, Meghan O'Malley

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

Sexual assault has become pandemic and even a common occurrence among the ranks of all branches of the U.S. military. The Department of Defense estimates that in the year 2012 alone, 26,000 active duty soldiers were sexually assaulted. The military rape culture was thrust to the forefront of the media in 1991 as a result of the Tailhook Scandal. The military and Congress have not sat idly by, but twenty-three years and hundreds of thousands of assaults later, nothing has successfully alleviated the rates of sexual violence.

This paper explores why such efforts have failed to produce the desired results …

Covernance: Feminist Theory, The Islamic Veil, And The Strasbourg Court's Jurisprudence On Religious Dress-Appearance Restrictions, Amina Haleem

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

This paper explores how the human right of religious freedom has been conceptually and pragmatically developed under international law within the European Court of Human Rights as applied to veiled Muslim women. This paper analyzes the application of human rights guarantees as established in the European Convention on Human Rights and case law established by the European Court that has interpreted international documents to determine the religious freedoms of veiled Muslim women in the public sphere. The analytical framework identifies the divergence between liberal and third wave feminist approaches to the Islamic veil, and identifies the feminist approaches to international …

Mothers Behind Bars: Breaking The Paradigm Of Prisoners, Anna Mangia

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

Prison is an oppressive institution created for men, by men. While some may argue that oppression is the point of prison, this oppression is still created for and directed toward men. Because the paradigm of a prisoner is a violent male, the needs and concerns of women are often not considered. Female prisoners, therefore, experience layers of oppression: intended oppression inherent in the prison system, as well as gender-based oppression inherent in our society. Furthermore, incarcerated mothers experience a third layer of oppression due to their roles and expectations in society. “The mother” is glorified, but when a woman breaks …

Indigenous Women, Water Justice And Zaagidowin (Love), Deborah Mcgregor

Articles & Book Chapters

I would like to open by saying Chi-miigwech (a big thank-you) to those Elders/Grandmothers who have shared their stories and teachings with me over the years. Some have since passed on and I hope that through my words, their love and generosity will continue the process of healing the people and waters upon which they so integrally depend.

The paper which follows contains many references to notions of love, mutual respect, and responsibility towards the natural world, and water in particular. These ideas may seem a little tenuous for a serious paper on a critical environmental justice issue, but concepts …

Trending @ Rwu Law: Deborah Johnson's Post: Diversity And "Defamation", Deborah Johnson

Law School Blogs

No abstract provided.

Constitutionalizing Fetal Rights: A Salutary Tale From Ireland, Fiona De Londras

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

In 1983, Ireland became the first country in the world to constitutionalize fetal rights. The 8th Amendment to the Constitution, passed by a referendum of the People, resulted in constitutional protection for “the right to life of the unborn,” which was deemed “equal” to the right to life of the “mother.” Since then, enshrining fetal rights in constitutions and in legislation has emerged as a key part of anti-abortion campaigning. This Article traces the constitutionalization of fetal rights in Ireland and its implications for law, politics, and women. In so doing, it provides a salutary tale of such an approach. …

Bridging Bisexual Erasure In Lgbt-Rights Discourse And Litigation, Nancy C. Marcus

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

LGBT rights are at the forefront of current legal news, with “gay marriage” and other “gay” issues visible beyond dispute in social and legal discourse in the 21st Century. Less visible are the bisexuals who are supposedly encompassed by the umbrella phrase “LGBT” and by LGBT-rights litigation, but who are often left out of LGBTrights discourse entirely. This Article examines the problem of bisexual invisibility and erasure within LGBT-rights litigation and legal discourse. The Article surveys the bisexual erasure legal discourse to date, and examines the causes of bisexual erasure and its harmful consequences for bisexuals, the broader LGBT community, …

The Right To Same-Sex Marriage: Formalism, Realism, And Social Change In Lawrence (2003), Windsor (2013), & Obergefell (2015), Ronald Kahn

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Adopting The Gay Family, Cynthia Godsoe

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

My Coworker, My Enemy: Solidarity, Workplace Control, And The Class Politics Of Title Vii, Ahmed A. White

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Gender Diversity And Disparity In The Legal Profession: An Empirical Analysis Of The Gender Profile In National Law Firms And Law Schools, Edward S. Adams, Samuel P. Engel

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Common Law Fundamentals Of The Right To Abortion, Anita Bernstein

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Title Ix Giveth And The Religious Exemption Taketh Away: How The Religious Exemption Eviscerates The Protection Afforded Transgender Students Under Title Ix, Amanda Bryk

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Women Of The Wall: A Metaphor For National And Religious Identity, Pnina Lahav

Faculty Scholarship

The Women of the Wall wish to participate in communal prayer in the women’s section of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Their practice is to pray as a group, wrap themselves in a tallit, and read from the Torah scroll. They represent Jewish pluralism in that their group includes Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and secular women. They represent openness to change in that they base their claims on Halakhic interpretation, thereby embracing the capacity of Jewish law to evolve. This article reviews the resistance of the religious and political establishment in Israel to their claim and their struggle, unsuccessful so far, …

American Culture’S Impact On Gender And The Perpetuation Of A Gender Binary, Anna Blaho

University Honors Program

This thesis explores the origins of American culture’s fixation on gender being a dichotomous concept. Through the analysis of previous research surrounding the subject of gender roles, expectations, and stereotypes, contributors to this restrictive mind frame as well as reinforcing agents were recognized. Historical trends have demonstrated the assignment of clear and separate tasks to the genders, which in turn created differentiated experiences and opportunities presented to each gender. Facilitated by the historical basis, American culture emulated similar patterns that instilled inflexible conceptions about gender to the point where it has created a discriminate workplace environment. As a consequence of …

Allyship To The Intersex Community On Cosmetic, Non-Consensual Genital "Normalizing" Surgery, Robert Hupf

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Gender Perspectives On Torture And Other Cruel, Inhuman, Or Degrading Treatment Or Punishment: Expert Consultation, Brenda V. Smith

Research Reports & White Papers

The aim of this consultation with experts is to ensure that the Special Rapporteur receives the necessary exposure to the different practices, international standards and jurisprudence, and expert opinions that will help him draft his forthcoming thematic report for the United Nations Human Rights Council. The report will focus on assessing the unique experiences of women, girl children and LGBTI persons from the perspective of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment (“CIDTP”) in international law. The consultation will focus on specific practices where the mistreatment rises to the level of torture or CIDTP to identify gaps …