Law and Gender Commons^™

Implausible Injuries: Wal-Mart V. Dukes And The Future Of Class Actions And Employment Discrimination Cases, Marcia L. Mccormick

All Faculty Scholarship

In 2001, a class action suit was brought against Wal-Mart, where plaintiffs sought to certify a class of every woman who did work for the giant retailer or had worked for it since 1998, seeking relief related to promotion and pay policies. Plaintiffs alleged that they were all discriminated against on the basis of sex. The Supreme Court agreed with Wal-Mart, finding that the class did not meet requirements for class actions set by Rule 23. This article explores the reasoning behind the Supreme Court’s split decision that the class did not meet the commonality standard, which relied significantly on …

Reflections On Vawa's Strange Bedfellows: The Partnership Between The Battered Immigrant Women's Movement And Law Enforcement, Alizabeth Newman

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

Luogo E Spazio, Place And Space: Gender Quotas And Democracy In Italy, Rachel A. Van Cleave

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

Comment: The Case Of Two Biological Intended Mothers: Illustrating The Need To Statutorily Define Maternity In Maryland, Catherine Villareale

University of Baltimore Law Review

Sam was born a happy and healthy baby boy, much to the delight of his mothers, Sarah and Jen. Although Jen gave birth to Sam, Jen has no genetic connection to her son. Biologically, Sarah is Sam's "ova mother"' because Sam was conceived through assisted reproductive technology using Sarah's ovum that was fertilized in vitro by an anonymous sperm donor and implanted in Jen. Both Sarah and Jen share a biological connection to Sam, Sarah through DNA and Jen through carrying him for nine months and giving birth. Consequently, Sam has two biological mothers. Yet, in Maryland, at the time …

The Persecution Of Homosexuals During The Holocaust, Jennifer Rokakis

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Equality Arguments For Abortion Rights, Neil S. Siegel, Reva B. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

Roe v. Wade grounds constitutional protections for women’s decision wheth­er to end a pregnancy in the Due Process Clauses. But in the four decades since Roe, the U.S. Supreme Court has come to recognize the abortion right as an equality right as well as a liberty right. In this Essay, we describe some distinctive features of equality arguments for abortion rights. We then show how, over time, the Court and individual Justices have begun to employ equal­ity arguments in analyzing the constitutionality of abortion restrictions. These arguments first appear inside of substantive due process case law, and then as claims …

Top Ten Reasons Sen. Gillibrand’S Bill Is The Wrong Solution To Military Sexual Assault, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

Over the years Congress has made plenty of efforts to “improve” the military justice system for a variety of reasons, but few matters have generated more offerings than did the Pentagon’s report this past spring of an estimated 26,000 victims of “unwanted sexual contacts” in the armed forces. Some initiatives to address this very critical problem, like the bipartisan effort of Senators Barbara Boxer and Lindsey Graham, look promising; others, not so much.

However, none are as misguided as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s proposal. Indeed, it is hard to think of a proposal that could be more wrong for the military, …

Hollingsworth V. Perry, Brief For Foreign And Comparative Law Experts Harold Hongju Koh Et. Al. As Amici Curiae Supporting Respondents, Harold Hongju Koh, Sarah H. Cleveland, Laurence R. Helfer, Ryan Goodman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

No Promo Hetero: Children's Right To Be Queer, Clifford Rosky

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article argues that the government has no legitimate interest in promoting heterosexuality or gender conformity during childhood. Although opponents of LGBT rights have longed cited this goal as one of the primary justifications for discrimination against LGBT people, it has no constitutional foundation upon which to stand. Building upon a familiar schema of legal scholarship on LGBT rights, this Article challenges the state’s interest in promoting heterosexuality by articulating a tripartite defense of children’s speech, status, and conduct. It argues that these three aspects of homosexuality are connected to and protected by three constitutional clauses — the First Amendment, …

Addressing The Challenges Women Face In Retirement: Improving Social Security, Pensions, And Ssi, 46 J. Marshall L. Rev. 749 (2013), Joan Entmacher, Amy Matsui

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mickey Goes To France: A Case Study Of The Euro Disneyland Negotiations, Lauren A. Newell

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

In 1984, The Walt Disney Company ("Disney") was riding the wave of success from its newest Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort ("Tokyo Disney"), which attracted 10 million guests in the first year alone, and its thoughts turned to further international expansion-this time, in Europe. After careful consideration of potential locations and preliminary negotiations with two European governments, Disney decided in 1984 to launch Euro Disneyland ("Euro Disneyland" or "EDL") in Marne-la-Vall6e, France. The realities of opening and operating EDL in France were far different than Disney's expectations when it began negotiations-so much so that the Resort narrowly escaped bankruptcy. For an …

Minding The Court: Enhancing The Decision-Making Process, Pamela Casey, Kevin Burke, Steve Leben

Faculty Works

A compelling and growing body of research from the fields of cognitive psychology and neuroscience provides important insights about how we process information and make decisions. This research has great potential significance for judges, who spend much of their time making decisions of great importance to others. For most judges, this research literature is not part of their judicial education. This article reviews cutting edge research about decision making and discusses its implications for helping judges and those who work with them produce fair processes and just outcomes. It builds on a 2007 American Judges Association paper that encouraged judges …

Lindsay’S Legacy: The Tragedy That Triggered Law Reform To Prevent Teen Dating Violence, D. Kelly Weisberg

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

Intimate partner violence is common not only among adults but among teenagers as well. A recent large-scale study reveals the startling fact that dating violence begins as early as age eleven. In 2005, an innovative state law reform movement was launched that confers a proactive role on the schools to prevent teen dating violence (TDV). Currently, twenty states have laws that address TDV in the schools, and additional states have pending legislation. This article explores the impetus for this law reform movement, provides an analysis of state laws on TDV prevention, and examines pending federal legislation that overcomes a fundamental …

Collaboration And Coercion, Margaret B. Drew

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

“Collaboration and Coercion” addresses the systemic and individual concerns that arise when family members that have experienced abuse enter into the collaborative law process. A form of alternative dispute resolution, collaborative law is a method of resolving disputes without engagement of the legal system. The author addresses the structural and cultural difficulties that survivors of abuse encounter throughout the process as well as the ethical concerns that are raised when collaborative practitioners accept cases where the parties have a history of coercion within the intimate relationship.

Forced Obstetrical Intervention: The Role Of Religion And Culture, And The Woman’S Autonomous Choice, Gina Gribow

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

The right to bodily integrity is one of the most valued rights within our society. Yet, pregnant women have found this right to be jeopardized when making the informed decision to either accept or refuse medical treatment when the treatment is deemed necessary to improve or save the life of the fetus. Often, religion and culture play a central role in either establishing a basis for why the woman refuses the treatment, or establishing the context that ultimately leads to forced obstetrical intervention. Historically, it seems that when religion or culture is heavily intertwined with the woman’s decision to forgo …

De-Gendering Health Insurance: A Case For A Federal Insurance Gender Nondiscrimination Act, Kate Walsham

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is the most sweeping change to the U.S. healthcare system since 1965. It creates the perfect platform from which to improve access to medical care for transgender people. In 2005, California enacted a first-of-its-kind bill, the Insurance Gender Nondiscrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender and gender identity in insurance coverage. This bill should be the model for federal regulations as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s provisions go into effect. This note advocates for enactment of a federal Insurance Gender Nondiscrimination Act based on California’s bill and the …

Roe's Race: The Supreme Court Decision, Legal History, And The Racial Politics Of Abortion, Mary Ziegler

Scholarly Publications

Questions of race and abortion have shaped current legal debates about defunding Planned Parenthood and banning race-selection abortion. In these discussions, abortion opponents draw a close connection between the eugenic or population-control movements of the twentieth century and the contemporary abortion-rights movement. In challenging legal restrictions on abortion, abortion-rights activists generally insist that their movement and its predecessors have primarily privileged reproductive choice.

Notwithstanding the centrality of race to abortion politics, there has been no meaningful history of the racial politics of abortion that produced or followed Roe v. Wade. This Article bridges this gap in the abortion discussion by …

An Incomplete Revolution: Reexaming The Law, History, And Politics Of Marital Property, Mary Ziegler

Scholarly Publications

Did the divorce revolution betray the interests of American women? While there has been considerable disagreement about the impact of divorce reform on women’s standard of living, many agree that judicial practices involving the division of marital property and the allocation of alimony have systematically disadvantaged women. Most often, in the courts and the academy, commentators see these practices as evidence of the need for family law reform.

These conclusions rely on a shared account of the history of divorce reform. According to this account, the transformation of divorce law in the 1970s and 1980s was a “silent revolution,” a …

Save Our Children: Overcoming The Narrative That Gays And Lesbians Are Harmful To Children, 21 Duke J. Gender L. & Pol'y 125 (2013), Anthony Niedwiecki

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

This paper focuses on how gay rights activists had no real choice but to use the court system to advance marriage rights for same-sex couples because they were unable to use the political process to effectively rebut the claim that gays and lesbians were harmful to children. Part I begins with an overview of the ways in which the initiative process has been used to limit gay rights and prevent marriage equality. It then details how, in contrast to the political process, courts have been more receptive to advancing marriage rights for same-sex couples. Part II details Walter Fisher's narrative …

Grandma In The White House: Legal Support For Intergenerational Caregiving, Jessica Dixon Weaver

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Marian Robinson’s status as the live-in First Grandmother is an example of a growing trend in the United States - the multigenerational family. The 2010 United States Census Data reflects that the number of households with multiple generations living under one roof has increased by 25% this decade. Mrs. Robinson also reflects another new development in American families: grandparents helping their adult children with caregiving. More than 70% of grandparents are taking care of their grandkids on a regular basis, and 13% are primary caretakers. Many grandparents treat their role as caregiver like a profession, and they sacrifice jobs, residences, …

A Private Underworld: The Naked Body In Law And Society, Lawrence M. Friedman, Joanna L. Grossman

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

In general, the literature on privacy stresses, quite naturally, our right to keep things private, or to make our own decisions. The individual, the citizen, is the center of gravity. There is a great deal of material on the limits of privacy, on threats to privacy, and the like. In this Article, the authors want to discuss what one might call mandatory privacy: those aspects of life that we are required to keep secret, hidden, or private, the things that we must keep private, whether we want to or not. This is a subject that has been mostly, though not …

Talk Delivered February 6, 2012, To Professor D. Kelly Weisberg’S Domestic Violence Class, Rolanda Pierre Dixon

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

Ms. Pierre Dixon’s speech delivered to Professor Weisberg’s Domestic violence class on her life’s work which included establishing and supervising the Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Task Force from 1991 until 2006. This issue features a transcription of that talk in which Ms. Pierre Dixon describes the challenges she faced in establishing the Task Force and the ongoing challenges prosecutors and domestic violence victims face.

Domestic Violence As A Basis For Asylum: An Analysis Of 206 Case Outcomes In The United States From 1994 To 2012, Blaine Bookey

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

The recent granting of asylum in the United States to the women in the highly publicized Matter of R-A- and Matter of L-R- cases has opened doors for other women fleeing horrific violence at the hands of their husbands and partners. Some immigration judges have begun to accept domestic violence as a basis for asylum as a result of the U.S. government’s approach in these cases. However, the absence of binding jurisprudential and regulatory norms remains a major impediment to fair and consistent outcomes for women who fear returning to countries where they face heinous abuse, or even death. While …

Remarks Delivered April 5, 2012, To Cutting Edge Topics In Domestic Violence Symposium, Katherine Dowling

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

Ms. Dowling’s speech delivered at the Journal’s Spring 2012 symposium entitled: “Cutting Edge Topics in Domestic Violence” is transcribed here for the benefit of our readers. Ms. Dowling describes the ways in which domestic violence has implications on interstate commerce, the basis for the Violence Against Women Act.

Limitations On Choice: Abortion For Women With Diminished Capacity, Elizabeth Ann Mccaman

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

Abortion for women with diminished capacity is a complex, highly charged issue. Because many women with diminished capacity cannot give informed consent, an abortion cannot be performed without some form of legal intervention. Florida requires women with diminished capacity obtain a court order to authorize the procedure. New York allows a parent or guardian to consent directly on behalf of the woman. In California, conservators have general authority to consent to surgery on behalf of the woman so long as she does not object. In developing these state-specific legal interventions, it is important to balance the desire for reproductive freedom …

Professional Responsibility In Civil Domestic Violence Matters, Julie Saffren

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

Professional Responsibility in Civil Domestic Violence Matters explores the fundamental ethical duties that arise in civil domestic violence practice. The article stresses the importance of an attorney having a comprehensive knowledge of domestic violence dynamics and describes how these complex dynamics impact the attorney-client relationship. Knowledge of domestic violence and its impact on the victim is required if the attorney is to fulfill their duty of competence, including providing legal services in a culturally competent and trauma-informed manner. The importance of safety and specific ethical responsibilities in the face of high lethality cases are also discussed. The author examines attorney …

A Bibliography Of Title Ix Of The Education Amendments Of 1972, Christine Iaconeta Dulac

Faculty Publications

It has been thirty-five years since the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972. Title IX provides that no person shall be excluded from participation in any educational program or activity that receives federal funding. This legislation is credited with bolstering the participation rates of girls and women in athletics. Although athletics are not explicitly addressed in the statutory language, Title IX requires schools to offer male and female students equal opportunities to play sports, to give male and female athletes their fair share of athletic scholarship money, and to treat male and female athletes equally in …

The Rise Of The Transgender Child: Overcoming Societal Stigma, Institutional Discrimination, And Individual Bias To Enact And Enforce Nondiscriminatory Dress Code Policies, Holly V. Franson

University of Colorado Law Review

School districts are often called upon to adapt school policies in response to changing student populations, and transgender students appear to be an emerging student population. Schools should adopt nondiscriminatory and inclusive dress code policies to accommodate transgender students. Recently, awareness and advocacy on behalf of children who can be classified as transgender have increased. Unfortunately, despite this increase in awareness and advocacy, transgender students continue to face unique obstacles in the school environment, including bullying, as a result of being transgender. Because the primary means through which transgender students express their identified genders is through their dress, schools should …

Popular Legal Journalism In The Writings Of Maria Vérone, Sara L. Kimble

School of Continuing and Professional Studies Faculty and Staff Works

No abstract provided.

'May It Please The Court?': A Short Story, Angela Mae Kupenda

Journal Articles

This story tells a fictional account of a black woman lawyer who is about to try the biggest case of her life. While many black women lawyers seek to express their individuality and bring the best of themselves into their work and lives, conventions and norms about race and gender force them to give huge attention to things that likely matter little in the long run. In this story, we go on a journey of self-discovery with the protagonist, Angel, in hopes that she will be able to please the court in this—her trial of a lifetime.