Law and Society Commons^™

The Trayvon Martin Trial - Two Comments And An Observation, 47 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1371 (2014), Richard Delgado

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Primer On Hobby Lobby: For-Profit Corporate Entities' Challenge To The Hhs Mandate, Free Exercise Rights, Rfra's Scope, And The Nondelegation Doctrine, Terri R. Day, Leticia M. Diaz, Danielle Weatherby

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

To Count And Be Counted: A Response To Professor Levinson, Marcia L. Mccormick

All Faculty Scholarship

This Essay deepens the discussion Professor Levinson began in his lecture for the Richard J. Childress Memorial Lecture at SLU Law, Who Counts?. Professor Levinson explored the question of who counts as a member of the US community, and who gets to decide who counts. Inevitably, given our history of exclusion on the basis of race and sex, questions about belonging and race and sex form a central part of the current debate. Labeling a person with a race and sex presupposes the questions of what makes a person a certain race or sex? This essay explores what identity …

Technology, Alienation, And The Future Of Litigation-Based Social Change, Dana Neacsu

Law Faculty Publications

This article addresses the apparent inconsistency of the impact technology has on the "rights vocabulary." It theorizes how, in certain circumstances, it erodes this progressive vocabulary by making it and the subsequent judicial litigation superfluous.

Racial Profiling As Collective Definition, Trevor George Gardner

Scholarship@WashULaw

Economists and other interested academics have committed significant time and effort to developing a set of circumstances under which an intelligent and circumspect form of racial profiling can serve as an effective tool in crime finding–the specific objective of finding criminal activity afoot. In turn, anti-profiling advocates tend to focus on the immediate efficacy of the practice, the morality of the practice, and/or the legality of the practice. However, the tenor of this opposition invites racial profiling proponents to develop more surgical profiling techniques to employ in crime finding. In the article, I review the literature on group distinction to …

Title Vii At 50: Contemporary Challenges For U.S. Employment Discrimination Law, Trina Jones

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Ninth Circuit’S Treatment Of Sexual Orientation: Defining “Rational Basis Review With Bite”, Ian C. Bartrum

Scholarly Works

When the Ninth Circuit handed down Witt v. Department of the Air Force, President Obama and then-Solicitor General Kagan declined to take an appeal to the Supreme Court. At the time, it seemed that most advocates of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” believed that the administration made that decision because it was afraid the Supreme Court would reverse the Ninth Circuit. If that fear was perhaps well-founded in 2009, it is certainly less so now. In the wake of SmithKline Beecham Corp. v. Abbott Laboratories, as well as recent District Court decisions, opponents of federal constitutional protection for gay people …

Reflections On Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections Of Race And Class For Women In Academia Symposium - The Plenary Panel, Maritza I. Reyes

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Thinking Hard About 'Race-Neutral' Admissions, Richard H. Sander, Aaron Danielson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Our exploration is organized as follows. In Part I, we sympathetically consider the very difficult dilemmas facing higher education leaders. Understanding the often irreconcilable pressures that constrain university administrators is essential if we are to envision the plausible policies they might undertake. In Part II, we draw on a range of data to illustrate some of the “properties” of admissions systems and, in particular, the ways in which race, SES, and academic preparation interact dynamically both within individual schools and across the educational spectrum. Partly because the questions we examine here have been so little studied, ideal data does not …

The 'Compelling Government Interest' In School Diversity: Rebuilding The Case For An Affirmative Government Role, Philip Tegeler

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

How far does Justice Kennedy’s “moral and ethical obligation” to avoid racial isolation extend? Does the obligation flow primarily from Supreme Court case law, does it derive from an evolving consensus in the social sciences, or does it also have a statutory basis in Title VI and other federal law? In addition to its value as a justification for non-individualized, race-conscious remedial efforts by state and local governments, does the compelling interest identified in Parents Involved also suggest an affirmative duty on the part of the federal government? And if so, how far does this affirmative duty extend, and how …

It's Critical: Legal Participatory Action Research, Emily M.S. Houh, Kristin Kalsen

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Article introduces a method of research that we term “legal participatory action research” or “legal PAR” as a way for legal scholars and activists to put various strands of critical legal theory into practice. Specifically, through the lens of legal PAR, this Article contributes to a rapidly developing legal literature on the “fringe economy” that comprises “alternative lending services” and products, including but not limited to pawnshops, check cashers, payday lenders, direct deposit loans, (tax) refund anticipation loans, and car title loans. As importantly, this article also contributes to the related fields of critical race theory, feminist legal theory, …

Evidence-Based Sentencing And The Scientific Rationalization Of Discrimination, Sonja B. Starr

Articles

This Article critiques, on legal and empirical grounds, the growing trend of basing criminal sentences on actuarial recidivism risk prediction instruments that include demographic and socioeconomic variables. I argue that this practice violates the Equal Protection Clause and is bad policy: an explicit embrace of otherwise- condemned discrimination, sanitized by scientific language. To demonstrate that this practice raises serious constitutional concerns, I comprehensively review the relevant case law, much of which has been ignored by existing literature. To demonstrate that the policy is not justified by countervailing state interests, I review the empirical evidence underlying the instruments. I show that …

Gender Politics And Child Custody: The Puzzling Persistence Of The Best-Interest Standard Child Custody Decisionmaking, Elizabeth S. Scott, Robert E. Emery

Faculty Scholarship

The best-interests-of-the-child standard has been the prevailing legal rule for resolving child-custody disputes between parents for nearly forty years. Almost from the beginning, it has been the target of academic criticism. As Robert Mnookin famously argued in a 1976 article, "best interests" are vastly indeterminate – more a statement of an aspiration than a legal rule to guide custody decisionmaking. The vagueness and indeterminacy of the standard make outcomes uncertain and gives judges broad discretion to consider almost any factor thought to be relevant to the custody decision. This encourages litigation in which parents are motivated to produce hurtful evidence …

The American Dream: Daca, Dreamers, And Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Heather Fathali

Seattle University Law Review

On June 15, 2012, President Obama made an announcement that changed the lives of millions. Effective immediately, the Obama administration would implement a new program—what would come to be known as Deferred Action for Child-hood Arrivals (DACA)—offering eligible undocumented young people both a two-year respite from the haunting possibility of deportation as well as the eligibility to apply for employment authorization. While millions were elated by the President’s announcement, he also faced harsh criticism. Many claimed that his action exceeded federal statutory limits, exceeded his Executive powers, and usurped congressional authority. Still others, anxious to see comprehensive immigration reform implemented, …

Academic Freedom And Professorial Speech In The Post-Garcetti World, Oren R. Griffin

Seattle University Law Review

Academic freedom, a coveted feature of higher education, is the concept that faculty should be free to perform their essential functions as professors and scholars without the threat of retaliation or undue administrative influence. The central mission of an academic institution, teach-ing and research, is well served by academic freedom that allows the faculty to conduct its work in the absence of censorship or coercion. In support of this proposition, courts have long held that academic freedom is a special concern of the First Amendment, granting professors and faculty members cherished protections regarding academic speech. In Garcetti v. Ceballos, the …

Mania: The Lives, Literature, And Law Of The Beats, Ronald K.L. Collins, David M. Skover

Seattle University Law Review

The Beats introduced the counter-culture to twentieth century America. They were the first to break away from Eisenhower conformity, from the era of the Man in the Grey Flannel Suit. With them came an infusion of rebel spirit—a spirit that hearkened back to Walt Whitman—in their lives, literature, and law. Their literature spawned a remarkable chapter in American obscenity law. The prosecution of Allen Ginsberg’s epic poem, Howl, was the last of its kind in this nation; and the prosecution of William Burroughs’s Naked Lunch is one of the last times that a novel was charged as obscene. The First …

The Gay Accent, Gender, And Title Vii Employment Discrimination, Ryan Castle

Seattle University Law Review

While race, religion, ethnicity, and sex will always remain salient social issues in our nation, sexual orientation is currently at the forefront of our national debate and will likely not abate in the foreseeable future. Federal courts, for example, struggle in differentiating sex, gender, and sexuality when adjudicating Title VII employment discrimination claims. Because Title VII does not protect employees from sexual orientation-based discrimination, plaintiffs who are or are perceived to be of a sexual minority have difficulty proving a valid sex-based discrimination claim in federal court. This difficulty arises because one cannot perceive sex, gender, and sexuality without muddling …

The Achievement Gap And Disparate Impact Discrimination In Washington Schools, Sarah Albertson

Seattle University Law Review

In today’s public schools, students designated as “white” and “Asian” consistently outperform students from other ethnic groups in test scores and graduation rates. These disparities, commonly called “the achievement gap,” are a symptom of greater issues, or “opportunity gaps.” Washington State has recently taken a further step to address the achievement gap and racial discrimination in schools. In 2010, the Washington legislature passed the Equal Education Opportunity Law (EEOL), HB 3026, in response to the recommendations in commissioned achievement gap studies. The EEOL authorizes the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to enforce this law through regulations. This …

Abortion And Disgust, Courtney Megan Cahill

Scholarly Publications

This Article uses disgust theory — defined as the insights on disgust by psychologists and social scientists — to critique disgust’s role in abortion lawmaking. Its starting point is a series of developments that independently highlight and call into question the relationship between abortion and disgust. First, the Supreme Court introduced disgust as a valid basis for abortion regulation in its 2007 case Gonzales v. Carhart. Second, psychologists have recently discovered a sufficiently strong association between individual disgust sensitivity and abortion opposition to suggest that disgust might drive that opposition. They have also discovered that “abortion disgust” appears to be …

Introduction: Effects Of Global Developments On Gender And The Legal Practice, Gabriele Plickert

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Women in Legal Practice: Global and Local Perspectives, Symposium, June 5-8, 2012. Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association.

Women In The Legal Profession, 1970-2010: A Study Of The Global Supply Of Lawyers, Ethan Michelson

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This article represents the first effort to measure the changing global supply and composition of lawyers over a period of several decades. In it I assemble data on lawyer populations and gender compositions from eighty-six countries and use them to calculate estimates for the rest of the world in order to paint a truly global picture of the changing supply of lawyers in general and of female lawyers in particular. Most of the data supporting my analyses come from a unique and hitherto untapped source: individual-level census data. Results reveal a clear sequence in the global process of lawyer feminization. …

Gender And Global Lawyering: Where Are The Women?, Steven A. Boutcher, Carole Silver

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The dual forces of globalization and support for diversity in the legal profession are responsible for significant growth among U.S. law firms. Both women lawyers and those educated outside of the U.S. have been important elements facilitating the global trajectories of U.S. firms, but the interaction between the two has not been the subject of substantial research. We address this gap by drawing on an original dataset of lawyer biographies, and consider whether career strategies that involve the international mobility of lawyers are equally powerful for women and men. Our research suggests that globalization of large firm practice has not …

The Impact Of The Economic Downturn On Women Lawyers In The United States, Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, Abigail Kolker

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Although women have made considerable inroads in the legal profession over the past four decades, a review of their distribution in various types of practice in the United States shows that, compared to their male colleagues, they have been affected disproportionately by the recent economic downturn, although not in every sphere of the profession. This study reviews research, articles in the legal press, and online blogs that report women's access to equity partnerships has been stalled, their representation in part-time employment has increased, and they are disproportionately recruited or diverted to positions as staff or contract attorneys. Women's access to …

Parenthood Status And Compensation In Law Practice, Nancy Reichman, Joyce Sterling

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This article asks how cultural frameworks of status influence the evaluation of performance including compensation and advancement of lawyers who were seven years into their practice. We borrow from the work on status expectations that goes beyond gender distinctions and assesses whether the concept of motherhood has a negative impact on assessment of female lawyers. Status expectations theory hypothesizes that mothers are valued less because they are less committed to the workplace and thus receive a motherhood penalty while men receive a fatherhood bonus in compensation decisions. Employing data from the After The JD study, we test the impact of …

"Why Is Gender A Form Of Diversity?": Rising Advantages For Women In Global Indian Law Firms, Swethaa Ballakrishnen

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Women in Legal Practice: Global and Local Perspectives, Symposium, June 5-8, 2012. Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association.

Afterward: A Comparative Look At The Status Of Women In The Legal Profession, Carroll Seron

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Women in Legal Practice: Global and Local Perspectives, Symposium, June 5-8, 2012. Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association.

Gender And Difference Among Brazilian Lawyers And Judges: Public And Private Practice In The Global Periphery, Maria Da Gloria Bonelli

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This article examines the ways in which Brazilian lawyers and judges experience difference. It focuses on how gender and diversity intersect in identity formation among women and men in public and private practice in the state of Sdo Paulo, Brazil. In attempting not to attach one fixed meaning to the concept of difference, the research works with Avtar Brah's typology, which aids in detecting how difference is perceived and experienced by the interviewees. The results provide a look at the specificities of professional practice in the global periphery, comparing the gender composition of law firms and gender stratification within legal …

What Men?: The Essentialist Error Of The End Of Men, Nancy E. Dowd

UF Law Faculty Publications

Many aspects of The End of Men are debatable. Among them is the critical issue of essentialism: do Rosin's claims about women withstand scrutiny when we ask, “Is this representative of all women?” While women as a group may have progressed in some domains, they have remained the same or worse in others, and some women have not progressed at all.

An even more significant shortcoming of The End of Men, however, is its essentialism about men. Rosin assumes a beginning, namely, men's prior place of power and privilege in the domains she addresses. To assume that is true of …

Aids, Employment And The Law, American Bar Association; Aids Coordinating Committee

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Should Employers Use Polygraphs To Screen Prospective Employees?, Mark A. Rothstein

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.