Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

Dignity As A Constitutional Value: A South African Perspective, Arthur Chaskalson

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

When "The Evil Day" Comes, Will Title Vii's Disparate Impact Provision Be Narrowly Tailored To Survive An Equal Protection Clause Challenge?, Eang L. Ngov

Faculty Scholarship

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Employers must be careful about the intentional and unintentional effect of their employment practices, even when acting with good motive. Title VII’s disparate impact provision holds employers liable for employment practices that cause an adverse impact on racial groups, even when the employment practice applies equally to all groups and was not implemented to disadvantage a particular group. A prima facie case of disparate impact can arise solely based on numbers - a comparison between the rate at which one racial group passes a test or is selected for hiring or …

Respecting Language As Part Of Ethnicity: Title Vii And Language Discrimination At Work, Carlo A. Pedrioli

Faculty Scholarship

This article argues that, in the absence of a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason or a business necessity, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act can protect employees from language-based discrimination in the workplace. Language is a part of one’s ethnicity, which refers to one’s culture. Ethnicity, much as race already does, should receive protection under Title VII. Plaintiffs, however, have the burden of proof in litigation, and so a plaintiff who sues under a discrimination theory should have to make his or her case to the appropriate fact-finder. Drawing upon the insights of critical theory, particularly to explore concepts like …

Iqbal Signals Bivens’ Peril: A Call For Congressional Action, Megan Gephart

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note examines the propriety of a statutory replacement for the Bivens action. Part I of this Note outlines the history of implied causes of action generally, including the shifting attitude of the Court toward its power to fill gaps through the use of implied causes of action, as well as the Court’s attitude toward the Bivens action specifically. Part II examines the arguments for and against the adoption of a statutory replacement for Bivens in the context of the United States post-9/11. Part III contemplates a statutory replacement for Bivens, which would strike a balance between deterring rogue government …

School Districts As Weathermen: The School's Ability To Reasonably Forecast Substantial Disruption To The School Environment From Student's Online Speech, Samantha M. Levin

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note concerns the issue of school officials punishing students for online speech and the precedential value of the Supreme Court's landmark school speech case, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) in the internet era. Because off-campus, "intangible" internet speech does not easily fit into the Supreme Court's framework, the author proposes a new standard for internet school speech cases and analyzes how a new standard might be applied to the specific context of "parody profiles" created by students on social networking sites.

Learning Disabilities And The Ada: Licensing Exam Accommodations In The Wake Of The Ada Amendments Act Of 2008, M. Patrick Yingling

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article argues that the courts must be cognizant of Congress' intention to broaden the scope of the ADA, especially in regard to reading impaired individuals who request reasonable accommodations on licensing exams. Part I examines the ADA's protections for individuals with learning disabilities. Part II discusses the applicability of the ADA to licensing exams, including state bar exams. Part III examines case law over the past twenty years pertaining to learning impaired individuals who have requested accommodations on licensing exams. Part IV analyzes the ADAAA and focuses on its potential to change the status quo for learning impaired individuals …

"Do Androids Dream?": Personhood And Intelligent Artifacts, F. Patrick Hubbard

Faculty Publications

This Article proposes a test to be used in answering an important question that has never received detailed jurisprudential analysis: What happens if a human artifact like a large computer system requests that it be treated as a person rather than as property? The Article argues that this entity should be granted a legal right to personhood if it has the following capacities: (1) an ability to interact with its environment and to engage in complex thought and communication; (2) a sense of being a self with a concern for achieving its plan for its life; and (3) the ability …

When Will Race No Longer Matter In Jury Selection?, Bidish Sarma

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

We are coming upon the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court's opinion in Batson v. Kentucky, which made clear that our Constitution does not permit prosecutors to remove prospective jurors from the jury pool because of their race. The legal question in Batson-when, if ever, can governmental race discrimination in jury selection be tolerated?-was easy. The lingering factual question, however-when will prosecutors cease to discriminate on the basis of race?-has proven far more difficult to answer. The evidence that district attorneys still exclude minorities because of their race is so compelling that it is tempting to assume that race will …

Removing Categorical Constraints On Equal Employment Opportunities And Anti-Discrimination Protections, Anastasia Niedrich

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

It has been the "historical tendency of anti-discrimination law to use categories to define protected classes of people." This Article challenges the categorical approach and seeks to change that limited framework. This Article focuses on the flaws with Title VII's categorical approach and discusses why there is a desperate need for change to combat the different types and targets of workplace discrimination today, focusing on the transgender community as one example. After discussing the current framework and operation of Title VII, this Article analyzes the insurmountable flaws inherent in the categorical approach to anti-discrimination law, and specifically considers Title VII's …

The Viability Of Multi-Party Litigation As A Tool For Social Engineering Six Decades After The Restrictive Covenant Cases, José F. Anderson

All Faculty Scholarship

Six decades ago, a group of lawyers sought ways to overturn the racially restrictive covenants that were common across the United States. These restrictions on integrated neighborhoods were the first legal battleground of the civil rights movement using the courts of civil justice to remove what many thought were immoral restrictions on the rights of free people. The most famous of those cases was Shelley v. Kraemer, but the doctrine that emerged from that particular case was actually a series of separate, multi-party lawsuits in various locations, using teams of lawyers acting in concert with each other to achieve justice. …

Senator Edward Kennedy: A Lion For Voting Rights, Gilda R. Daniels

All Faculty Scholarship

Senator Edward Kennedy was considered the Lion of the United States Senate. He was also a Lion for civil rights, fighting for justice and equality. Passion, patience and perseverance all describe Senator Kennedy’s approach to legislation. He worked across the political ideological aisle for the furtherance of civil and human rights. His political perspective was never shaded with shadows of personal benefit.

Throughout his career, Senator Kennedy continued to champion civil rights issues, such as, voting, education, housing, and disability rights. During his almost five decades in the United States Senate, he seized many opportunities to highlight and forward the …

Dangerous Categories: Narratives Of Corporate Board Diversity, Lissa Lamkin Broome, John M. Conley, Kimberly D. Krawiec

Faculty Scholarship

In this article, we report the results of a series of interviews with corporate directors about racial, ethnic, and gender diversity on corporate boards. On the one hand, our respondents were clear and nearly uniform in their statements that board diversity was an important goal worth pursuing. Yet when asked to provide examples or anecdotes illustrating why board diversity matters, many subjects acknowledged difficulty in illustrating theory with reference to practice.

This expressed reluctance to come to specific terms with general claims about the value of director diversity inspired our title phrase: dangerous categories. That is, while "diversity" evokes universal …

Different Strokes For Different Folks: A Different Standard Is Not Inherently A Double Standard, James E. Coleman Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

During the Senate’s closed confirmation hearings on President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s nomination of George E. Wilson, President of General Motors, to be Secretary of Defense, a senator asked Wilson if he would be able to make decisions as Secretary of Defense that were adverse to General Motors’ interest. Wilson replied that he would, but added he could not imagine having to make such a choice because “[f]or years I thought what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa.” This bit of rhetorical bromide was reported erroneously by the press, which had been excluded from …

Showcasing Diversity, Mitu Gulati, Patrick S. Shin

Faculty Scholarship

Diversity initiatives are commonplace in today’s corporate America. Large and successful firms frequently tout their commitments to diversity, sometimes appointing women and racial minorities to highly visible posts, including seats on their boards of directors. Why would a profit-minded firm engage in such behavior? One frequently voiced explanation is that by creating such diversity, firms send out a positive signal about their attributes: a firm’s willingness to expend resources on diversity shows its commitment to workplace fairness and equality, which makes it more attractive to potential employees, customers and financiers. This claim has considerable surface appeal not only as an …

Showcasing: The Positive Spin, Katharine T. Bartlett

Faculty Scholarship

This Commentary outlines the positive case for showcasing diversity. Patrick Shin and Mitu Gulati criticize showcasing on the grounds that appointing women and minorities to board directorships is unreliable as a sign of true commitment to diversity and, further, that showcasing is detrimental to women and minorities because it treats them as objects or “prized trophies.” Drawing on social psychology, this Commentary highlights the mechanisms through which showcasing, despite the negative features emphasized by Shin and Gulati, also reinforces diversity values and strengthens the existing societal consensus in favor of diversity.

A Tribute To The Oracle Of Ann Arbor, Guy-Uriel Charles

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Children, Parents & The State: The Construction Of A New Family Ideology, Deseriee A. Kennedy

Scholarly Works

More than twenty-five states allow courts to consider parental incarceration or conviction of a crime in determining whether to terminate parental rights. This problem is of increasing significance as a result of dramatic growth in incarceration rates, particularly among women who were often the primary and sole caretaker of their children before their imprisonment. Social scientists have recognized that the reality for parents in many communities is one of widespread and repeated incarceration, which has a devastating effect on families and communities. The problem is magnified by a failed drug policy and the Adoption and Safe Families Act, which, in …

Employment Discrimination Against Lgbt Utahns, Clifford Rosky, Christy Mallory, Jenni Smith, M.V Lee Badgett

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Utah does not have a statewide law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment. This report gathers together all existing data on the prevalence of discrimination in Utah to examine how frequently lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Utahns experience employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and assess the likely impact of passing a statewide nondiscrimination law.

The report begins by analyzing the data collected through a 2010 survey conducted by Equality Utah, which is the state’s first survey on discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment. The data show …

New Millennium, Same Glass Ceiling? The Impact Of Law Firm Compensation Systems On Women, Joan C. Williams, Veta Richardson

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Mancession Or "Momcession"?: Good Providers, A Bad Economy, And Gender Discrimination, Joan C. Williams, Allison Tait

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.