Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

The Burden To Reach The Ballots: Tackling Eleventh Circuit Line-Warming Bans And Their Intersectional Harm Under An Ada Framework, Alyssa Clune

Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum

Line-warming bans present an additional hurdle for voters across America, especially in an era of historically few polling locations and historically long lines to reach the ballot. Particularly in Eleventh Circuit states like Georgia and Florida, line-warming bans, in conjunction with long wait times, have had a disparate impact on Black communities and their ability to cast ballots in key swing districts. Nevertheless, attempts to bring racial discrimination claims against these bans have not been successful in the Eleventh Circuit. This Essay proposes a new strategy to tackle line-warming bans under an ADA framework. It analyzes the harm that these …

Revisiting Marcuse On Repressive Tolerance: A Twenty-First Century Retrospective, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Herbert Marcuse’s essay Repressive Tolerance (RP) has been praised by the Left and vilified by the Right for its alleged promotion of censorship targeting reactionary opinions and actions. I argue that this interpretation of the text is mistaken. According to my alternative reading of the text, RP should be understood as an exercise in provocation and irony aimed at defending civil disobedience and dissent. Marcuse’s defense of dissent, however, appeals to a critique of pure tolerance that exposes the unavoidably partisan practice of tolerance, which invariably favors the reigning undemocratic status quo. The choice whether to tolerate in a manner …

Integrating Doctrine & Diversity Speaker Series: Owning Our Values: Supplementing Our Textbooks For Those Engaged In Social Justice, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

The Potential Impact Of Charter Section 28 On Quebec's Controversial Secularism Law And The Pursuit Of Gender-Equality In Canadian Courts, Nywani Albert

Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies

The Western liberal democratic order, anchored in respect for individual rights and constitutional norms, faces a critical challenge as Quebec follows the pattern of several European nations in enacting laws restricting religious attire. While the Quebec Law 21, “An Act Respecting the Laicity of the State,” is ostensibly neutral, it particularly restricts Muslim women's rights. This paper explores an ongoing, novel legal strategy challenging Quebec's secularism law, focusing on Section 28 of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. While Section 28 mandates gender equality in Charter implementation, its potential remains largely unexplored in the decades since Charter enactment. Drawing …

Leveling The Playing Field For Racial Justice In The Civil Litigation System, Suzette M. Malveaux

Scholarly Articles

Under the weight of the #MeToo movement and severe public pressure, Congress stopped this unseemly practice for a subset of Americans—those challenging sexual assault and harassment. The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFASASHA), passed in 2022, gives these victims a choice of whether to challenge sexual misconduct in court or in arbitration. Such ubiquitous take-it-or-leave-it contracts are now unenforceable, giving this narrow swath of the population the power to decide for themselves how to challenge such outrageous wrongdoing. In Expanding the Ban on Forced Arbitration, Michael Z. Green argues that race discrimination claims should …

Reasonable Accommodation And Non-Invidious Discrimination Under The Maine Human Rights Act, Stuart W. Tisdale Jr.

Maine Law Review

"Invidious," through its Latin root invidia, for envy, hints at the dangers of arbitrary discrimination. Statutes, for instance, that distribute social or economic benefits and allocate burdens in a patently arbitrary manner alienate the burdened class. Such laws tear at the social fabric by instilling resentment and bitterness in the disfavored group. At an extreme they encourage rebellion. The famous Carolene Products footnote, in which Justice Stone suggested that the Court would apply a heightened standard of judicial review to statutes affecting "discrete and insular minorities," draws an implicit connection between invidiousness and fundamental unfairness. Invidiousness thus refers to the …

A Global Comparison Of Communication Intervention Strategies For Justice-Involved Youth, Sophia Janeiro Martinez

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

Purpose: This paper explores the intricate relationship between communication disorders and delinquent youth behavior. It will explore the detrimental impact of zero-tolerance policies and their contribution to the school-to-prison pipeline. It will introduce issues, such as complex Miranda warning diction, and the benefits of including speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to aid in youth comprehension. Additionally, it will propose the integration of SLPs within the juvenile justice system to assist in communication between justice-involved youth (JIY) and justice professionals during conversations, questioning, and trials or hearings. Furthermore, this paper examines the roles of SLPs within juvenile justice systems abroad, including Canada, …

Changemaker: Samuel Filiaggi: Juris Doctorate: The Powerful Combination Of Representation And Advocacy 10-7-2024, Danna Lorch, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

A Feedback Loop Of Exclusion: The Treatment Of Bilingualism In The Courtroom, Simone Stover

Northwestern University Law Review

In the 1991 case Hernandez v. New York, the United States Supreme Court characterized bilingualism as a race-neutral trait that can be used to exclude individuals from jury service. This Note proceeds by demonstrating how the current state of the law undermines the interests of bilingual individuals and then proposes a solution. Focusing specifically on Hispanic bilingual Spanish speakers, this Note first employs Professor Jennifer Lackey’s multi-directional credibility model to show that bilingual Spanish speakers suffer injustice in the courtroom due to both credibility deficits and excesses. Following this analysis, it proposes a possible solution to this issue: an …

The Obvious Violation Exception To Qualified Immunity: An Empirical Study, Bailey D. Barnes

Faculty Publications

Qualified immunity shields government officials from civil suits for discretionary actions, as long as the violated right is not clearly established. A right is deemed established when every reasonable official would understand it based on precedent, placing it beyond debate, such that only the plainly incompetent may be held liable. Consequently, even when an act infringes on one's civil rights, a court may deny relief owing to a lack of factually comparable precedent. However, in 2020, the Supreme Court indicated its distrust for overreliance on precedent in certain contexts. In Taylor v. Riojas, the Court held that prison officials violated …

Section 1983 And Voting Rights: A Case Study On The Materiality Provision And The Future Of Private Enforcement, Paul Feingold

Fordham Law Review

A recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit stating that § 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is not enforceable by private litigants under an implied private right of action has many voting rights advocates rightfully concerned about the future of federal voting rights protections. Indeed, that ruling appears partly motivated by signals from the U.S. Supreme Court. However, not all hope is lost. In Health and Hospital Corp. of Marion County v. Talevski, the Supreme Court recently reaffirmed its Gonzaga University v. Doe test for enforcing a statute under § 1983. …

The Rise And Fall Of The Consideration Of Race And Ethnicity In The Admissions Process: The Long-Term Negative Consequences Of The Fall, Kevin Brown

Indiana Law Journal

Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion for the Supreme Court that struck down the affirmative action policies of Harvard College and the University of North Carolina. While Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh each wrote separate concurring opinions, they also joined Chief Justice Roberts’s opinion along with Justices Alito and Barrett. Thus, unlike the Court’s prior significant decisions that narrowly upheld affirmative action by one vote, this decision’s six-Justice majority allowed Chief Justice Roberts to write an opinion that more definitively rejected affirmative action than the Court’s tentative and cautious opinions upholding it. Despite what many may think about the …

Table Of Contents - Cardozo Journal Of Equal Rights & Social Justice, Vol. 31, Iss. 1

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Obvious Violation Exception To Qualified Immunity: An Empirical Study, Bailey D. Barnes

Washington Law Review

Qualified immunity shields government officials from civil suits for discretionary actions, as long as the violated right is not clearly established. A right is deemed established when every reasonable official would understand it based on precedent, placing it beyond debate, such that only the plainly incompetent may be held liable. Consequently, even when an act infringes on one’s civil rights, a court may deny relief owing to a lack of factually comparable precedent. However, in 2020, the Supreme Court indicated its distrust for overreliance on precedent in certain contexts. In Taylor v. Riojas, the Court held that prison officials …

Transportation Racism And State-Created Danger: A Civil Rights Litigation Strategy For Pedestrians Harmed By Traffic Violence, Riley Freedman

Washington Law Review

Pedestrian fatality rates in the United States are markedly high compared to peer nations and are on the rise. The distribution of these deaths shows an alarming racial gap: Black pedestrians are twice as likely to be killed compared to white pedestrians. One significant factor that explains the disparity is the greater presence of wide, high-speed roads—built to move traffic quickly at the expense of pedestrian safety—in Black neighborhoods. In some cases, there is evidence that governments intentionally placed roads through and around Black neighborhoods for racially discriminatory reasons.

This Comment argues that a pedestrian harmed or killed by a …

The Uncertain Future Of Restorative Justice: Anti-Woke Legislation, Retrenchment And Politics Of The Right, Thalia González, Mara Schiff

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

As diverse forms of anti-democratic and anti-inclusionary politics escalate in the United States, public education is increasingly a site for retrenchment and contestation with targeted efforts to silence and erase civil rights victories for equity and access. Addressing a critical, yet unattended issue at the intersection of education law and policy and civil rights, this Article joins with the growing discourse interrogating the “parental rights” movement and racially regressive legislation. Employing a case study analysis of social movement activism and education policy legislation from 2018–2023 in Florida, it aims to provoke critical praxis emanating from essential inquiry— what is the …

Infinite Queerness And American Settler Colonialism, Jeremiah A. Ho

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

What the LGBTQ rights movement needs, especially with regard to legal challenges, is a lasting philosophical shift toward the idea that justice and equality are an infinite game rather than a finite and pragmatic one. This work here will explore why this posture is favorable at this moment—and generally in civil rights work. Beyond connecting queer sacrifice in recent Supreme Court cases to the functioning and maintenance of the American settler colonial project, this Article will posit why a strategy shift toward infinite thinking is increasingly necessary for more resolute work that results in the autonomy and equality of LGBTQ …

Identity And Procedural Subordination In Lgbtq Religious Exemption Cases, Kyle C. Velte

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

This Article proceeds in four Parts. Part I summarizes the legal literature on procedural injustice. Part II briefly describes the white Christian nationalism movement, its connection with the LGBTQ civil rights movement, and contends that it is an identity-based movement akin to traditional identity-based civil rights movements. Part III summarizes the holdings of the Religious Exemptions Trilogy [Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, and 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis] and makes the argument that they are strongly procedural decisions. Part IV contends that the Court has engaged in identity-based …

Contempt: The Original Judicial Cheat Code, Ryan L. Scott

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The judicial contempt power challenges the fundamental rights enshrined in America’s Constitution. Imagine spending eight years in federal prison with no right to a jury trial or a court appointed attorney. Your only reprieve is the discretion of the judge who is imprisoning you. Meaningful appeals and even habeas corpus actions are generally not available remedies. Instead, what was originally justified as an inherent power of the court, necessary to maintain order and decorum, is increasingly used for trivial offenses or to incarcerate individuals for far longer than their possible crimes would otherwise warrant.

Despite widespread instances of abuse of …

Discrimination, Model Rule 8.4(G), And The Aba’S Quixotic Quest For Uniformity, Alex B. Long

Washington and Lee Law Review

Under American Bar Association (“ABA”) Model Rule 8.4(g), it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct related to the practice of law that the lawyer knows, or reasonably should know, is harassment or discrimination on the basis of race and other protected characteristics. Widespread concerns over the breadth and lack of clarity concerning the rule have triggered substantial criticism, including the refusal of multiple states to adopt this model rule. Instead, several states have responded by introducing alternative versions of Model Rule 8.4(g) or by applying older rules of professional conduct in the case of discriminatory speech …