Law and Gender Commons^™

Meeting Of The Minds And Bodies: Contract Law And The Mutuality Of Sexual Exchanges, Kelly Jo Popkin

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

Though it may seem like an obvious analogy, a comparison of consent to sex and consent to contract has rarely been explored in such detail. The legal concepts protecting bargainers to a contract can be applied to analyses of sexual coercion in consent to sexual encounters, thereby affording survivors with greater protection against instances of sexual violence that seem to consistently slip through the cracks of our criminal justice system. More importantly, this analysis has never before been applied to the Title IX campus sexual assault adjudication process and policies. As a procedure involving civil law, rather than criminal law, …

A Patient's Right Not To Hear: The Public Health Case For Challenging Pre-Abortion Ultrasound Description Mandates By Refocusing On The Listener, Juliana Shulman-Laniel

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

This Article argues for a reframing of the discourse surrounding abortion-specific informed consent laws, calling for scholars and practitioners to focus not solely on the physician’s right against compelled speech, but also a patient’s right not to listen. Although this right has not been firmly recognized by the courts, a growing body of case law and scholarly papers has begun to acknowledge the potential for this right. This Article begins by examining how bridging the First Amendment rights of doctors-as-speakers and patients-as-listeners within the context of the unique doctor-patient relationship may help to establish a patient’s right not to hear. …

Pushback: Title Vii Takes On Hobby Lobby, Carole Okolowicz

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

In Hobby Lobby, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a for-profit corporation could avoid the requirement under the Affordable Care Act that it pay for coverage of female contraception in the employee health plan due to the employer’s religious objections to birth control. In so deciding, the Court allowed the employer to discriminate against its female employees in their employee benefits. Such a decision raises the possibility of a claim of sex discrimination by the corporation’s female employees under Title VII. This article explores the main issues and pitfalls in such a claim.

The two main issues with the possible …

Newsroom: As Manning Released, Trial Attorney Coombs Looks Back On Case, Looks Forward To Teaching Again At Rwu Law 05-17-2017, Edward Fitzpatrick

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

A Mother Of A Problem: How The Language Of Inequality Affects Maternity Leave Policies And Women In Law Firms, Hannah Arenstam

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Have Crisis Pregnancy Centers Finally Met Their Match: California's Reproductive Fact Act, Beth Holtzman

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Roe V. Wade (1973) On The American Abortion Rights Movement, Claire M. Adkins

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

My research examines the impact of the Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade (1973), on the American abortion rights movement during the 1970s. Previous research is divided on the extent of the Court’s influence on social movements and I seek to fill a gap in the previous literature. I conduct an in-depth document analysis to measure the Court’s effect on the abortion rights movement. Specifically, I examine abortion sections from the 1970s feminist publications, “Our Bodies Ourselves” and “off our backs,” to represent the American abortion rights movement. Both publications offer slightly different feminist perspectives with abortion rights advocacy and …

For What It's Worth: The Role Of Race- And Gender-Based Data In Civil Damages Awards, Loren D. Goodman

Vanderbilt Law Review

Following months of behavioral problems, hyperactivity, and intermittent complaints of headache and nausea, five-year-old Kelsey Craig's mother finally takes her to the pediatrician to determine the root of the problem. After multiple consultations, a blood test shows a surprising culprit: there is a dangerously high amount of lead present in Kelsey's blood, suggesting prolonged exposure to the irreversibly toxic substance. Upon returning to their older, prewar apartment building, Kelsey's mother passes a neighboring family in the hallway and woefully relays the tale of her diagnosis. The neighbors' eyes grow wide as they realize their own five-year-old son has been experiencing …

Different Voices : Measuring Female Judges' Influence On Women's Rights Issues In The U.S. Courts Of Appeal., Alyson E Hendricks

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Beginning with President Carter and continuing with each successive president, the federal bench has become more diverse. This has caused scholars to turn their attention to how personal characteristics such as race and sex affect judging. Understanding the effects of gender and race on judging is crucial because white female and minority female judges may bring a different perspective to the bench than their male counterparts due to their shared experiences with discrimination. To fill a gap in the literature, this study examines the impact of women in terms of legal influence and voting behavior. The results demonstrate that women …

Remarks On Campus Sexual Assault, Alison M. Tinsey

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Telling A Story, Changing The World: California Rural Legal Assistance, Jonathan J. Chavez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone project attempts to provide an in-depth view of how stories influence change in our lives as well as in the field of law.

Immigrating While Trans: The Disproportionate Impact Of The Prostitution Ground Of Inadmissibility And Other Provisions Of The Immigration And Nationality Act On Transgender Women, Luis Medina

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Swaying The Jury: The Effect Of Expert Witness Testimony On Jury Verdicts In Rape Trials, Christina E. Ball

Senior Capstone Theses

With the reliance on rape myths to form opinions towards rape victims, the use of expert witnesses is of increased importance. Rape myths may give jurors misinformed notions about why, how, or to whom rape happens. This indicates a need for educational expert testimony in rape jury trials. It is proposed the use of this testimony will help dispel these myths and social biases towards victims of rape. This paper explores the need for expert witness testimony and the relationship between expert witness and jury. It discusses what type of testimony may be presented and who qualifies as an expert. …

Female Autonomy: An Analysis Of Privacy And Equality Doctrine For Reproductive Rights, Elizabeth Levi

Political Science Honors Projects

What is the constitutional basis for women’s equality? Recently, scholars have suggested that as the right to privacy has floundered against the political undoing of women's access to abortion, equal protection arguments have grown stronger. This thesis investigates the feminist utility and limits of the equality and privacy arguments. Taking liberal feminism and feminist legal theory as analytical lenses, I offer interpretations of gender discrimination, reproductive rights, and marriage equality case law. By this framework, I argue that while an equality argument is less inherently oppressive towards women than the privacy doctrine, equality doctrine has been constructed thus far to …

My Body, Not My Say: How Roe V. Wade Endangers Women's Autonomy, Kisha K. Patel

Politics Honors Papers

When defining women’s rights to reproductive decisions in Roe v. Wade, Justice Blackmun fails to ensure protection for women by defining this right in the privacy doctrine. Justice Blackmun’s opinion allows the government to interpret and apply the doctrine to deny women access and availability to reproductive health. This can be shown by the subsequent Supreme Court decisions on privacy that allow the government to overrule the right of the individual woman. This allows for the government to effectively deny women the right to abortion and ultimately prevents women from making independent autonomous decisions. The laws and regulations against …

Amicus Curiae Brief Of Equality Ohio In Support Of Intervenor Urging Reversal, Doron M. Kalir, Kenneth J. Kowalski

Law Faculty Briefs and Court Documents

Title VII’s plain language bars discharge of “any individual”—whether transgender or not—“because of such individual’s . . . sex.” It applies whenever employers take gender into account in making employment decisions. It is undisputed that the employer in this case based his decision to terminate Ms. Stephens solely on sex-based considerations. To be sure, he could have terminated Ms. Stephens for a wide array of reasons—tardiness, failure to perform, disciplinary issues—or for no reason at all. Under those circumstances, such termination—even of a transgender person—would not be “because of such individual’s sex.” But that is not the case here. Here, …

Sex Reassignment Surgery & The New Standard Of Care: An Analysis Of The Role The Federal Court System, The States, Society, And The Medical Community Serve In Paving The Way For Incarcerated Transgendered Persons' Constitutional Right To A Sex Change, Victor J. Genchi

Barry Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Uneven Scales Of Lady Justice, Jessica H. Shepard

Georgia College Student Research Events

For centuries, women have been assigned a specific gender role, and men hold them accountable to stay within this role. When these roles are broken, severe punishment or dismissal can be the result. From the Demonic age to today, as well as the different schools of criminology, the way women have been treated has been documented. The evil woman theory introduces the idea that when women commit a crime, they are no longer acting in the stereotypical way of a woman; therefore, punishment should be more severe. On the other side, some men treat women with chivalry, seeing them as …

The Tension Between Equal Protection And Religious Freedom, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "The Constitution did not become our basic law at a single point in time. We ratified its first seven articles in 1788 but have since amended it 27 times. Many of these amendments memorialize fundamental shifts in values. Thus, it should come as no surprise to learn that the Constitution is not an internally consistent document."

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"Other constitutional provisions -- even provisions that were simultaneously enacted -- protect freedoms that can come into conflict with one another. The First Amendment, for example, promises both freedom from governmental endorsement of religion and freedom from governmental interference with religious practice. …

A Quest To Increase Women In Corporate Board Leadership: Comparing The Law In Norway And The U.S., Angela R. Foster

Washington International Law Journal

Gender imbalance is a persistent problem on corporate boards the world over. Women are severely underrepresented in these important leadership positions within public companies. Norway took a big swing at inequality in 2003 by enacting a quota law requiring at least 40% representation of each gender on boards of directors of public companies. Norway now has the highest percentage of women serving on corporate boards. Through Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, the United States enacted a diversity disclosure rule that requires public companies to divulge their policy regarding gender in board hiring. The disclosure rule has proven ineffectual, and at …