Law and Gender Commons^™

Is There A Federal Definitions Power?, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

Although the Supreme Court decided United States v. Windsor on equal protection grounds, that case also raised important and recurring questions about federal power. In particular, defenders of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) argued that Congress may always define the terms used in federal statutes, even if its definition concerns a matter reserved to the States. As the DOMA illustrates, federal definitions concerning reserved matters that depart from state law may impose significant burdens on state governments and private citizens alike. This Article argues that there is no general, freestanding federal definitions power and that sometimes—as with marriage—federal law …

Trafficking In Child Labor In Ghana And Senegal, Steven Brandt

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking: 6th (2014)

The goal of this paper is to determine the efficacy of anti-trafficking governance in Senegal and Ghana and what social, political, legal and economic factors work for or against those policies such as: - social policies for and against the growth of the NGO community - enforcement of anti-trafficking laws - economic policies for impoverished urban and rural communities - government rehabilitation policies for minors - federal, state and local corruption - border security/immigration - religious and political freedom This research comprises a comprehensive literature analysis as to the current state of trafficking of minors in Ghana and Senegal. First …

From Turkey Trot To Twitter: Policing Puberty, Purity, And Sex-Positivity, Mae C. Quinn

Journal Articles

For over one hundred years, American social structures have largely embraced two central principles—the innocence of children and the omniscience of adults. But as we now know from behavioral and development experts, adolescents—neither children nor adults—challenge such simplistic categories. In resisting binaries, adolescents represent a threat to the standard world order. But rather than simply accepting the fluid nature of adolescents and adolescence, American adults continually try to manage, regulate and control teens in ways that deny their agency, encroach upon their personhood, and impede social change. From outward appearance, to physical presence, to intimate communications and engagements, young people …

Foreword – Institutional Responsibility For Sex And Gender Exploitation, Nancy Levit

Faculty Works

Organizations are increasingly being held accountable for sex and gender exploitation perpetrated by individuals who are associated with them. The idea of litigating toward gender justice by making institutional actors responsible for various forms of sex and gender discrimination unites the articles in this Symposium.

This Foreword begins by tracking the evolution of tort law from its early vindication of isolated individual claims to its much more recent incarnation as an instrument of social reform for collective interests. The second part addresses legal impediments that prevent redress of certain types of gendered harms — ranging from areas that are virtually …

Using Egg Freezing To Extend The Biological Clock: Fertility Insurance Or False Hope?, Seema Mohapatra

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Tiaras, Queen Bees, Imposters And The Board Room: Lean In & Women In Corporate Governance, Christyne J. Vachon

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

Narrowing The Gender Pay Gap By Providing Equal Opportunities: The Need For Tenured Female Professors In Higher Stem Institutions In An Effort To Recast Gender Norms, Claire R. Rollor

Student Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Who Are The Mothers Who Need Safe Haven Laws? An Empirical Investigation Of Mothers Who Kill, Abandon, Or Safely Surrender Their Newborns, 29 Wis. J.L. Gender & Soc'y 213 (2014), Diane S. Kaplan

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

Who are the Mothers who kill their infants at birth? Why do they kill? How do they kill? Once the infant is disposed of, what becomes of the Mother? Neonaticide is the killing of a newborn within the first twenty-four hours of birth. In response to the discovery of thirteen abandoned newborns, Texas passed the first Safe Haven law in 1999. Within nine years, all states enacted similar laws. The purpose of Safe Haven Laws is to deter neonaticidal behaviors by allowing Mothers who are bearing unwanted pregnancies to legally surrender their newborns with anonymity and immunity from prosecution. The …

Twilight: The Unveiling Of Victims, Stalking, And Domestic Violence, 21 Cardozo J. L. & Gender 39 (2014), Susan L. Brody

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Feminicidios En Cd. Juárez: Sombras Del Evanescente Olvido; Luces De Lucha, Fuerza Y Resistencia, Amber Ramirez

Honors Theses

Desde principios de los años noventa, mujeres y niñas en Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua, México han sido raptadas de día y de noche mientras se dirigen al trabajo, a sus casas, o a la escuela. Después de días, semanas y a veces hasta años, muchas han sido encontradas brutalmente asesinadas, calcinadas, mutiladas, violadas y torturadas; sus cuerpos han sido abandonados para luego ser localizados completamente desnudos o parcialmente vestidos, en completo estado de descomposición o solamente en huesos en las calles en las zonas desérticas de Cd. Juárez. El paradero de muchas otras mujeres y niñas aún se desconoce y a …

A Critical Research Agenda For Wills, Trusts And Estates, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The law of wills, trusts, and estates could benefit from consideration of its development and impact on people of color; women of all colors; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals; low-income and poor individuals; the disabled; and nontraditional families. One can measure the law's commitment to justice and equality by understanding the impact on these historically disempowered groups of the laws of intestacy, spousal rights, child protection, will formalities, will contests, and will construction; the creation, operation and construction of trusts; fiduciary administration; creditors' rights; asset protection; nonprobate transfers; planning for incapacity and death; and wealth transfer taxation. This Article …

Females On The Fringe: Considering Gender In Payday Lending Policy, Amy J. Schmitz

Faculty Publications

Payday lending may provide a much-needed safety net for some consumers in need of quick cash for emergencies. However, data suggest that most payday loan borrowers become repeat users caught in a cycle of high-cost debt. Furthermore, empirical evidence indicates consistent overrepresentation of women, including many single mothers, among payday loan borrowers. This takes a toll not only on these women and their families, but also on society as a whole. Indeed, context matters in payday lending debates. It is thus time to think creatively and consider contextualized programs that aim to increase women’s and all consumers’ safe borrowing options, …

Gender Diversity In The Patent Bar, 14 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 67 (2014), Saurabh Vishnubhakat

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

This article describes the state of gender diversity across technology and geography within the U.S. patent bar. The findings rely on a new gender-matched dataset, the first public dataset of its kind, not only of all attorneys and agents registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but also of attorneys and agents on patents granted by the USPTO. To enable follow-on research, the article describes all data and methodology and offers suggestions for refinement. This study is timely in view of renewed interest about the participation of women in the U.S. innovation ecosystem, notably the provision …

Challenging Presumed (Im)Morality: A Personal Narrative, Angela Mae Kupenda

Journal Articles

This narrative essay is about presumptions of (im)morality in academic settings. Such biased presumptions affect our abilities, even as educators, to work together and foster a society built on principles of justice that could help us work, live, and play better together. Learning to understand, work with, live near, and care about others are goals to which many of us would say we aspire. As law professors, we consider collegiality to be one of the factors we use in evaluating candidates for hiring and promotion decisions. However, these evaluations may rest not on the worthiness or respected humanity of others, …

Reflections On Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections Of Race And Class For Women In Academia Symposium--The Plenary Panel, Maritza I. Reyes, Angela Mae Kupenda, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Stephanie M. Wildman, Adrien K. Wing

Journal Articles

Presumed Incompetent was produced thanks to the vision and commitment of its editors: Dr. Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Dr. Yolanda Flores Niemann, Carmen G. González, and Angela P. Harris. This symposium came to fruition because the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice invited the two law professor editors, Professor Harris and Professor González, to convene a distinguished group of scholars from Canada and the United States to expand and deepen the conversation initiated by the book. The very successful day-long symposium and the publication of the resulting articles were made possible by the resources, time, and dedication provided by …

The Evolution Toward Judicial Independence In The Continuing Quest For Lgbt Equality, Susan J. Becker

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Judicial decisions that hold same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional, no matter how that conclusion is reached, overturn laws or constitutional provisions that were passed with the support of a democratic majority. This Article takes an in-depth look at judicial activism and judicial independence to determine whether such victories for same-sex litigants were done properly by the judiciary. In the eyes of the Framers, an independent judiciary was to be a crucial check on the other branches’ constitutional limitations. With this in mind, judicial independence—where, in contrast with activism, judges meticulously apply the well-examined facts to controlling precedent without accounting for majority …

I Am/I Am Not: On Angela Harris's Race And Essentialism In Feminist Legal Theory, Mary Anne Franks

Articles

In 1990, Angela Harris wrote an article that interrogated the limitations of feminist legal theory. Nearly a quarter of a century later, the insights and challenges Harris offered in Race and Essentialism in Feminist Legal Theory continue to reverberate. The influence of her ideas can be seen in the fractured and passionate conversations about gender, race, and solidarity occurring both inside and outside of academia. In recent years, we have witnessed an explosion of debate of these topics in social media forums such as Twitter and Facebook. Far from being trivial, the intensity and persistence of these conversations suggest a …

An Expanding Human Rights Corpus: Sexual Minority Rights As International Human Rights, Xavier B. Lutchmie Persad

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article argues that sexual minorities are entitled to equal rights under principles of human dignity, equality, and non-discrimination. While international human rights frameworks like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and regional systems, particularly the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, provide some protections, sexual minorities remain vulnerable due to the lack of explicit inclusion in most treaties. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) have advanced protections through jurisprudence, but significant gaps persist, especially for transgender and intersex individuals. The article advocates for a specialized treaty to address these disparities …

Aborted Emotions: Regret, Relationality, And Regulation, Jody L. Madeira

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Regret is a deeply contested emotion within abortion discourse. It is present in ways that we are both afraid of and afraid to talk about. Conventional pro-life and pro-choice narratives link regret to defective decision making. Both sides assert that the existence of regret reveals abortion’s harmfulness or harmlessness, generating a narrow focus on the maternal-fetal relationship and women’s “rights.”These incomplete, deeply flawed constructions mire discourse in a clash between regret and relief and exclude myriad relevant relationships. Moreover, they distort popular understandings of abortion that in turn influence women, creating cognitive dissonance and perhaps distress for those with different …

The Case For Mandatory Training On Screening For Domestic Violence In The Wake Of The Affordable Care Act, Nat Stern, Karen Oehme

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.