Sexuality and the Law Commons^™

In Re Adoption Of Charles B. - A Tough Act To Follow, Deborah M. Arik

Akron Law Review

This Note first discusses homosexuality and examines Ohio's position on adoption, child custody, and custody disputes involving homosexual parents." The Note then reviews other states' positions on homosexual adoption. The remainder of the Note analyzes the Charles B. decisions" and discusses future questions that the Court will need to answer."

Desperately Seeking Status: Same-Sex Couples Battle For Employment-Linked Benefits, Sue Nussbaum Averill

Akron Law Review

This Comment will focus on the battles that gay and lesbian workers face in their attempts to attain benefit parity in the workplace and how these battles are linked to the fact that their relationships lack legal status. Part I will discuss recent judicial decisions on the issue of employment-linked benefit availability to the same-sex partners of gay and lesbian employees. Part II will review two recent decisions, which although unrelated to employment, may have set the stage for a legal redefinition of the family, and may provide a means by which same-sex couples could attain the legal status required …

"Nobody's Saying We're Opposed To Complying": Barriers To University Compliance With Vawa And Title Ix, Charlotte Savino

Cornell Law Library Cantwell Prize for Exemplary Student Research Papers

Part I of this note will explore the government’s action in addressing sexual assault on campus, including the history of VAWA, the Clery Act, and Title IX. Part II will posit barriers to compliance, including ambiguous mandates, due process issues of private adjudication, and privacy law. Part III encapsulates the current political landscape and the laws that are under consideration. Part IV concludes with the financial and legal consequences of university action and inaction, including lawsuits brought by victims, lawsuits brought by the accused, Department of Education and Office of Civil Rights fines, and admissions consequences as prospective students actively …

Intestacy Concerns For Same-Sex Couples: How Variations In State Law And Policy Affect Testamentary Wishes, Megan Moser

Seattle University Law Review

As the number of same-sex couples increases in the United States, concerns regarding the evolution of federal and state law, with respect to rights for same-sex couples, also continue to rise. As marriage is not always available to same-sex couples, they often face very different legal issues than couples in a traditional marriage. Because marriage is typically not a legal cause of action, the question of a marriage’s validity often arises incidentally to another legal question, such as the disposition of a decedent’s estate.

Why The State Cannot “Abolish Marriage”: A Partial Defense Of Legal Marriage, Gregg P. Strauss

Indiana Law Journal

Does a liberal state have a legitimate interest in defining the terms of intimate relationships? Recently, several scholars have answered this question with a no and concluded that the state should abolish marriage, along with all other categories of intimate status. While politically infeasible, these proposals offer a powerful thought experiment. In this Article, I use this thought experiment to argue that the law cannot avoid relying on intimate-status norms and has legitimate reasons to retain an intimate status like marriage.

The argument has three parts. The primary lesson of the thought experiment is that the state cannot abolish intimate …

Those Awful Tahrir Rapes, Lama Abu-Odeh

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay highlights the myriad ways in which street sexual harassment of women in Egypt, of which I argue the mass rapes of Tahrir are an egregious instance thereof, disciplines women's bodies. It describes briefly and dismisses the frameworks for understanding those practices proposed by the left, the right and the government. I also describe the role that law, in conjunction with its lax enforcement, plays in intensifying this regulation.

The essay uses purposefully the fighting radical feminist pronoun "we" to describe the predicament. I "am" an Egyptian women. I consider myself an ally in their attempt to understand, resist …

Scrutiny Of The Venire, Scrutiny From The Bench: Smithkline Beecham Corp. V. Abbott Laboratories And The Application Of Heightened Scrutiny To Sexual Orientation Classifications, Parker Williams

Catholic University Law Review

In SmithKline Beecham Corp. v. Abbott Laboratories, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals applied heightened scrutiny to a sexual orientation classification. Through SmithKline, the Ninth Circuit became one of the first federal circuit courts to do so explicitly; and by unequivocally applying a more exacting standard than rational basis, it furthered the framework developed in cases such as Romer v. Evans, Lawrence v. Texas, and United States v. Windsor. This Note asserts that SmithKline is a significant victory for the advancement of LGBT rights, as evidenced by its use to strike down several same-sex marriage bans …

Constitutional Constraints On Asylum Termination By The United States Department Of Homeland Security, Jonathan Raz

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Marriage By Any Other Name: Why Civil Unions Should Receive Federal Recognition, Deborah A. Widiss, Andrew Koppelman

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

The federal government now recognizes same-sex marriages as triggering rights and responsibilities under federal law. However, it still generally refuses to recognize alternative legal statuses—civil unions and domestic partnerships—that were created by states to serve as functional marriages. Even though all the states that created such alternative statuses now permit same-sex couples to marry, this misguided policy causes ongoing harms. Some same-sex couples who entered into alternative relationships when marriage was not an option may now lack the capacity to marry. Couples who have since married may also be hurt by the federal government’s refusal to recognize civil unions or …

Baker V. Nelson: Flotsam In The Tidal Wave Of Windsor's Wake, David B. Cruz

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

Part I of this Article sketches the virtually unbroken string of pro-marriage decisions in the lower federal and state courts since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling in United States v. Windsor to give a sense of the size and magnitude of this “tidal wave” of precedent. Next, Part II briefly explores some of the reasons that might help account for the flood of litigation and overwhelmingly positive outcomes. Part III tentatively suggests one way this flow of decisions in favor of marriage equality might influence the Supreme Court as it returns to the issue. Part II then at some …

Thrown Away For Being Gay: The Abandonment Of Lgbt Youth And Their Lack Of Legal Recourse, Caitlin "Casey" Judge

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

One of the most pervasive risks LGBT youth face today is the threat of being thrown out of their homes because of their sexual orientation. According to a Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey, one in four teens that identify as lesbian or gay are homeless. Of the estimated 575,000 to 2.8 million youth that are homeless each year, between 20 percent and 40 percent identify as LGBT. While youth homelessness is most often attributed to neglect, family tragedy, poverty, and addiction, most LGBT youth populations attribute their homelessness directly to their sexual orientation. This suggests that these parents and families …

Blurred Lines Or Bright Line? Addressing The Demand For Sex Trafficking Under California Law, Rachel N. Busick

Pepperdine Law Review

Like the Thirteenth Amendment, which made slavery punishable by law, additional statutes that protect victims and punish those involved in sex trafficking are needed in the United States to abolish modern-day slavery. This Comment focuses specifically on California's laws relating to sex trafficking for two reasons. First, California's laws fail to adequately address the demand for sex trafficking. Second, California has a unique relationship to pornography, which is intrinsically linked to sex trafficking. Part II explains the definition and realities of sex trafficking with a special focus on buyers creating demand for sex trafficking. Part III discusses the current state …

A Crowded Room Or The Perfect Fit? Exploring Affirmative Action Treatment In College And University Admissions For Self-Identified Lgbt Individuals, Herbert C. Brown Jr.

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

This Article explores affirmative action treatment for self-identified LGBT individuals in college and university admissions. This Article seeks to explain that while granting affirmative action treatment to self-identified students in the admission process is constitutional, under the current affirmative action precedent, there is a lack of sufficient justification for such an expansion. This Article will also explore the advantages and disadvantages should colleges and universities choose to implement affirmative action programs for LGBT applicants.

Section I of this Article will begin by depicting the evolution of affirmative action programs since their inception in the early 1960s. This section will also …

Employment Discrimination Against Bisexuals: An Empirical Study, Ann E. Tweedy, Karen Yescavage

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

No abstract provided.

Marriage Equality Comes To Virginia, Carl Tobias

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodies? The Current State Of Sexual Assault Reform Within The U.S. Military And The Need For The Use Of A Formal Decisionmaking Process In Further Reform, Danielle Rogowski

Seattle University Law Review

Who protects those who protect the nation? In the United States, these responsibilities are levied upon the U.S. Congress, which has Constitutional authority to “make rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces.” As such, the U.S. military currently has a robust and well-developed judicial system governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Yet critics have attacked this system during the past two decades by alleging that it fails to adequately prevent and prosecute sexual assault within the ranks. Following scandals at the 1991 Tailhook Convention, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, and the United States Air …

A Closer Look At Bowers V. Hardwick: State And Federal Decisions Concerning Sexual Privacy And Equal Protection, Jonathan Tatun

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

More Than A Piece Of Paper: Same-Sex Parents And Their Adopted Children Are Entitled To Equal Protection In The Realm Of Birth Certificates, Shohreh Davoodi

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In Adar v. Smith, the Fifth Circuit held that Louisiana’s policy of refusing to issue accurate birth certificates to the children of out-of-state, same-sex adoptive parents does not deny those families equal protection of the law. This comment demonstrates that Louisiana’s policy does in fact violate the Equal Protection Clause. There are two ways Louisiana’s policy infringes on the rights of these families. First, the policy burdens fundamental rights stemming from the family autonomy of both parents and children. Second, the policy discriminates against out-of-state same-sex parents, treating them like second-class citizens. These concerns are strong enough that the …

Study Of Sexual Exploitation In Boston, Megan Klein-Hattori, Jackie Lageson, Julianne Siegfriedt, Kate Price

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

This project helps policymakers target resources and implement policies to facilitate the exit of prostituted individuals from sexual exploitation, and to deter those who facilitate the sale of sex and those who buy sex (“Johns”) from engaging in this exploitive behavior. This study interviews members of the Boston Police Department, survivors of sexual exploitation, Johns, and facilitators of the sale of sex. Boston is aiming to decrease demand for prostituted individuals by 20% over the next two years, and this research is the first step in that initiative.

Foreword: Diversity In The Legal Profession: A Comparative Perspective, Deborah L. Rhode

Fordham Law Review

    In principle, the legal profession in the United States and United Kingdom is deeply committed to diversity and inclusion. In practice, it lags behind. This colloquium explores what stands in the way. Leading scholars from both countries look at the gap between aspirations and achievement, and suggest some concrete strategies for change.