Sexuality and the Law Commons^™

Rescuing Trafficking From Ideological Capture: Prostitution Reform And Anti-Trafficking Law And Policy, Janie Chuang

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

In the decade since it became a priority on the United States' national agenda, the issue of human trafficking has spawned enduring controversy. New legal definitions of “trafficking” were codified in international and U.S. law in 2000, but what conduct qualifies as “trafficking” remains hotly contested. Despite shared moral outrage over the plight of trafficked persons, debates over whether trafficking encompasses voluntary prostitution continue to rend the anti-trafficking advocacy community - and are as intractable as debates over abortion and other similarly contentious social issues. Attempts to equate trafficking with slavery invite both disdain and favor: they are often rejected …

Introduction To The Symposium Issue Sexuality And Gender Law: The Difference A Field Makes, Nan D. Hunter

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

For a very long time, issues of sexuality and gender remained outside the boundaries of what was considered important legal scholarship. Indeed, the very presence in the legal academy of the concepts of sexuality and gender was viewed as barely legitimate, certainly not respectable, and, in intellectual terms, at best facetious-or, to let Justice White rest in peace, at best frivolous.

One result of this now dying worldview was a series of categorical exclusions and erasures-exemplified by the exclusion of sexual speech from the First Amendment, the exclusion of nonreproductive kinship networks from the definition of family, the exclusion of …

"Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses," But Not Your Homosexual Partners: International Solutions To America's Same-Sex Immigration Dilemma, Matthew J. Hrutkay

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note argues that U.S. immigration law, despite its emphasis on family unification, excludes same-sex couples due to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), creating a conflict between policy goals and legal realities. It proposes that international models, such as those from Australia and Canada, offer viable solutions to reconcile this dilemma while addressing conservative concerns about federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Medical Rights For Same-Sex Couples And Rainbow Families, Anisa Mohanty

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

The present state of the law regarding medical rights for same-sex couples and their families is highly inconsistent. A handful of states permit same-sex marriage. Another handful of states recognize samesex marriages from other states, allow civil unions with state-level spousal rights for same-sex couples, or extend some or nearly all statelevel spousal rights to unmarried couples in domestic partnerships. With these widely disparate levels of recognition, it becomes difficult for same-sex couples to navigate their options and rights when a loved one-a partner or child-has a medical emergency or is in the hospital. In Part II, this Comment will …

"Substantially Limited:" The Reproductive Rights Of Women Living With Hiv/Aids, Lisa M. Keels

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Marriage Is A Marriage Is A Marriage: The Limits Of Perry V. Brown, Robin West

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Ninth Circuit’s decision in Perry v. Brown, authored by Judge Reinhardt, has been widely lauded by marriage equality proponents for its creative minimalism. In keeping with commentators’ expectations, the court found a way to determine that California’s Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, namely that the provision took away an entitlement that had previously been enjoyed by same-sex couples—the right to the appellation of one’s partnership as a “marriage”—for no rational reason. The people of California’s categorization and differential treatment of same-sex couples as compared with opposite-sex couples, the court held, failed the test of …

Attacked From All Sides: Increased Sexual Assault Reports Within The U.S. Military, Brittany Kubes

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Transgendered Employees And The Heteronormative “Uniform”, Nicholas Norcia

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Penetrating The Silence In Sierra Leone: A Blueprint For The Eradication Of Female Genital Mutilation, Chi Adanna Mgbako, Meghna Saxena, Anna Cave, Nasim Farjad, Helen Shin

Faculty Scholarship

The African grassroots movement to eradicate female genital mutilation (also known as “female genital cutting” and “female circumcision,” hereinafter “FGM”) is widespread. While many African countries and grassroots organizations have made great strides in their efforts to eliminate FGM, Sierra Leone lags behind. In Sierra Leone, FGM is practiced within the bondo secret society, an ancient, all-female commune located in West Africa and also known as the sande. The bondo society’s traditional role was to direct girls’ rites of passage into adulthood. In order to become a member of the bondo, a girl or woman must undergo various rituals, the …

Medical Rights For Same-Sex Couples And Rainbow Families, Anisa Mohanty

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

The present state of the law regarding medical rights for same-sex couples and their families is highly inconsistent. A handful of states permit same-sex marriage. Another handful of states recognize samesex marriages from other states, allow civil unions with state-level spousal rights for same-sex couples, or extend some or nearly all statelevel spousal rights to unmarried couples in domestic partnerships. With these widely disparate levels of recognition, it becomes difficult for same-sex couples to navigate their options and rights when a loved one-a partner or child-has a medical emergency or is in the hospital. In Part II, this Comment will …

The Child As Victim And Perpetrator: Laws Punishing Juvenile "Sexting", Joanna L. Barry

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

As penalties for child pornography increase in severity across the United States, new technologies and teenage ingenuity are creating problems that legislatures never considered. In response to the "sexting" phenomenon, prosecutors are charging minors under traditional child pornography laws--originally intended to punish adult behavior--with creating, possessing, and distributing child pornography. These charges carry severe penalties, including sex offender registration, and unfairly punish impulsive juveniles. Some states, conscious of prosecutors' and parents' struggle to respond to this behavior, are proposing new legislation, such as supplementing traditional child pornography charges with a new offense for sexting and allowing prosecutors to choose from …

Where Cultures And Sovereigns Collide: Balancing Federalism, Tribal Self-Determination, And Individual Rights In The Adoption Of Indian Children By Gays And Lesbians, Steve Sanders

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article analyzes the complex interplay between adoption (traditionally a matter reserved to state family law) and the federal Indian Child Welfare Act in the context of adoptions by gays and lesbians.

As a federal statute that partially preempts state law for the benefit of Native Americans, ICWA implicates three sovereigns: the United States, the state where the adoption petition is brought, and the tribe whose child is the focus of the proceeding. This interplay of sovereigns in itself makes Indian child welfare law complicated and interesting. Beyond these sovereign interests, also to be considered are the interests and rights …

The Argument For Same-Sex Marriage, Nelson Tebbe, Deborah A. Widiss, Shannon Gilreath

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Professors Tebbe and Widiss revisit the arguments they made in "Equal Access and the Right to Marry" and emphasize their belief that distinguishing between different-sex marriage and same-sex marriage is inappropriate. They lament the sustained emphasis on the equal-protection and substantive-due-process challenges in the Perry litigation and suggest that an equal-access approach is more likely to be successful on appeal.

Professor Shannon Gilreath questions some of the fundamental premises for same-sex marriage. He challenges proponents to truly reflect on "what there is to commend marriage to Gay people," and points to his own reversal on the question as evidence. Though …

On The Legal Validation Of Sexual Relationships, Richard Stith

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

New York Recognition Of A Legal Status For Same-Sex Couples: A Rapidly Developing Story, Arthur S. Leonard

Articles & Chapters

In New York State at the beginning of 2010, same-sex couples cannot get married but can be married. The state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, construed the state’s marriage law in 2006 to prohibit state officials from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but said nothing in that decision about whether same-sex couples married outside the state would be considered married when they were in the state. In February 2008, an intermediate appeals court in Rochester ruled that New York’s marriage recognition law supported extending comity to a same-sex marriage performed in Canada, and several other appellate courts have …

Taking Prevention Seriously: Developing A Comprehensive Response To Child Trafficking And Sexual Exploitation, Jonathan Todres

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Millions of children are victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation each year. Governments have responded with a range of measures, focusing primarily on seeking to prosecute perpetrators of these abuses and offering assistance to select victims. These efforts, while important, have done little to reduce the incidence of these forms of child exploitation. This Article asserts that a central reason why efforts to date may not be as effective as hoped is that governments have not oriented their approaches properly toward prioritizing prevention--the ultimate goal--and addressing these problems in a comprehensive and systematic manner. Instead, efforts to date have …

Lost Children: The Abuse And Neglect Of Minors In Polygamous Communities Of North America, Kelly R. Schwab

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note examines the challenges of addressing child abuse in polygamous communities, highlighting the tension between religious freedom and child protection. It argues that while religious beliefs are protected under the First Amendment, religious conduct, such as polygamy, should not be exempt from legal scrutiny when it harms children. The author advocates for courts to prioritize children's best interests over religious practices, especially in cases involving criminal activities like polygamy.

Sects' Offenders: The Inefficacy Of Sex Offender Residency Laws And Their Burdens On The Free Exercise Of Religion, Amol N. Sinha

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Eve Sedgwick, Civil Rights, And Perversion, Katherine M. Franke

Faculty Scholarship

It is hard to imagine where queer theory would be without Eve Sedgwick. Indeed, I can't imagine where my own thinking would be had it not been informed, enriched, challenged, repulsed, and seduced by Sedgwick's writing. Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire and The Epistemology of the Closet, the early work, gave me the tools to think about the fundamental landscapes of my intellectual world in ways that decoupled and reconfigured the binaries of male/ female, heterosexual/homosexual, friend/lover, and public/private. Sedgwick gave us the idea of homosociality and a critique of identity and identification that exploded the …

Converging Queer And Feminist Legal Theories: Family Feuds And Family Ties, Elaine Craig

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The notion that queer theory and feminism are inevitably in tension with one another has been well developed both by queer and feminist theorists. Queer theorists have critiqued feminist theories for being anti-sex, overly moralistic, essentialist, and statist. Feminist theorists have rejected queer theory as being un-critically pro-sex and dangerously protective of the private sphere. Unfortunately these reductionist accounts of what constitutes a plethora of diverse, eclectic and overlapping theoretical approaches to issues of sex, gender, and sexuality, often fail to account for the circumstances where these methodological approaches converge on legal projects aimed at advancing the complex justice interests …