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Covering Women and Violence: Media Treatment of VAWA’s Civil Rights Remedy
This Article analyzes how newspapers described and characterized the civil rights provision over the past decade and shaped the public discourse about the law. The author examines how lower federal courts, and eventually the Supreme Court, categorized the VAWA remedy when deciding whether Congress had acted within its commerce powers. After considering why there may have been resistance in the press and in the courts to VAWA's categorization of violence against women as a civil rights issue, the author concludes by examining the remedies that have been introduced at the state and local level for victims of gender-motivated violence, and discusses the public debate that has surrounded these remedies thus far.Is Marriage Obsolete?
Is legal marriage obsolete? Wardle thinks not. In order to understand why not, it is necessary first to grasp the significance of the focus of the discussion on the legal status of marriage. As this Introduction suggests, lack of legal marriage status does not prevent families and communities from treating couples as married nor does the law forbid couples from voluntarily providing each other "marital benefits." Nevertheless, whether marriage is obsolete at the beginning of the twenty-first century is an important question. This article analyzes four dimensions of that question.Marriage Law: Obsolete or Cutting Edge?
Over the past hundred years, social and cultural expectations surrounding various forms of committed relationships have changed dramatically, and contemporary legal systems have struggled to adapt. The result has been an extraordinary opportunity to test fundamental assumptions about law, about the cultural understandings that are enforced through state power, and about the mechanisms that drive law's evolution. The Michigan Journal of Gender & Law has drawn together an exceptional group of panelists who will discuss these questions throughout the day.In the Supreme Court of the United States Barbara Grutter, Petitioner, v. Lee Bollinger, et al., Respondents. On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Brief of the University of Michigan Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, the University of Michigan Black Law Students' Alliance, the University of Michigan Latino Law Students Association, and the University of Michigan Native American Law Students Association as Amici Curiae in Support of RespondentsEditorial Introduction
Editorial Introduction and Biographies of Student ContributorsLawyers and Domestic Violence: Raising the Standard of Practice
Lawyers and judges should be the vanguard of those working to end domestic violence and mitigate its effects, yet they are not. This article is an attempt to change that. It strives to shed some light on the profound effect domestic violence has on law and law practice, as well as the profound effect lawyers and the legal system can have on domestic violence. Part II of this article demonstrates the extent and pervasiveness of domestic violence. Part III describes how domestic violence will affect a lawyer's practice. Part IV provides guidance on what a lawyer should do to determine if a prospective client or a current client is involved in domestic violence, and, if so, how the lawyer should assist the prospective client or client in taking measures to protect against future violence. Finally, Part V addresses a lawyer's duty to warn non-clients of possible domestic violence by a client. This article is, in sum, about what a reasonable lawyer should know about domestic violence and what that reasonable lawyer should do with that knowledge.Covenant Marriage Turns Five Years Old
Part I of this article discusses public policy rationales behind covenant marriage legislation, describes relevant aspects of Louisiana's legislation, and summarizes the efforts of other states to enact covenant marriage legislation. Part II discusses methods of data collection and analysis and identifies the demographic characteristics of covenant married couples as opposed to standard married couples in Louisiana. Part III addresses the dynamics behind couples' choice to have a covenant versus standard marriage. Part IV is an analysis of couples' satisfaction with their marriage option and the gendered dynamics of different levels of satisfaction with the marital choice.Does EC Pregnancy and Maternity Legislation Create Equal Opportunities for Women in the EC Labor Market? The European Court of Justice’s Interpretation of the EC Pregnancy Directive in Boyle and Lewen
This article discusses the EC's legal accommodation of pregnancy in the workplace and the interpretation thereof by the European Court of Justice. The leitmotiv is the question to what extent such accommodation enhances women's position in the labor market. The suspicion being that, in a well-intentioned attempt to fight discrimination of women, the EC institutions entrench gender discrimination. In other words, in their attempt to fight sex discrimination (by accommodating pregnancy), the EC often places women in a position that confirms the traditional perception of women as childbearers and caregivers.The Sexual Regulation Dimension of Contemporary Welfare Law: A Fifty State Overview
In this article, Smith will attempt to demonstrate that welfare policy has become a prominent site of sexual regulation; that the rights of poor single mothers are at stake in this respect; and that given the precise structure of contemporary American welfare reform, we must pay especially close attention to the laws and regulations adopted at the state level. First, Smith will place contemporary sexual regulation-oriented welfare law in an historical context by considering its precedents in English and American public policy traditions (Part I). Using original qualitative analyses of the states' statutory codes and administrative regulations, Smith will then discuss the following measures: the mandatory child support cooperation requirement (Part II); the domestic violence exemption (Part III); the "family cap," family planning, and adoption relinquishment dimensions of welfare programs (Part IV); and the abstinence education curricula in public schools (Part V). Finally, she will conclude with a brief discussion of the broader relevance of this research. The emphasis on the moralistic policing of poor women as a solution to poverty conceals the fact that poverty will only be adequately addressed insofar as the federal and state governments adopt much more egalitarian and democratic macroeconomic policies.“I Will Not Sit Idly By While My Future is Determined:” The Response of the University of Michigan Black Law Students’ Alliance to Grutter V. Bollinger, Et Al.
Back in 1998, the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law expressed support for the University of Michigan Law School's defense of its affirmative action policy, which is at controversy in Grutter v. Bollinger. Today, as in 1998, "[W]e certainly do not believe the Law School admissions policy truly addresses the inequalities within our law school and the legal profession generally. Legal education is unfortunately not a bastion of diversity." Women and students of color struggle to be heard and seen, and to achieve equal representation in both the study and practice of law. "Without active efforts, we cannot create a society with equal opportunity for people of different races, genders, and sexual orientations. We strive for such a reality, and we hope that the Law School will not be prohibited from trying to move us there. Diversity is more than a method of enhancing the intellectual experience of law students or a narrow manifestation of 'fairness' which should be protected; it is justice that the Law School, its faculty, and its students are affirmatively obligated to seek out." Now, three years later, the validity of the Law School's affirmative action policy still hangs in the balance. Unfortunately, the most recent decision in the matter was not favorable for supporters of affirmative action. Now more than ever, the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law stands by the Law School and its policies. As a journal, however, we also are committed to providing a forum for the discussion of all views, regardless of whether they comport with our own. Accordingly, we solicited responses to the District Court's Grutter opinion from the Michigan Law School community. The Black Law Students' Alliance ("BLSA") submitted the following press release and amicus brief. Although we would prefer to publish a range of opinions on the issue, BLSA is the only entity that submitted a response piece to us for publication. The Michigan Journal of Gender & Law remains committed to providing a forum in which all voices are heard-herein is BLSA's voice.