...abortion, contraception, and the right to die. The Roe v. Wade case has been a foundational driving force in shaping the abortion policy (Lui, 2013). This case confronted a Texas law that banned abortion in all cases except life-threatening situations. Lui (2013) illustrates how the court ruled in a 7-2 vote where a conclusion was made by Judge Blackmun’s that stated “the Constitution does explicitly mention any right to privacy,” it is still guaranteed in amendments within the Bill of Rights that create zones of privacy (Lui, 2013). The only limitation to this right could be valid if there was a state interest. This fundamental case has transformed the laws and encouraged advocates to challenge exaggeratedly unclear statutes, which they felt violated the fundamental right to privacy or the right to equal protection laws (Lui, 2013). This case also provided rights to areas concerning...
Words: 786 - Pages: 4
...This case reminds me of the cases of (Eisenstadt v. Baird and Griswold v. Connecticut) where the Court’s decision was based on the right to avoid reproducing and the importance of allowing people to decide whether or not to procreate. In the case at issue, the judge could have decided to sentence Salazar to a prison term, during which she wouldn’t have been able to reproduce, thus, the judges sentence was the most logical one. The judge imposed a less severe sentence of what that prison time would have been, by ordering Salazar not to have a child. The judge’s arguments, in my opinion, comes from a solid foundation. Someone incapable of taking care of their children and allowing others to harm them or abuse them should not by any chance be...
Words: 327 - Pages: 2
...Griswold v. Connecticut: The Right to Privacy, Equal Protection, and Legalizing Sodomy In 1965 the landmark case Griswold v. Connecticut the Supreme Court recognized penumbra emanations regarding the right to privacy protected from governmental intrusion. Plaintiffs Estelle Griswold, the Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, and C. Lee Buxton, a licensed physician serving as the Medical Director for the League in New Haven, were found guilty and charged as accessories to Connecticut’s General Statutes §§ 53-52 and 54-196 for providing advice and prescribing a contraceptive device for a heterosexual married couple. The statutes at issue stated that: (1) Persons preventing conception using drugs, medicines,...
Words: 1626 - Pages: 7
...There has been a case in the supreme court called Griswold v. Connecticut that resulted in Connecticut's proposition being refuted, the state wanted to pass a law that prohibited people from using birth control or any form of conception. Connecticut wanted to control people from their right of reproducing or intercourse, however, the U.S. declared it unconstitutional because they were violating people's privacy. The government has given us the freedom to decide how people reproduce and allow women to abort. However, there has been debates on the news recently about making it illegal to abort. Even though it is unmoral to abort, it is nevertheless women's right to do what they want with their babies/fetus. Some fetus that have been aborted...
Words: 586 - Pages: 3
...Introduction In 1965, Griswold, Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, worked with her associate Buxton, a licensed physician who was the Medical Director of this League in New Haven. They gave advice to married couples concerning the proper and safe use of various contraceptives. After examining the wife of a certain couple, they prescribed a specific contraceptive device for her, knowingly violating a Connecticut law against the use of contraceptives. In accordance with the portion of the law stating that “any person who assists, abets, counsels, causes, hires or commands another to commit any offense may be prosecuted and punished as if he were the principal offender,” Griswold and Buxton were fined one hundred dollars each (LLI Griswold v. Connecticut). They appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming that the Connecticut law was unconstitutional because it violated the right to privacy within marriage, a right not specifically stated in the Constitution, but one which they believed was essential for the existence of the rights guaranteed in the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments (McBride). Legitimacy of the Right of Privacy/ Court Decision The primary argument against the...
Words: 1425 - Pages: 6
...incites strong emotion in both men and women. The most famous court case revolving this infamous issue is known as Roe v. Wade; and though it was chosen a quarter century back,the effects and decisions from this case can be felt to this day. The verdict to legalize abortion has led to mass revives, bombings of fetus removal...
Words: 1226 - Pages: 5
...liberties which so many take for granted today. The origins of civil liberties for the United States dates back to England. The United States has a clean start by including the Bill of Rights in the American Constitution. The Bill of rights at first were the symbolism of American ideals because there was no way of enforcing them until 1803 where in the case of Marbury v. Madison the Supreme Court took action in striking down laws for the first time that were considered unconstitutional. From that point on the Supreme Court established a precedent of wielding the power to strike down any unconstitutional legislation. Marbury v. Madison happened long before the Civil War and before any of the other cases mentioned. However its importance to civil liberties is essential to any civil liberty essays because it was the one case that allowed for the Supreme Court to take action and enforce the bill of rights along with any other law that is deemed unconstitutional. It was this case that brought about the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing the rights of every American one case at a time. Although countless Americans lost their civil liberties during the civil war due to President Lincoln suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus, a larger number of others benefited by Lincoln’s polices as did African Americans and many other groups in future generations thereafter. During the...
Words: 2983 - Pages: 12
...technology in the past century has enabled her to control this, specifically abortion and the use of contraceptives. Hypothesis Changing roles in the family unit have caused the dynamic to change. Women have become the sole provider to the family in many households forcing them to earn a living as well as take care of the children. Conflicting sets of moral and ethical values within society have made their choices more difficult. By controlling which options she has availible, is society choosing for her? When does a specific group of personal values out weigh an individuals freedom to live their life as they see fit? Is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness only available to those who make the laws? Historic Supreme Court Cases In the mid 1800’s woman’s suffrage movement came to the United States and the fight for equality started. The 14th Amendment was ratified in July of 1868 and included the...
Words: 3773 - Pages: 16
...Women and Equal Rights Sharon Edick Kaplan University Women and Equal Rights On August 26, 2011 women celebrated the 91st anniversary of a victory that took more than 70 years of political struggle to achieve, the right to vote. After this victory was achieved, socialist feminist Crystal Eastman stated “that although suffrage was an important first step what women really wanted was freedom” and she actually laid out a plan that is still relevant today. She outlined a four point program of what women need to achieve in order to have the same freedoms and equality as men. 1. Economic independence for women, including the freedom to choose an occupation and receive pay equal to a man. 2. Gender equality at home, men in the home sharing the responsibilities of family life. 3. Reproductive freedom, the ability to choose when, if and how many children they would have. 4. Financial support for homemaking and child raising (Ellen Carol DuBois; Lynn Dumenil, 2012). Since 1920 women have won many rights and opportunities in areas like education, professional sports and in some states same sex marriages. However, if we look at the “priorities” that Eastman identified how far have we actually come when the U.S. Constitution does not even guarantee women the same rights as men? With ground already broken in the workplace due to women’s participation in various professions, trades and unions, women believed that equality in the workplace would be the easiest part...
Words: 2183 - Pages: 9
...A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM?: OBERGEFELL V. HODGES Kenji Yoshino The decision in Obergefell v. Hodges1 achieved canonical status even as Justice Kennedy read the result from the bench. A bare majority held that the Fourteenth Amendment required every state to perform and to recognize marriages between individuals of the same sex.2 The majority opinion ended with these ringing words about the plaintiffs: “Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”3 While Obergefell’s most immediate effect was to legalize same-sex marriage across the land, its long-term impact could extend far beyond this context. To see this point, consider how much more narrowly the opinion could have been written. It could have invoked the equal protection and due process guarantees without specifying a formal level of review, and then observed that none of the state justifications survived even a deferential form of scrutiny. The Court had adopted this strategy in prior gay rights cases.4 Instead, the Court issued a sweeping statement that could be compared to Loving v. Virginia,5 the 1967 case that invalidated bans on in––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University School of Law. I gratefully acknowledge receiving financial support from...
Words: 15849 - Pages: 64
...has been used to refer to cohabitation or intermarriage between racial groups. Regulated by state law, miscegenation was illegal in many states for decades. However, interracial marriage in the United States has been fully legal in all U.S. states since the 1967 Supreme Court decision, Loving v. Virginia, that decreed all state antimiscegenation laws unconstitutional. Many states, of course, had chosen to legalize interracial marriage much earlier. According to a May 14, 2012, Huffington Post article entitled “Interracial Marriage Statistics: Pew Report Finds Mixed-Race Marriage Rates Rising,” the 1980 Census (the first to collect data on interracial marriage) reported that 3% of all married couples were from different races. The number had risen to 8.4% (one in twelve couples) by 2010. Looking at marriages recorded in the years between 2008 and 2010, we find that 22% of newly-married couples in Western states were of different races or ethnicities, compared to 14% in the South, 13% in the Northeast, and 11% in the Midwest. QUESTION 1: Analyze and evaluate each case independently by providing the following (about two paragraphs per case): LOVING V. VIRGINIA CASE. 1. Facts of the case: In 1958, Mildred Jeter, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were married in the District of Columbia. The two had gone to the District of Columbia to obtain a marriage license and returned to their home state of Virginia afterward. The couple was then charged with and convicted of...
Words: 5896 - Pages: 24
...Law and Politics 9/2/15 Office hours 10-11 Monday and Wednesday Hickman 411 What is law- set of rules made by government and enforced by government 4 Institutions that make Laws 1. Legislative Bodies (Ex. Congress, State Legislators, City council) Statutory Law 2. Courts/Judges- Set precedent by ruling: Common Law 3. Executive Branch: bureaucracy/administrative agency Administrative Law 4. Constitutional Law 9/4/15 Constitutional law-makes rules for govt Has gone largely unchanged Blueprint Creates and limits govt Fundamental law that sets up rules for how other kinds of laws can be made What isn’t in the Constitution? Democracy Separation of church and state Right to privacy Right to education One-person one vote Political parties God Articles of Confederation -1777 Loose association States retain sovereignty One house Congress Every state one vote Needed 9 to pass Couldn’t tax Problems Congress little power No taxes State sovereignty Own paper money States could sign foreign treaties No natl army No executive No national courts Shays Rebellion Final spark for constitutional convention Constitutional Convention Philly 1787 Signed in Sept 39 out of 55 delegates Undemocratic Elements Slavery: 3/5ths compromise, no ban on slave trade till 1808 Fugitive Slave clause article IV, fed govt helps slates put down insurrections Senators chosen by state legislators No right to suffrage. Qualifications left...
Words: 3907 - Pages: 16
...Northwestern University – School of Law Public law & Legal Theory Research Paper Series Paper No. 09-12 ~and~ University of San Diego – School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series Paper No. 09-008 Reconciling Originalism and Precedent John O. McGinnis Northwestern University – School of Law Michael B. Rappaport University of San Diego – School of Law Northwestern University Law Review, Vol. 103, No. 2, 2009 Copyright 2009 by Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Law Review Printed in U.S.A. Vol. 103, No. 2 RECONCILING ORIGINALISM AND PRECEDENT John O. McGinnis∗ & Michael B. Rappaport** INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 I. PRECEDENT, ORIGINALISM, AND THE CONSTITUTION ................................................... 4 A. B. C. II. A. B. C. D. E. F. The Supposed Conflict Between Originalism and Precedent ............................ 5 A Short History of Precedent ............................................................................... 7 The Consistency of Originalism and Precedent ............................................... 21 The Supermajoritarian Theory of Constitutional Originalism........................ 28 The Relative Benefits of Original Meaning and Precedent ............................. 29 Precedent Rules .................................................................................................. 34 Factors...
Words: 28150 - Pages: 113
... quality, and services for millions of Americans with health and behavioral health needs. Social workers practice as part of health caretailing the factors necessitating health care reform in the United States. Second, it analyzes whether a constitutionally protected right to make personal health care decisions exists under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments' Due Process Clauses. Finally, the article analyzes the susceptibility of government-sponsored health care-specifically proposals which include a public option-to due process challenges and makes suggestions to avoid any potential fundamental rights violations. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT] quirement to purchase health insurance. It also examines some recent Canadian constitutional law cases to anticipate possible future legal challenges to health care reform in the United States. INTRODUCTION The question of the reform of the American system of financing health care has, of course, recently been a central focus of debate in American politics. Because the author of this paper is something of a "political junkie" and keeping current on this issue seemed a desirable part of being a law professor at the current moment, I decided to investigate and examine what legal issues have been involved in the health care reform debate. To a fair degree, what I discovered was that the health care issue is primarily focused on politics, ethics, and economics, rather than on legal issues. But a variety of legal issues have surfaced in...
Words: 14949 - Pages: 60
...Abstract The problem question for this research is: Barriers to Gender Equality in the Botswana Legal establishment: A critical analysis. The purpose of the study is to examine the extent of gender disparities in the legal profession in Botswana as well as elucidating on the social-economic and political forces giving rise to such differences. It is a theoretical desktop study, reviewing the battle between men and women in the legal profession: men determined to maintain a strangle hold on the legal profession, and women struggling to enter the professions. One of the most dramatic changes in the legal profession in recent years has been the influx of women. In many countries women now constitute close to half of all law students, although it will be the turn of the century before this representation is fully mirrored among practitioners. In this paper, we make an analysis of the barriers to gender equality between first and third world countries. We try understand the reason why there is a gender gap in the legal establishment in countries such as the United States of America, Canada and Australia, entry into the so-called-learned profession has been a march in developed countries with very low or limited discrimination as compared to the third world country of Botswana. INTRODUCTION Barriers to women’s entry into the legal profession seem to have disappeared. Over the past decade the number of women graduating from law school and practicing law has grown enormously in...
Words: 5585 - Pages: 23
