Vol. 40, No. 2- Civil Rights in the States

Featured

Civil Rights & Constitution

State Protection of Human Rights

by Robert F. Williams

In our federal system, state constitutions and laws serve, together with federal protections, to provide a “double source” of protections for individual liberties. But state constitutions continue to be “low-visibility” constitutions, overshadowed by the more-familiar federal constitution.

Bias & Discrimination

Honoring Nelson Mandela

by Gay McDougall

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of a series of civil rights victories in the United States, it is interesting to take note of how our movement for racial justice had resonance in other parts of the world—and vice versa.

Civil Rights & Constitution

After Shelby County

by William Yeomans

On June 25, 2013, five justices of the U.S. Supreme Court tore a gaping hole in the Voting Rights Act. In Shelby County v. Holder, they held unconstitutional the formula for determining which states and localities had to get approval––known as preclearance––from Washington before making voting changes.

Civil Rights & Constitution

"Amendomania" and Individual Rights

by Jonathan L. Marshfield

Perhaps the most striking feature of state constitutions is that they are frequently amende., characterized by a degree of “amendomania.”

Civil Rights & Constitution

Weak Federal Standards and a Patchwork Map of Workers' Rights

by Karla Walter

A system of very weak federal workplace guarantees and a patchwork of state laws mean that workers’ rights vary considerably based on where they live.

State Government

Educational Rights in the States

by Trish Brennan-Gac

Education opens the doors to opportunity in the United States. It is the key to social and economic mobility. Yet, most Americans are surprised to learn that our federal Constitution does not provide the right to an education at all. San Antonio Ind. School Dist. v. Rodriguez (1971).

Civil Rights & Constitution

50 States of Denial: States Deny Women Reproductive Rights

by Angela Hooton, Aram Schvey

Last summer, the Texas legislature passed HB 2, an omnibus bill attacking women’s access to safe reproductive-health services. The law encompasses a wide variety of restrictions: It unconstitutionally bans abortions after 20 weeks; it restricts access to medication abortions—safe terminations usually occurring in the first trimester; and it unfairly requires abortion facilities—which are outpatient care centers—to meet many of the standards required of hospitals while not requiring other types of outpatient care centers to meet this same standard.

Bias & Discrimination

The Freedom to Marry: Politics and Law in 2014 and Beyond

by Ari Ezra Waldman

June 26, 2013, was “marriage day” at the Supreme Court. On that day, the Court held the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. This was one day after a different majority rejected the appeal in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the challenge to California’s Prop 8, ending that state’s five-year aberration from marriage equality.

Bias & Discrimination

ALEC Exposed

by Rebekah Wilce, Lisa Graves

Not all Americans have heard of “ALEC,” the American Legislative Exchange Council, but every American is living under some of the “model” laws secretly pre-voted on by corporate lobbyists voting as equals with state legislators behind closed doors through this powerful special interest group. ALEC has undermined Americans’ civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in numerous ways.

State Government

State Antidiscrimination Laws and the Search for the Single Courageous State

by Marsha Chien

Justice Louis Brandeis once famously observed, “[i]t is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, 285 U.S. 262, 311 (1932) (Brandeis, J., dissenting).

Civil Rights & Constitution

Human Rights Hero: The Legacy of Hans A. Linde

by Ronald K.L. Collins

Hero is not a word one would find in Hans Linde’s lexicon. Not because he does not value heroism, but because he is too modest to claim the word even if his actions warranted the appellation. Justice Linde (now retired) is a substance persona; he does not deal in hyped rhetoric—ideas (coherent and cogent) are his stock and trade.

American Bar Association TM American Bar Association

Vol. 40, No. 2- Civil Rights in the States

The Freedom to Marry: Politics and Law in 2014 and Beyond

Featured

State Protection of Human Rights

Honoring Nelson Mandela

After Shelby County

"Amendomania" and Individual Rights

Weak Federal Standards and a Patchwork Map of Workers' Rights

Educational Rights in the States

50 States of Denial: States Deny Women Reproductive Rights

The Freedom to Marry: Politics and Law in 2014 and Beyond

ALEC Exposed

State Antidiscrimination Laws and the Search for the Single Courageous State

Human Rights Hero: The Legacy of Hans A. Linde