This page was created by Adam
Moralez,
a Master's Degree student in the Department
of Criminal
Justice,
New
Mexico State University. This web page was
submitted in August 2003 as partial fullfillment of
the requirements
of CJ 532, Civil Liberties
in Criminal
Justice.
Introduction
Over the years, both women and men, in
general, have faced impediments in legislation or policy
in which the Court has ruled to be gender discriminatory. In
each class's strive for progression and maintenance of
gender equality; many issues have arisen, some in which
have been resolved, and others which continue to be controversial.
Women, in particular, have faced
the most discrimination between genders. Many
of the inequalities in legislation faced by women were
based on traditional role differences. Women
also faced legislative discrimination due to the physical
differences between woman and man, especially pregnancy
and the ability for a woman to become pregnant.
Constitutional condemnation of gender
based discrimination can be attributed to the modern-day
women's movement of the 1960's and different organizations
founded by them. The
efforts of these organizations brought about a national
lobbying effort, ultimately forcing the Court to decide
specific cases which recognized that particular rights
(most of which pertained to opportunity), were being violated.
Men have also been subjected to their
own share of legislative difficulties involving gender
discrimination. Some of the issues they have encountered,
like women have been related to physical differences comparable
to their counterparts, like the lack of ability to become
pregnant. Although males still seem to be receiving
the benefit of the doubt in the area of employment, such
as receiving higher pay in certain types of jobs, the gap
between gender equalities continues to narrow.
Women's Suffrage: A Progression
of Cases
Probably the most recognizable area of
gender discrimination for women includes the granting of
women's suffrage, or right to vote. This is an important area of discussion,
because voting is the most direct channel to change in
legislation. Attaining
the right to vote was the first and probably most important
step in providing women the leverage necessary to influence
legislation.
Minor v. Happersett. The
Court grants Mrs. Virginia Minor the right to vote in
Missouri.
http://www.mit.edu/afs/athena/course/17/17.245/www/MinorvHappersett.htm
Nineteenth
Amendment. The
Court denies all states the power to abridge the right
to vote on account of sex.
http://www.blueshoenashville.com/19thamendment.html
Denial of Opportunity Through
Gender Based Discrimination
The denial of equal opportunity may include
rejection of several elements necessary to achieve a desired
status in society. Some of these elements include the areas
of employment and education, among others. These are areas in which both women and men have been disadvantaged
through gender discriminatory legislation. The Court has played a vital role in
determining what is or is not considered gender discriminatory,
as interpreted through the Constitution of the United States.
An article addressing the gender
wage gap issue
http://stlouisfed.org/publications/re/2000/d/pages/economic-backgnd.html
Determining receipt of equal pay
for equal work.
http://www.hrlawinfo.com/lawguide/Discrimination/equal_pay_for_equal_work.asp
Determining the different types
of discrimination in the work place.
http://www.discriminationattorney.com/sex.html
Briefs of the latest state and federal
court cases involving employment discrimination.
http://www.swlearning.com/blaw/cases/topic_employment.html
Mississippi
University For Women et al. v. Hogan (1982). The Court holds that denying males the
right to enroll for credit, in the Mississippi University
for Women, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment.
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/missu.html
United
States v. Virginia (1996). The Court holds a program for women, set up to parallel the
all-male Virginia Military Institute, a denial of equal
protection to women wanting to join the all-male school.
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/94-1941.ZS.html
Rostker
v. Goldberg (1981). The Court holds the military draft applicable only to males.
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/336/
Nashville
Gas Co. v. Satty (1979). The Court addresses the fundamental gender difference of pregnancy
as it pertains to work leave and disability benefits.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=434&invol=136
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is an area which applies
to both men and women, although it doesn't seem to be evenly
claimed or, in some cases, applied. The
Courts chief decisions involving sexual harassment have
come primarily through the interpretation of Title VII
of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
Sexual harassment
issues.
http://www.menweb.org/throop/harass/harass.html
Micheal
M. v. Superior Court of Sonoma County (1981). The Court upholds a California law making
heterosexual intercourse between persons ages 14-17 a crime
of statutory rape for the male but not for the female,
based on physical differences between sexes.
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/michaelm.html
Conclusion
The Court has been gradually
more willing to strike down gender distinctions that
might have had rational basis at one time but today would
appear
to be considered simply stereotypical. This is evident through its relatively
recent decisions in cases involving gender discrimination. It is undoubtedly clear that the Court
will continue its attempt to maintain a balance of equality
between genders in its application of the law. |
