Gender, Law & Politics

You must summarize the main ideas presented in two of the sources listed below. Each of your summaries must be at least 250 words. Although you may quote from the sources if it is absolutely necessary, the purpose of this exercise is to test your ability to synthesize and convey ideas and information. Consequently, you must summarize the central ideas presented in each source in your own words.

Remember that you will be graded according to your ability to write college-level prose. Thus your work should be factually accurate and free of grammatical and logical mistakes. You must consult the Term Paper Checklist to find and correct common errors before you submit your exam. Minor mistakes will not be held against you, but if your exam indicates that you did not proofread carefully, your grade will be much lower than you might have expected. If you have writing problems, please visit the Writing Center and arrange for a tutor to help you correct your exam before you send it in. Students whose summaries indicate that they put considerable time into reviewing and proofreading can expect to earn the highest grades.

E-mail your completed exam as one attachment, with both summaries included in one Word.doc (.doc or .docx extension). Please use your last name as the title of your document (YourName_GLP_midterm.doc or YourName_GLP_midterm.docx), and also include your name on the first page.

Choose two:

♦ Bradwell v. State of Illinois (1872), denied women the right to practice law.
♦ Muller v. Oregon (1908), permitted gender-discrimination in employment.
♦ Loving v. Virginia (1967), overturned laws against interracial marriage.
♦ Louis Menand, "The Sex Amendment: How Women Got in on the Civil Rights Act," The New Yorker, July 21, 2014.
♦ Susan E. Gallagher, "Gender," Encyclopedia of Privacy (Greenwood Press, 2007).
♦ Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), overturned laws against the distribution and use of contraceptives by married couples.
♦ Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972), overturned laws against the use of contraceptives by unmarried couples.
♦ Roe v. Wade (1973), located the right to obtain abortion within the constitutional right to privacy.
♦ Weinberger v. Weisenfeld (1975), overturned gender-based allocation of Social Security benefits.
♦ Rostker v. Goldberg (1981), held that exempting women from registering for the military draft was not a form of "invidious discrimination" against men.
♦ Michael Castleman, "Proposition 6 and the Rights of Us All," Nation Magazine, October 21, 1978, urged defeat of California ballot initiative that would have prevented gays and lesbians from working in public schools.
♦ Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986), held that certain forms of sexual harassment violate Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964.
♦ Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), ruled that homosexuals have no right to sexual privacy.
♦ J.E.B. v. Alabama (1994), ruled that jurors can't be struck from juries on the basis of gender.
♦ Lawrence et al. v. Texas, Certiorari to the Court of Appeals of Texas (2003), overturned Bowers v. Hardwick.
♦ Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health (2003), ruled that same-gender couples can't be denied right to marry under Massachusetts law.
♦ Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (2007), ruled that victims of gender-based pay discrimination must adhere to time-limitations specified in Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 even if they only discover that they have been paid unequally after the specified time-period has passed.