Category: Women in the Law

What is the Ohio “Heartbeat Bill,” and How Did it Come to Be?

Post author By johnniefitzpatrick
Post date 2 Apr 2019
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It appears that the Ohio legislature’s 8-year wish will finally come true. The controversial “heartbeat bill” is poised to go into full effect in Ohio after both chambers of the Ohio legislature passed the resolution for the third time since it was first taken to the Ohio General Assembly floor. First introduced in Ohio in 2011, the bill was twice vetoed by former Ohio governor John Kasich, and failed to garner enough votes to override the veto both times. Now, with first-term governor Mike DeWine at the helm, the bill is sure to survive.

Passed as Ohio House Bill 68 and Senate Bill 23, the “heartbeat bill” makes abortion illegal once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which could be as early as 5-6 weeks after pregnancy. The bill only permits abortion after a heartbeat is detected if a woman is experiencing a medical emergency. The bill does not provide an exception for rape or incest.

The controversial legislation was authored by Janet Porter, a pro-life activist who lobbied for the passage of the country’s first partial-birth abortion ban, and secured passage of the Woman’s Right to Know Law. Porter says she and others “literally crafted [the] legislation to be the arrow in the heart of Roe v. Wade. It is made to come before the United States Supreme Court.” Anticipating the retirement (or worse) of the Court’s aging, liberal justices, Porter is hopeful that challenges to the bill will arrive at the Supreme Court when there are additional conservative justices that will uphold the bill once it is Ohio law and, perhaps, overturn Roe v. Wade.

Civil Rights Colorblind Critical Race Theory Feminism Gender Equality Gender-based discrimination LGBTQ Rights Sex Discrimination sexual harassment Women in the Law

Books, Books, and Books: A Social Justice Reading List

Post author By Nikita_Srivastava
Post date 18 Jan 2019
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Nikita Srivastava (’19)

Throughout my time working with the Center for Race, Gender and Social Justice, I’ve been exposed to amazing concepts that reflect on issues affecting our society.

I personally love researching for fun, but not everyone shares that love … or the same views I do. If you want to engage your mind, then I recommend the following books:

Dean Verna Williams and Michelle Obama (image from Cincinnati.com)

Becoming by Michelle Obama

In her memoir, the former First Lady takes us on a journey to the White House. Mrs. Obama debunks many false rumors by sharing her life story. She elegantly describes every hurdle, obstacle, failure, mistake, and success she has encountered thus far. And, while describing her White House years, Mrs. Obama gives special thanks to our very own Interim Dean, Verna L. Williams. Check it out!

#MeToo Feminism Gender-based discrimination lawyers legal profession Women in the Law

Litigating Sexual Harassment Cases

Post author By Nikita_Srivastava
Post date 30 Aug 2018
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Guest Contributor: Sandra F. Sperino

Professor Sandra Sperino. Image from UC Law’s Website.

The #metoo movement has increased the focus on sexual harassment cases and how courts analyze them. One way to increase the reach of harassment law is hidden in plain sight: the text of Title VII itself.

Title VII, the federal law that prohibits harassment based on race, sex, and other protected traits, has two main provisions. Under Title VII’s first provision, it is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to do the following:

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Feminism Gender Equality Sexual assault sexual harassment Title IX Women in the Law

The Sex Talk: Campus Sexual Assault Project

Post author By Nikita_Srivastava
Post date 3 Aug 2018
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Image from Cincinnati Enquirer

Starting Sunday August 5, Kate Murphy and Meg Vogel’s project called The Sex Talk video series will be published by The Cincinnati Enquirer and USA Today. The video series focuses on the conversation that is not happening about campus sexual assault.

The Sex Talk comprises of ten videos that look at the epidemic of campus sexual assault in a new way by creating an honest digital conversation with people who are on the front lines and different sides of the issue.

Feminism Gender Equality lawyers legal profession Supreme Court Women in the Law

RBG: A Must See For Every Civil Rights Advocate

Post author By monicawelker
Post date 18 Jul 2018
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Monica Welker (’19)

RBGfilmPoster

I ask no favors for my sex. . . All I ask of our brethren is, that they will take their feet from off our necks. – Sarah Moore Grimké, American abolitionist and suffragette.

At the beginning of RBG, a documentary of the life and work of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she recounts the time that she famously used this quote during an oral argument before the Supreme Court of the United States. As Justice Ginsburg reflects on her use of the words, and repeats them, she reveals a sly, satisfied smile.

I am a fan of documentaries and Ginsburg, so seeing RBG was high on my summer to-do list. I took an afternoon and headed over to the Esquire to watch it.

If one has made a point of drinking in every interview and piece on Ginsburg that one can, as I have, one notices that about half of the documentary is made up of these already published interviews. There is the footage of her being interviewed by Nina Totenberg, footage of her workout routine, and interviews of her talking about the time she famously dozed off during the State of the Union.

Colorblind Feminism Gender Equality Intersectionality lawyers legal profession microaggressions Personal Narrative Race Discrimination Sex Discrimination Women in the Law

Psychological Harms of Microaggressions

Post author By Nikita_Srivastava
Post date 25 May 2018
2 Comments on Psychological Harms of Microaggressions

Nikita Srivastava (’19)

Nikita Srivastava (’19) demonstrating how to give a cross-examination at the University of Dayton.

Everyone will have different experiences while working over the summer. Some may find the work load difficult or easy. Some may find the law frustrating or rewarding. At some point, all law school students will experience these feelings, however not everyone will experience the same work environment. Some students will experience microaggressions.

Microaggressions are brief and commonplace — daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities and invalidations, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights and insults to the target person or group or “outsiders”. “Outsiders” are individuals who do not come from the dominant culture. They are women, people of color, and the LGBQT community. Usually, the “well-intentioned” people are the microaggressors–they are the ones who actively say and/or believe they are not racist, sexist, or homophobic; however, their actions or expressions say otherwise.

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Women Negotiating Like Pros

Post author By Nikita_Srivastava
Post date 9 Apr 2018
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UC Law Women teaches women how to fight the gender wage by giving its members the necessary negotiating techniques.

Nikita Srivastava (’19)

Professor Marjorie Aaron. Image from UC Law Faculty Website

UC Law Women hosted a Salary Negotiation Event on March 21, 2018. As a group, UCLW wanted to provide a tool its members could use to fix gender related issues. For this event, UCLW focused on backlash women face when negotiating their salaries.

Professor Marjorie Aaron was the guest lecturer who crafted a presentation that focused on her work in negotiations and her own experience. She has not only participated in many negotiations herself, but also has written several scholarly articles on the topic including one about gender and negotiations. Professor Aaron delivered an interactive lecture that engaged in the students’ interests. The lecture started with general negotiation techniques that men and women could all use also known as gender-neutral techniques. These included: not disclosing what you want from a firm; not disclosing your information; learning about the firm; use anchoring; and do not overshoot.

Civil Rights Constitutional Law criminal justice Feminism lawyers legal profession Personal Narrative Race Discrimination RGSJ Events stop and frisk Women in the Law

Fighting the Good Fight

The Honorable Judge Shira Scheindlin

Nikita Srivastava (’19)

Hon. Shira Scheindlin

Advocate. Lawyer. Engaged citizen.

These are only a few words Professor Janet Moore used to describe the Honorable Shira Scheindlin, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (ret.), this year’s Judge-in Residence at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

I had the pleasure to attend her lecture on Race and Policing, and have lunch with her the following day. As a law student, I’ve always told myself that I will be the change I want to see to paraphrase Mathama Gandhi. But, like many other law school students, I get bogged down by the environment at the law school. I stress out most of the time. I don’t get enough sleep. I find myself comparing me to other people making me insecure. I constantly fight the urges to lash out because of insecurities. In just two years, I forgot why I wanted to be a lawyer. However, Judge Shira Scheindlin reminded me why I made that choice.

Civil Rights Constitutional Law Feminism Gender Equality Gender-based discrimination Intersectionality lawyers legal profession RGSJ Events Women in the Law

Judge Shira Scheindlin

Nikita Srivastava (’19)

Judge Shira Scheindlin

We’re excited to host Judge Shira Scheindlin, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (ret.) as our Jugdse-in residence the week of February 26, 2018. While in law school, only 10% of Judge Schiendlin’s class were women. Judge Schiendlin was nominated for the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1994. Recently, she wrote an article about women in the legal professions. In this article, she not only shares her personal experience as a federal judge but also other women’s experiences.

Balancing the Scales Feminism Gender Equality Gender-based discrimination Intersectionality lawyers legal profession LGBTQ Rights Race Discrimination RGSJ Events Social Justice wage gap Women in the Law work-family

Movie Review of Balancing the Scale

Post author By Nikita_Srivastava
Post date 17 Feb 2018
1 Comment on Movie Review of Balancing the Scale

Balancing a Skewed Scale

Nikita Srivastava (’19)

Women in the Profession: Balancing the Scales

In the 1980s, a young female lawyer and her lawyer husband attended a party hosted by a club only allowing male lawyers. The room was filled with young men celebrating their legal careers. One of the guests at this party handed the woman a name tag. Instead of writing her name, she wrote “discrimantee” and proudly placed it on her chest. “Well, it is true,” she said after getting several questions about it. (I should write “discrimantee” on all my name tags because nothing much has really changed)

Sharon Rowen’s Balancing the Scales, addresses discrimination using women’s narratives to guide the audience. Due to Ohio’s CLE requirements, Ms. Rowen had to pause the film and explain why she directed it this way. Rowen said the film is divided into 3 parts: 1) the oral history of female role models, 2) what keeps women from achieving higher positions, 3) women not making choices from a level playing field.