The Constitutional and Legal Rights of Women

Book excerpt: Authors Goldstein, Baer, Daum and Fine skillfully blend doctrinal and political developments to document and explain the evolution of women's rights and the law as well as the dynamics and dissension among feminist activists. Building on three previous editions, this book combines updated material on constitutional law, sex and gender discrimination, and women's reproductive rights, with new cases and readings on family law, criminal law, and LGBT rights. Discussion has been expanded to include questions of whether or not the prohibitions on sex discrimination in Title VII and Title IX protect trans individuals. New material covers emerging policy concerns such as female genital mutilation, child marriage, and the Trump Administration's policy changes on gender issues. This edition takes a more socio-political and institutional approach than other books on women and the law. The authors consider issues such as institutional questions of constitutional interpretation, the scope of judicial power, the balance of federal-state power, the interaction between law and other social and political institutions, the capacity of law to effect societal change, and the effect of presidential and Senate politics on U.S. Supreme Court nominations and confirmations. The inclusion of state and lower federal court decisions greatly strengthens the book's focus on the law's relationship to gendered inequality. Topics also include constitutional history, shifting interpretations of employment discrimination and gender equality, changes in reproductive technology and associated policy responses, divorce and dissolution of domestic partnerships, child custody, education, same-sex marriage, pornography, and domestic violence.