The Constitutional Underclass: Gays, Lesbians, and the Failure of Class-Based Equal Protection / Edition 2

by Evan Gerstmann

Overview

When the Supreme Court struck down Colorado's Amendment 2—which would have nullified all state and local laws protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination—it was widely regarded as a victory for gay rights. Yet many gays and lesbians still risk losing their jobs, custody of their children, and even their liberty under the law. Using the Colorado initiative as his focus, Gerstmann untangles the complex standards and subtle rhetoric the Supreme Court uses to apply the equal protection clause.

The Court divides people into legal classes that receive varying levels of protection; gays and lesbians and other groups, such as the elderly and the poor, receive the least. Gerstmann reveals how these standards are used to favor certain groups over others, and also how Amendment 2 advocates used the Court's doctrine to convince voters that gays and lesbians were seeking "special rights" in Colorado.

Concluding with a call for wholesale reform of equal-protection jurisprudence, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in fair, coherent, and truly equal protection under the law.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226288604
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	03/15/1999
Edition description:	1
Pages:	206
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Part I: The Conundrum of Class-Based Equal Protection
1. The Failure of Equal Protection
2. Equal Protection and the Development of the Tiered Framework of Judicial Scrutiny
3. The Three-Tiered Framework as a System of Exclusion
Part II: The Impact of Class-Based Equal Protection on Gays and Lesbians
4. Class-Based Analysis and the Courts
5. Class-Based Analysis and the Public Debate over Amendment 2
6. The Judicial Response to Amendment 2
Part III: Moving Forward: A New Direction for Equal Protection
7. Moving Away from Class-Based Analysis
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Paul Sniderman

By combining legal analysis of on-the-ground interviews with participants in the debate, Gertsmann provides a brilliant example of how the idea of equality can be turned against itself.
— Paul Sniderman, autor of Personalty and Democratic Politics