Diversity
Criminal Justice 448
Women, Sex Discrimination, and the Law
Summer 2021
Course Description:
According to the Course Catalog:
"This course introduces students to legal issues which specifically affect women and examines historical attitudes that have been used to justify differential treatment of women. It explores various legal approaches used to achieve equal protection under the law and examines a variety of specific topics such as: the equal protection analysis; Title VII and Title IX and their relationship to sex discrimination; affirmative action; and reproductive freedom"
The coursework in the class consisted of 6 weeks of lectures featuring 8 modules. In addition to the weekly coursework and the two exams this course required, I also had to detail the various court cases discussed in the class with case briefs modeled after what is accomplished in law school. There were also four brief essay assignments due throughout the 6 weeks. The case briefs and some of the assignments have been reproduced below.
The modules for this course included: ​​
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Introduction to the Court System and Case Briefs
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The Historical Context
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Constitutional Protection for Equality
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Equal Employment Opportunity
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Working Conditions and Compensation
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Equal Educational Opportunity
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Reproduction Rights
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Sexuality and Sexual Violence
Example of work:
Case Briefs
Writing Assignments
Skills Learned:
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Plan, Organize, and Prioritize Work
Because this course only ran for only 6 weeks during the summer, I had to plan accordingly for the large amount of work this class required. During this course I wrote over 100 pages of original material including 88 pages of work within two sets of case briefs (see above).
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Creating and Editing Case Briefs
This class exemplified how to correctly create long-form documents in an academic writing style. Specifically, this class taught me how to create and edit case briefs much like those used by law students and within the law field. These case briefs detailed the facts, issues, holdings, and rationale of various district, appeals, and supreme court cases related to sex discrimination over the course of American history. I effectively combed through actual court rulings to summarize the relevant information in my own words and then placed the summaries in chronological order.
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​Demonstrating Technical Knowledge
The technical knowledge I learned in this course included the various court cases and legislation pertaining to discrimination. This discrimination mainly pertained to discrimination against women based on their gender but also covered race- and nationality-based discrimination. Some of these issues included: coverture (The Blackstone commentaries), judicial justification of differential treatment (Muller v. Oregon, 1908; JEB v. Alabama, 1994), equal protection under the law (the 14th Amendment; Quong Wing v. Kirkendall, 1912; Reed v. Reed, 1971), equal employment opportunity (Title VII), disparate treatment (Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 1989; Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 1971), Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications (Diaz v. Pan Am., 1972; UAW v. Johnson Controls Inc., 1991), sexual harassment and hostile work environments (Tomkins v. Public Service, 1977; Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 1986), equal educational opportunities (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896; Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, 1954; United States v. Virginia, 1996), and reproductive rights (Roe v. Wade, 1973; Jhordan C. v. Mark K., 1986; Davis v. Davis, 1992). This is just a small sample of the specific laws and case precedents I learned during this course. For the full set of cases discussed, see the case briefs reporduced above.
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Looking Towards the Future:
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This course helped to prepare me for my future career in a few ways. Specifically, as a woman it was imperative for me to know my rights and how those rights were achieved. Because this class taught me the causes fought by women and minorities over the course of American history, such as equal pay, a right to be free of sexual harassment, and equal employment and educational opportunities, I am able to apply this knowledge in the future. Many women may be unaware of the laws and precedents that exist for their protection, but because of this class, I will now be able to go forward into the workforce with this knowledge and will be able to educate any woman or protected class member of their rights. This course work is especially relevant because I would like to enter into the Human Resources field. As can be seen in one of the writing assignments reproduced above, the relevant knowledge of this course can be applied in the human resources and law field. The assignment I am referring to asked me to right a mock memorandum to a superior involving Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and how it pertains to gender-based dress codes. This assignment specifically shows how the knowledge I gained from this class could be applied in my future professional role.
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