The Bench & Bar magazine is published to provide members of the KBA with information that will increase their knowledge of the law, improve the practice of law, and assist in improving the quality of legal services for the citizenry.
Issue link: https://kentuckybenchandbar.epubxp.com/i/245872
COLUMNS U of L LGBT ISSUES HIGHLIGHTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE BRANDEIS SCHOOL OF LAW With many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues, such as marriage equality, fairness laws, and HIV criminalization garnering attention in the political sphere — both at the national and state level — it should come as no surprise that these issues are just as important to examine in a legal context. At the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, we recognize the benefit from a deeper understanding of these issues, as well as having an appreciation for the diversity in the broader legal community. Fortunately, I have many colleagues that bring an incredible depth of expertise to these complex issues and provide insight and training to our students, some of whom will undoubtedly encounter these LGBT issues in the future. PROFESSORS EXAMINE THESE ISSUES IN THE CURRICULUM AND IN THEIR WORK 30 Professor Laura Rothstein, former dean of the Brandeis School of Law from 2000– 2005 and a legal educator for more than 30 years, has relentlessly worked to promote diversity and raise awareness on issues of disability, gender, and race in her scholarship and teaching. In the Fall 2013 semester, Professor Rothstein taught poverty, health, and the law, offered for the first time at the University of Louisville School of Law. The class was intended as study of legal solutions to the health disparities of poor and vulnerable populations through an interdisciplinary, problem-solving approach. Jeff Staton, a staff attorney for the HIV/AIDS Legal Project at the Legal Aid Society of Louisville, was one of the many guest speakers who visited the class and discussed, among other related topics, the potential problems of HIV criminalization — referring to criminal statutes that apply only to people with HIV, and the sometimes heightened sentences people with the disease face in court. Professor Jamie Abrams teaches domestic relations and legislation, both of which overlap with a study of the issues faced by the LGBT community. After attending the national LGBT Bar Association's three-day annual Lavender Law Conference in August to stay up-to-date and engaged in pressing B&B; • 1.14 issues affecting LGBT families, Professor Abrams will be hosting a program on marriage and parenting in LGBT families. As part of this year's inaugural diversity week at the law school, the program is expected to cover topics including marriage equality, same-sex divorce in Kentucky, parentage, and LGBT adoption. Although currently authoring a book regarding constitutional reforms aimed at saving our political process, since joining the Brandeis School of Law's faculty, Professor Samuel Marcosson's research and writing has concentrated on constitutional law (especially the Fourteenth Amendment), and the civil rights issues facing lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered people. He has served on the board of directors of the National Lesbian and Gay Legal Association and was the programming coordinator for its annual conference in 1998. He currently serves on the coordinating committee of the Fairness Campaign, Louisville's long-standing LGBT civil rights organization. Professor Marcosson noted an increased trend across the Commonwealth in recognizing LGBT issues as a part of the political agenda, a trend that is, perhaps, best evidenced by the tiny Perry County city of Vicco (population 334, according to 2010 U.S. Census data) receiving national attention after its adoption of a fairness ordinance that bans discrimination against anyone based on sexual orientation or gender identity. "The message for [state] politicians is that there's widespread support that people shouldn't lose a job or other opportunity because of their sexual orientation," said Marcosson, adding that more than 80 percent of Kentuckians support statewide fairness protections. Also of interest to Professor Marcosson are the marriage equality cases; this topic has served as the basis for many speaking engagements Marcosson has recently given in front of attorney groups and on the campuses of Western Kentucky University and the University of Louisville. Marcosson said that two cases — one in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky; the other in Jefferson County Family Court — challenging the Kentucky Marriage Amendment of 2004, which makes it unconstitutional for the state to recognize or perform same-sex marriages or civil unions, are worth watching as the potential state law analogs to the landmark United States v. Windsor opinion, which declared Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. In addition to his scholarship, since 2007, Professor Marcosson has taught sexuality and the law four times, primarily exploring with students the treatment of identity and equality under the law, as well as topical legal issues in the news. As a result, many students enrolled in the class choose to write their papers with a focus on LGBT issues. STUDENT RECEIVES HONORABLE MENTION IN WRITING COMPETITION, PRESENTS PAPER AT CONFERENCE As a student in Professor Marcosson's sexuality and the law class in the Spring 2013 semester, Gregory Justis, a fourth-year law student (he was initially enrolled as a parttime student) wrote a paper titled "Defining Union: The Defense of Marriage Act, Tribal Sovereignty and Same-Sex Marriage," motivated in part from being a Michigan native and the son of a former tribal prosecutor for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBB), with a keen interest in legal issues surrounding Native American tribal sovereignty and equality, particularly tribal constitutional issues, and the issues faced by members of the LGBT community. In his paper, Justis argues that not only should same-sex unions be recognized by tribal governments as a fundamental historical feature of Native American culture, but that they should likewise be legally recognized by state and federal governments as a result of the fundamental nature of laws of domestic relations to tribal sovereignty. "I believe strongly that discrimination and marginalization based upon sexual orientation represents a fundamental global civil rights issue," Justis said. "Over the last several years, tribal nations around the country have taken up the issue of marriage equality alongside the states in which they reside, raising unique questions of tribal autonomy and self-governance." Justis's paper received an Honorable Mention at U of L's 6th Annual Social Justice Research Paper Awards, and he later presented the paper at the Midwest Political Science Association's (MPSA) meeting in Chicago, as one of several presentations for the LGBT Caucus. "The highlight of the conference was, in my opinion, seeing the extraordinary mix of academic disciplines coming together to explore and advocate for fairness and social justice, both here and abroad," Justis said. He will be attending the conference again this year to provide an update following the Supreme Court's recent DOMA decisions.