Ruthann Robson – författare

In Sappho Goes to Law School Ruthann Robson weaves together concepts taken from traditional legal theory, postmodernism, feminist theory, and queer theory, as well as her own personal experience in the courtroom and classroom, to take stock of the complexities of lesbian identity and the often detrimental ways in which legal scholarship approaches lesbianism.

In Sappho Goes to Law School Ruthann Robson weaves together concepts taken from traditional legal theory, postmodernism, feminist theory, and queer theory, as well as her own personal experience in the courtroom and classroom, to take stock of the complexities of lesbian identity and the often detrimental ways in which legal scholarship approaches lesbianism.

This book examines how the intertwining of clothes and the United States Constitution raises fundamental questions of hierarchy, sexuality and democracy. Constitutional considerations both constrain and confirm daily choices. In turn, appearances provide multilayered perspectives on the Constitution and its interpretations. Garments often raise First Amendment issues of expression or religion, but they also prompt questions of equality on the basis of gender, race and sexuality. At work, in court, in schools, in prisons and on the streets, clothes and grooming provoke constitutional controversies. Additionally, the production, trade and consumption of apparel implicates constitutional concerns including colonial sumptuary laws, slavery, wage and hour laws, and current notions of free trade. The regulation of what we wear - or do not - is ubiquitous. From a noted constitutional scholar and commentator, this book examines the rights to expression and equality, as well as the restraints on government power, as they both limit and allow control of our most personal choices of attire and grooming.

This book examines how the intertwining of clothes and the United States Constitution raises fundamental questions of hierarchy, sexuality and democracy. Constitutional considerations both constrain and confirm daily choices. In turn, appearances provide multilayered perspectives on the Constitution and its interpretations. Garments often raise First Amendment issues of expression or religion, but they also prompt questions of equality on the basis of gender, race and sexuality. At work, in court, in schools, in prisons and on the streets, clothes and grooming provoke constitutional controversies. Additionally, the production, trade and consumption of apparel implicates constitutional concerns including colonial sumptuary laws, slavery, wage and hour laws, and current notions of free trade. The regulation of what we wear - or do not - is ubiquitous. From a noted constitutional scholar and commentator, this book examines the rights to expression and equality, as well as the restraints on government power, as they both limit and allow control of our most personal choices of attire and grooming.

The legal regulation of family forms is a global phenomenon and changes in the 'traditional' family have provoked a variety of legal responses. Same-sex marriage, civil partnerships and other legal avenues to recognize intimate relationships between adults have become a feature of many jurisdictions and a subject for debate in most. Parenting has also become contentious, whether the issue is custody, adoption, or legal recognition of parental status of a non-biological parent. How the law should regulate or protect the sexuality and gender identity of youth is a matter of great concern throughout many countries. The sexuality of the elderly members of societies is beginning to be considered. The papers reprinted in this volume contain discussions, analysis and theoretical challenges to legal regulations and definitions of family, to the primacy of marriage as a legal relationship, to the determination of 'sex' in opposite-sex requirements for marriage and to the treatment of sexual minority elders. The volume also covers specific topics regarding children, including doctrinal and theoretical frameworks relating to the adoption of children, the primacy of genetic ties in parenting, the legal and medical status of intersex children and issues of 'queer youth' in society and in court.

The continued criminalization of same-sex sexual acts, variously labeled sodomy, buggery, or the crime against nature, is inconsistent throughout the world. The criminalization of other sexual acts, such as public sex, commercial sex, or HIV-transmission, is more common. The relationship between sexuality and criminality is not limited to a direct criminalization of sexual acts, however. The victimization of sexual minorities because of their sexuality has garnered attention in the conceptualization of hate crimes in many countries. When sexual minorities are accused of victimizing others, the criminal justice system can conflate sexual identity with the criminal acts resulting in biased convictions. Imprisonment and punishment norms can pose special problems in the context of gender minorities or for sex offenses. The papers reprinted in this volume cover doctrinal, theoretical and political analysis of the current and historical criminalization of a wide variety of sexual acts, including ones less commonly discussed. It also includes discussions of the 'homosexual panic' defense, hate crimes and domestic violence, as well as examinations of specific cases in which the sexuality of the accused became pertinent. The volume also includes discussions of the imprisonment of gender nonconforming persons in systems of sex-segregated prisons and the treatment of 'sex offenders'.

Theorizing sexual freedom is a difficult task; as a legal goal, it is neither universal nor absolute. Sexual freedom encompasses notions of liberty, dignity and autonomy. It also incorporates equality for sexual and gender minorities. This volume's treatment of sexual freedom includes issues of politics and power, as well as imperialism, national and other identities and the goals of scholarship and advocacy. The volume opens the difficult conversation of sexual freedom by discussing foundational theorists whose work has influenced conceptualizations of the relationships between sexuality and law. It considers hierarchies of sex in legal frameworks and hierarchies of nationalism in sexual-legal frameworks. The persistent issue of sexual identity is analyzed through the lens of asylum and gender identity. The notion of inevitable 'progress' toward sexual freedom is addressed and challenged. The volume concludes by examining legal education, judges and their discourse and professionals within the legal system.