Legal Analysis and Commentary from Justia

Analysis and Commentary by Joanna L. Grossman

Gay People

Federal Judge Turns Back Hunt for Gays in the Department of Justice

Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on a federal lawsuit by a conservative group seeking to “expose” the U.S. Department of Justice as having been taken over by gay and lesbian employees. Grossman compares the attempt to 1950s-era McCarthyism and the largely successful effort to purge the federal government of gays and communists at that time. She argues that the district court in this case correctly found that the DOJ was justified in refusing to release sensitive documents pertaining to the sexual orientations of its employees. Continue reading →

Posted In: Government, Privacy

Text Message

Married Couple’s Phone Sex Did Not Force Divorce Clock to Reset

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman discusses a recent decision by a Maryland appeals court holding that a couple’s engaging in phone sex does not constitute cohabitation for the purpose of divorce. Grossman describes the history of fault and no-fault divorce in Maryland and explains why the court reached the decision it did in this case. Although she acknowledges that the court’s reasoning is sound, she presents two considerations that might have supported the opposite conclusion. Continue reading →

Posted In: Family Law, Technology Law

Surrogate Mother

Adoption by Gay Couple Not Blocked by Illegal Surrogacy Agreement

Justia columnist and Hofsta law professor Joanna Grossman discusses a New York family court’s holding that the illegality of a surrogacy agreement should not preclude adoption of the children born from it. Grossman provides an overview of the practice of surrogacy and the legislation its advent sparked, and discusses New York law on that subject. She concludes that the court correctly balances the best interests of the children against the requirements of an outdated law on surrogacy. Continue reading →

Posted In: Family Law

Divorce Decree

The High Price of Badmouthing One’s Spouse During Divorce

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman discusses one aspect of the highly public divorce between Ira and Janice Schacter. She notes that a court recently held that the wife’s decision to vilify her husband in the press, which led to a reduction in his ability to attract clients, was sufficient cause to reduce her share of the marital property. Grossman comments on the judge’s reasoning and raises two key points that could bring the decision into question. Continue reading →

Posted In: Family Law

Pregnant Employee

Undue Burden: New York City Police Officer Denied Opportunity to Take Sergeant’s Exam Because She Was Due to Give Birth the Same Day

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on a charge of discrimination filed against the City of New York for an allegedly unlawful testing accommodation policy. Grossman describes the facts alleged in the charge: an NYPD police officer was denied the opportunity to reschedule a sergeant’s exam despite that she was scheduled to give birth on the same day as the exam. Grossman then discusses the applicable laws, and she argues that the discriminatory policy is a manifestation of the erroneous mindset that pregnancy is a condition not worthy of even minor accommodation. Continue reading →

Posted In: Civil Rights, Employment Law

Haircut

Hair Makes the Man: Federal Appellate Court Says Short-Hair Requirement for Male Athletes Is Sex Discrimination

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman tells the story of a boy in Indiana who sued for, and won, the right from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals for male athletes to wear their hair long during the athletic season, or at least for the right for boys not to be forced to cut their hair while female athletes are allowed to wear theirs long. Grossman discusses the ruling and why, although it corrects some of the missteps made by other federal courts in grooming-code cases, it does not go far enough to eliminate the gross stereotyping implicit in many sex-specific appearance codes. Continue reading →

Posted In: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Education

and
law books

A Private Skirt in a Public Place: The Surprising Law of Upskirting

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman, and Justia guest columnist and Stanford law professor Lawrence Friedman comment on the law regarding “upskirting,” in which a man is surreptitiously videotaping up the skirt of a woman who is sitting, facing him, across the aisle of a bus or subway (or in another situation that lends itself to the practice). Grossman and Friedman note that Massachusetts’s legislature now has an anti-upskirting criminal law. Other states may follow soon too, for old laws are poorly fitted to address the very modern practice of upskirting, and unless legislatures move quickly, culprits may walk away scot-free. Continue reading →

Posted In: Criminal Law

same-sex wedding cake

The Red State Scare: Federal Court in Texas Invalidates Ban on Marriages by Same-Sex Couples

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman notes that first Utah, then Oklahoma, then Kentucky, and now Texas have seen at least some aspects of their anti-same-sex marriage rules invalidated by federal courts. Red states are unlikely to shift as quickly as blue states, Grossman notes, but change on this issue is inevitable, and only in one direction. She also notes the irony of Justice Scalia’s words being used against him. Continue reading →

Posted In: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Family Law

Kentucky

Kentucky to Become a “Second Paradise” for Same-Sex Married Couples

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on the status of same-sex marriage in Kentucky. There, a federal court’s ruling in Bourke v. Beshear concluded that whether or not a state has the power to refuse to authorize same-sex marriages on its own turf, it does not have the constitutional power to refuse to recognize those that are validly celebrated elsewhere. Grossman notes that Bourke joins a growing number of cases in which recognition issues are at the forefront, a trend that was ignited by the Supreme Court’s ruling last year in United States v. Windsor, which found fault in the federal government’s decision to single out same-sex marriages for non-recognition. Continue reading →

Posted In: Civil Rights, Family Law

Adoption Agreement

Secrets and Lies: A New Ohio Law Opens the Adoption Closet

As Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman explains, under a newly enacted law, adult adoptees in Ohio can now seek access to their original birth certificates, with the State’s joining a small number of other States that have made an about-face in their thinking about the role of secrecy in adoption, and have joined the gradual shift towards greater openness. Grossman also describes the three key eras in American adoption law. Continue reading →

Posted In: Family Law

Female Employee

Equality Still Elusive for Women in the Federal Workforce

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on the continuing gender inequality in the federal workforce. That inequality, in 2010, led the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to convene a working group to “identify the obstacles that remain in the federal workplace that hinder equal employment opportunities for women.” Grossman comments on what they found, and how far—or near we are from the sexist world that the movie 9 to 5 depicted. Continue reading →

Posted In: Employment Law

Stepparent Concept

De Facto Parentage and the Rights of Former Stepparents

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on a complicated and still somewhat novel area of family law: the rights of former stepparents. Focusing on a recent case in this area of law that was decided by the Washington State Supreme Court, Grossman discusses that court’s reasoning regarding both children’s interests and parents’ constitutional rights. Continue reading →

Posted In: Family Law

Sperm

Sperm Donors on the Large and Small Screen

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on instances of real-life and fictional complications regarding sperm donation. The fictional story is told through the Vince Vaughan film Deliveryman. The real-life stories are told on a new MTV show, Generation Cryo, which depicts the quest of a teenage girl to meet her fifteen half-siblings and the anonymous sperm donor responsible for all of their conceptions. Continue reading →

Posted In: Family Law, Other Commentary, Reproductive Law

Frangipani

Hawaii Comes Full Circle on Same-Sex Marriage

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman chronicles Hawaii’s role in the same-sex marriage controversy—including its being the site of the beginning of the modern battle over same-sex marriage, although back then, Hawaii did not itself legalize same-sex marriage. But as Grossman notes, 20 years later, Hawaii now finally has legalized same-sex marriage, thus closing the circle. She also explains why Hawaii’s action should never have had the impact it did, given the proper interpretation of the Full Faith and Credit Clause. Continue reading →

Posted In: Civil Rights, Family Law

Gay Employee Concept

ENDA and the Rainbow Workforce

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on the U.S. Senate’s passage of the Employment Discrimination Act (ENDA) of 2013, which would prohibit employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Although the measure is not predicted to survive the House, Grossman contends that its passage in the Senate is noteworthy and encouraging. Continue reading →

Posted In: Civil Rights, Employment Law

Pregnant Employee

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act Reaches Advanced Maternal Age

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) on its 35th anniversary. Although the PDA was a key landmark, Grossman notes that pregnant workers today continue to face high levels of discrimination and to lack some basic legal protections that are necessary to enable some women to continue working throughout their pregnancies, indicating that additional legal reform is necessary. Moreover, she notes that instead of following the plain language of clause two of the PDA, requiring pregnant workers to be treated as well as other workers “similar in their ability to work,” lower courts are increasingly demanding evidence of a discriminatory intent lurking behind such policies before striking them down. Continue reading →

Posted In: Employment Law

Same-Sex Marriage

Same-Sex Weddings at the Jersey Shore

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman discusses the recent developments in New Jersey culminating in today’s first same-sex marriages performed in that state. She describes the relatively complex journey to marriage equality in that state and explains how the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last term in United States v. Windsor led to the New Jersey Supreme Court refusing to delay enforcement of a lower court’s ruling striking down the ban on same-sex marriage. Continue reading →

Posted In: Civil Rights, Family Law

Multiple Parents

California Allows Children to Have More Than Two Legal Parents

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on a ruling allowing a child to have three legal parents, and a related measure that California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law. Grossman covers both the facts and law pertaining to the case, and explains why California, alone among the states, allowed a three-parent situation to be established. Continue reading →

Posted In: Family Law

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