 Hoyt v. Florida (1961) |
|
In this case, the Supreme Court considered whether laws like that of Florida, which allowed women to be exempt from serving on juries unless they specifically registered to do so, were constitutional. Gwendolyn Hoyt alleged that because there were no women on her jury, she was not given a fair trial. The Court decided that because women were given an opportunity to register to be considered for jury duty, the law was constitutional.
|
| In the Matter of the Application of Agnes Smith for a Writ of Habeas Corpus (1921) |
|
The habeas corpus petition of Agnes Smith shows legal challenges on the part of women in the early twentieth century from carceral confinement. After she was committed to an institute for "feeble-minded youth," Agnes' parents attempted to regain custody of her. The court denied the writ, claiming that Agnes was a "fit and proper subject" for the institution.
|
| Lawrence v. Texas (2003) |
|
This Supreme Court case struck down a Texas law that criminalized sexual relations between people of the same sex. Lawrence v. Texas ruled that all sexual relations between consenting adults is legal.
|
| Making A Sioux Indian Into An American Citizen (1916) |
|
In this newspaper article, Secretary of Interior Franklin Lane gives an account of a naturalization ritual that took place on the Yankton Reservation, South Dakota, in 1916. This article highlights the lived experience of naturalization processes for Native American individuals becoming U.S. citizens, revealing the involvement of other participants at the ceremony. This account highlights the complexities with receiving allotment for Native individuals and some of the effects citizenship had on legal and political rights. With a photograph of the event, this document provides a glimpse into the symbolic nature of the event, where the restructuring of Native identity encouraged in Allotment and Assimilation era policies is performed.
|
| Mann Act (1910) |
|
The Mann Act was a federal law that focused on interstate sex trafficking, specifically of white women. The act was responsible for the targeting of inter-racial couples by law enforcement.
|
| Martin v. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1805) |
|
The Martin case set precedent that women were the same legal person as their husbands. The case itself was brought by James Martin in an attempt to recover his Loyalist mother's property which had been confiscated by the post-Revolutionary government of Massachusetts when she and her husband fled during the war. The court in this case ruled that because Anna Martin had not intended to forfeit her land but had been forced to leave with her husband as required by the marital law of coverture, her property could not be confiscated.
|
| Miscarriage (1867) |
|
The Illinois state statute regarding miscarriage reflects the diverse landscape of abortion law in the nineteenth century. This law punished individuals for helping pregnant women obtain a miscarriage.
|
| Nebraska Abortion Statute (1873) |
|
The Nebraska state statute regarding abortion reflects the diverse landscape of abortion law in the nineteenth century. This lengthy law punished individuals for helping pregnant women obtain a miscarriage.
|
| Nebraska Abortion Statute (1929) |
|
This Nebraska state statute regarding abortion reflects the diverse landscape of abortion law before Roe v. Wade. This law punished individuals for helping pregnant women obtain a miscarriage.
|
| Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative (2008) |
|
This amendment to the Nebraska Constitution banned the use of affirmative action in the "operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting." It was initiated as a ballot measure that was approved in 2008.
|
| New Jersey Constitutional Franchise Provision (1776) |
|
This provision of the first New Jersey Constitution did not limit franchise by race or gender, allowing unmarried women and free people of color who could meet the property requirement to vote. When New Jersey rewrote its constitution in 1844, it explicitly denied women and African Americans the right to vote.
|
| New Jersey Disfranchisement Statute (1807) |
|
This New Jersey statute explicitly banned women and free people from color from voting, after these groups had been enfranchised since 1776. When New Jersey rewrote its constitution in 1844, it explicitly denied women and African Americans the right to vote.
|
| New Jersey Franchise Statute (1797) |
|
This New Jersey statute explicitly added women to their voting laws, while also allowing free people of color to vote. When New Jersey rewrote its constitution in 1844, it explicitly denied women and African Americans the right to vote.
|
| Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) |
|
In the landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court found that same-sex marriage was protected under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
|
| Page Act (1875) |
|
The Page Act was a federal law that profiled Chinese and other women immigrating from Asian countries as immoral, barring them from entering the United States.
|
| Re: DEI Programs Are Lawful Under Federal Civil Rights Laws and Supreme Court Precedent (2025) |
|
This memorandum from law professors across the United States explains how diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are legally defensible, in spite of the January 21, 2025, Executive Order titled "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity."
|
| Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act Fact Sheet (2022) |
|
This statement from the White House outlines critical elements in the reauthorized Violence Against Women Act signed by President Joe Biden as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022.
|
| Report of the Woman's Rights Convention Held at Seneca Falls (1848) |
|
Generally credited as the first call for equal rights for women, this document is the result of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. It calls for suffrage rights for women, as well as equal rights in all aspects of society. The convention was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, both women were from abolitionist families, highlighting a sharp divide between women’s rights advocates before and after the Civil War.
|
| Ritual on Admission of Indians to Full American Citizenship (1918) |
|
This set of instructions for conducting the Ritual on Admission of Indians to Full American Citizenship was produced by the Department of the Interior in 1918 so that such ceremonies could take place across the Western reservations. It includes the opening remarks from the Representative of the Department, followed by instructions for each participant to undergo to receive U.S. citizenship. There are separate instructions for men and women. The document reveals the centrality of performance during naturalization events for Native Americans.
|
| Roe v. Wade (1973) |
|
Roe v. Wade is the landmark Supreme Court decision that extended the right to privacy to the ability for women to obtain abortion care. The decision was overturned in the 2022 decision of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, returning legislation on abortion care to the states.
|
| Savanna's Act (2018) |
|
Savanna's Act (also known as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Act) addressed federal and tribal jurisdictional cooperation concerning issues of violence and disappearance in the Native American community. The law is named after Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a member of the Spirit Lake Nation of North Dakota who was murdered in 2017. The act was signed into law in 2020.
|
| Seminole Agreement (1900) |
|
This congressional act ratified an agreement with the Seminole Nation concerning allotment, like enrollment and laws of descent. The second proviso established matrilineal descent of lands, money, and property for heirs.
|
| Stenberg v. Carhart (2000) |
|
In this case, the Supreme Court found that a Nebraska state ban on partial-birth abortion was unconstitutional, as it failed to include a health exception and imposed an "undue burden" on people seeking abortions.
|
| Studying the Missing and Murdered Indian Crisis Act of 2019 |
|
This bill was introduced to authorize the Government Accountability Office to collect data and study the crisis of missing and murdered Native Americans. It did not pass into law, but was a part of a broader legislative effort to bring awareness to murdered and missing Indigenous People.
|
| The Five Civilized Tribes Act (1906) |
|
This act legislated the end of tribal enrollment in the Five Tribes, as well as the dissolution of their tribal government. However, section 28 extended tribal sovereignty for the Five Tribes for a truncated 30 days per year.
|