And Justice for All: Race, Gender, & the Law in U.S. History
Fall 2026 - Professor Donna D. Anderson
Unit 1: Citizenship & the Foundations of American Legal History
Week 1: Marbury v. Madison
Week 2: Worcester v. Georgia
Legal Concepts: Federal Indian Policy, Citizenship, Colonialism
- Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
- Dawes Act (1887)
- Elk v. Wilkins (1884)
- Katrina Jagodinsky, "Habeas Corpus in Indian Country" (2026)
Week 3: Dred Scott v. Sandford
Legal Concepts: Citizenship, Freedom Suits, Slavery
- Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
- Matilda v. Isaac Vanbibber (1815)
- Ann v. Henry Hight (1816)
- Aspisa v. Hardage Lane (1837)
- William G. Thomas, "Dred Scott, The Veteran Litigant" (2025)
Week 4: Plessy v. Ferguson
Legal Concepts: Jim Crow Laws, Civil Rights
- Civil Rights Act of 1866
- Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
- Taneil Ruffin, "Gradual Abolition Laws, Race, and Freedom in the Early Republic" (2024)
- Kate Masur, "Equal Protection, Reconstruction, and the Meaning of the 14th Amendment" (2023)
Week 5: United States v. Wong Kim Ark
Legal Concepts: Citizenship, Immigration
- Naturalization Act of 1870
- Scott Act of 1888
- United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)
- Katie Wu, "Racial Violence at Rock Springs, Property Compensation, and 'Indemnity' during Chinese Exclusion" (2025)
Unit 2: Equal Protection & Reinscribing Race in the United States
Week 6: Ozawa v. United States & Thind v. United States
Legal Concepts: Naturalization, Citizenship, Whiteness
- Dow v. United States (1915)
- Ozawa v. United States (1922)
- Thind v. United States (1923)
- Donna D. Anderson, "Legalizing Whiteness: What Asian American History Tells us About Citizenship in the Early 20th Century" (2025)
Week 7: World War II
Legal Concepts: Wartime Law, Federal Indian Policy
- Indian Citizenship Act (1924)
- Indian Reorganization Act (1934)
- Selective Training and Service Act (1940)
Week 8: Korematsu v. United States
Legal Concepts: Immigration, Incarceration, Whiteness
Week 9: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
Legal Concepts: Education, Civil Rights, Student Rights
- Mendez v. Westminster (1946)
- Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
- National Defense Education Act (1958)
- Civil Rights Act of 1964
Week 10: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Legal Concepts: Academic Freedom, Affirmative Action, Education
- Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
- Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
- Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard (2022)
- Eric Berger, Danielle Jefferis, and Catherine Wilson, "Affirmative Action's Origins and Legacies" (2023)
- Eric Berger, "Academic Freedom Amid Curricular Regulation and Research Restrictions" (2025)
Unit 3: Gender & the Family in U.S. Legal History
Week 11: Early Family Law
Legal Concepts: Marriage, Race Relations
Week 12: Loving v. Virginia & Roe v. Wade
Legal Concepts: Gender, Reproductive Rights, Women's Rights
- Loving v. Virginia (1967)
- Roe v. Wade (1973)
- Doe v. Bolton (1973)
- Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)
Week 13: Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl
Legal Concepts: Adoption, Family Law, Tribal Sovereignty
- Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl (2013)
- Indian Child Welfare Act (1978)
- An Act to Adopt the Negroes of the Chickasaw Nation (1873)
- Kit Myers, "Color-Evasive Love and Freedom from Violence in (Neo)Liberal Adoption Laws" (2025)
Week 14: Dept. of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California
Legal Concepts: Affirmative Action, Education, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Chicano/a/x Immigration Law
- Elihu Schooner v. State of Missouri (1858)
- Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
- Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996
- Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo (2025)
- Kevin R. Johnson, "Latina/os and Criminal and Immigration Law Enforcement" (2025)
Week 15: Obergefell v. Hodges
Legal Concepts: Marriage, LGBTQ+ Rights, Self-Determination
Week 16: Nixon v. Fitzgerald
Legal Concepts: Presidential Immunity