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17 Am. U. J. Gender Soc. Pol'y & L. 497 (2009)
Idiocy, Lunacy, and Matrimony: Exploring Constitutional Challenges to State Restrictions on Marriages of Persons with Mental Disabilities

handle is hein.journals/ajgsp17 and id is 505 raw text is: IDIOCY, LUNACY, AND MATRIMONY: EXPLORING CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES TO STATE RESTRICTIONS ON MARRIAGES OF PERSONS WITH MENTAL DISABILITIES JONATHAN MATLOFF* I. Introduction ............................................................................................ 4 98 II. B ackground ........................................................................................... 499 A. Historical Justifications for Legal Restrictions on Marriages of Persons with M ental Disabilities ......................................... 499 1. England and Colonial America ............................................ 499 2. The Eugenics M ovem ent ..................................................... 501 B. Supreme Court Jurisprudence Addressing Barriers to Marriage and the Rights of Persons with Mental D isab ilities ............................................................................... 502 C. State Court Standards Assessing Mental Capacity to Marry ..... 504 III. A n aly sis ............................................................................................... 505 A. Disability-Based Marriage Restrictions: A Lingering Due Process Problem Under Void for Vagueness Doctrine ............ 505 B. Infringing the Fundamental Right to Marry Under Substantive Due Process and Failing to Meet a Compelling G overnm ent Interest ................................................................ 507 1. Protecting Society ................................................................ 510 2. Protecting the Fam ily U nit .................................................. 511 3. Protecting Persons with Disabilities .................................... 512 C. Contravening the Equal Protection Clause Even Under the Deferential Rational Basis Standard of Cleburne ............... 513 IV . Policy Recom m endation ...................................................................... 516 V . C onclusion ............................................................................................ 5 18 A p pen dix ................................................................................................... 520 . J.D. Candidate, May 2010, American University, Washington College of Law; B.A., 1999, Cornell University. The author wishes to thank Professor Robert Dinerstein for his thoughtful support and guidance in the preparation of this Comment.

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