About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

55 S.M.U. L. Rev. 1755 (2002)
The Aftermath of United States v. Virginia: Why Five Justices Are Pulling in the Reins on the Exceedingly Persuasive Justification

handle is hein.journals/smulr55 and id is 1767 raw text is: THE AFTERMATH OF UNITED STATES V. VIRGINIA: WHY FIVE JUSTICES ARE PULLING IN THE REINS ON THE EXCEEDINGLY PERSUASIVE JUSTIFICATION Heather L. Stobaugh* I. INTRODUCTION OLLOWING the landmark decision of United States v. Virginia,1 it appeared the Supreme Court was moving toward using a stricter form of intermediate scrutiny in gender-based equal protection claims. Over the years, commentators2 have argued that Justice Gins- burg's use of skeptical scrutiny3 and her heavy reliance on the exceed- ingly persuasive justification language in the majority opinion of Virginia introduced a stricter test into cases involving gender-based classifications as opposed to the traditional level of intermediate scrutiny established in Craig v. Boren.4 Considering Justice Ginsburg's legal background and her personal crusade against gender-based discrimination,5 the Virginia * Candidate for J.D., Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University, May 2003; M.A., University of Texas at Dallas, 1997; B.A., University of Texas at Dallas, 1994. The author would like to thank Christopher Stobaugh. 1. 518 U.S. 515 (1996). 2. See, e.g., Deborah L. Brake, Reflections on the VMI decision, 6 AM. U. J. GENDER SOC. POL'Y & L. 35, 36 (1997). 3. Virginia, 518 U.S. at 530. 4. 429 U.S. 190 (1976). 5. In 1956, Ruth Bader Ginsburg began law school at Harvard. See Carol Pressman, The House that Ruth Built: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gender and Justice, 14 N.Y.L. SCH. J. HUM. RTs. 311, 313 (1997). At the time, her husband, Martin, was also in law school, and they had a one-year-old daughter. Id. at 312-13. When Martin graduated in 1959, the Ginsburgs moved to New York, so he could begin a new job. Id. at 314. Gins- burg transferred to Columbia Law School, where she graduated first in her class-though without any offers for employment. Id. at 311. Aided by one of her professors, Ginsburg finally secured a judicial clerkship in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Id. Afterwards, she found her way into academia, teaching first at Rutgers University Law School, then Harvard Law School, and finally Columbia Law School, where she became a tenured professor. See Scott M. Smiler, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and The Virginia Military Institute: A Culmination of Strategic Success, 4 CARDOZO WO- MEN'S L.J. 541, 544 (1998). While teaching at Rutgers, Ginsburg began her noteworthy involvement with the Ameri- can Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and, on its behalf, participated in the first U.S. Su- preme Court decision, Reed v. Reed, to hold that a statute discriminating on the basis of gender violates the Fourteenth Amendment. Id. at 547-51. Later, Ginsburg served as gen- 1755

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most