Supreme Court Decisions and Women's Rights

From the Romantic Paternalism of the 19th century to Roe v. Wade and the panoply of hot-button women′s issues before the Supreme Court in our age, Supreme Court Decisions and Women′s Rights limns the cases, the ideas, and the people who have blazed the trail to equality.

Co-published by CQ Press and the Supreme Court Historical Society, Supreme Court Decisions and Women′s Rights is the first authoritative, illustrated guide to make Supreme Court cases and issues involving women′s rights and gender understandable and accessible to a wide audience. High school students will find a lively, easy-to-read account that makes complex legal and constitutional issues comprehensible. Academics and interested readers in a host of disciplines will find the book a perfect introduction to the topic, and a valuable tool for directing further research.

More than 110 photos, cartoons, and other illustrative material, many of which have never been published, round out the visual presentation of this unique new reference work and enrich the historical context for the cases presented.

Starting in the post-Civil War era, the book discusses the concept of Romantic Paternalism and how this belief that the law should provide extra protections to women because they are weaker and gentler than men began to be tested. Readers will find the full story of Susan B. Anthony and the quest for suffrage, but they′ll also find the cases that set the stage for the movement . . . and the cases and movements that continue to this day as a result of it.

Supreme Court Decisions and Women′s Rights is organized chronologically and by topic for easy research. The more than 75 cases cover all the important issues and movements regarding the Supreme Court and women′s rights from the earliest days to the present.

Here are just a few examples:

• Bradwell v. Illinois (1873) - women being barred from practicing law.
• Muller v. Oregon (1908) - regarding the 10-hour working day.
• Goesart v. Cleary (1948) - are women allowed to be bartenders?
• Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld (1975) - a father sues for the right to stay home.
• Kirchberg v. Fienstra (1981) - husband as "head and master" of household."
• Maher v. Roe (1977) - is abortion funding constitutional?
• Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989) - not woman enough to make partner?

Supreme Court Decisions and Women′s Rights also covers:

• The "First Ladies" of the Supreme Court
• The first female law clerks
• Women in key positions at the Court
• Profiles of the first female justices: Sandra Day O′Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Cases Covered

Bradwell v. Illinois (1873)
The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)
Minor v. Happersett (1875)
Strauder v. West Virginia (1880)
Muller v. Oregon, (1908)
Adkins v. Children′s Hospital (1923)
West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937)
Ballard v. United States (1946)
Goesaert v. Cleary (1948)
Hoyt v. Florida (1961)
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp. (1971)
Reed v. Reed (1971)
Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972)
Doe v. Bolton (1973)
Frontiero v. Richardson (1973)
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Corning Glass Works v. Brennan (1974)
Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur (1974)
Geduldig v. Aiello (1974)
Kahn v. Shevin (1974)
Schlesinger v. Ballard (1975)
Stanton v. Stanton (1975)
Taylor v. Louisiana (1975)
Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld (1975)
Craig v. Boren (1976)
General Electric Co. v. Gilbert (1976)
Planned Parenthood Assn. of Central Missouri v. Danforth (1976)
Califano v. Goldfarb (1977)
Califano v. Webster (1977)
Dothard v. Rawlinson (1977)
Maher v. Roe (1977)
Nashville Gas Co. v. Satty (1977)
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power v. Manhart (1978)
Bellotti v. Baird (1979)
Califano v. Westcott (1979)
Duren v. Missouri (1979)
Lehr v. Robertson (1983)
Parham v. Hughes (1979)
Orr v. Orr (1979)
Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney (1979)
Stanley v. Illinois (1972), Quilloin v. Walcott (1978)
Caban v. Mohammed (1979)
Harris v. McRae (1980)
Wengler v. Druggists Mutual Ins. Co. (1980)
County of Washington v. Gunther (1981)
Kirchberg v. Feenstra (1981)
Michael M. v. Superior Court of Sonoma County (1981)
Rostker v. Goldberg (1981)
Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan (1982)
Arizona Governing Committee v. Norris (1983)
City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health (1983)
Newport News Shipbuilding &Dry Dock Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1983)
Planned Parenthood Assn. of Kansas City, Mo., Inc. v. Ashcroft (1983)
Hishon v. King &Spalding (1984)
Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986)
Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians &Gynecologists (1986)
California Federal S. and L. Ass′n v. Guerra (1987)
Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara County, California (1987)
Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989)
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)
Hodgson v. Minnesota (1990)
Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health (1990)
Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls, Inc. (1991)
Rust v. Sullivan (1991)
Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992)
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992)
Bray v. Alexandria Women′s Health Center (1993)
Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc., (1993)
J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. (1994)
Madsen v. Women′s Health Center, Inc. (1994)
National Organization for Women, Inc. v. Scheidler (1994)
United States v. Virginia (1996)
Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York (1997)
Virginia v. United States (1997)
Burlington Industries v. Ellerth (1998)
Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (1998)
Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District (1998)
Lorelyn Penero Miller v. Madeleine K. Albright (1998)
Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services (1998)
Davis v. Monroe County School Board (1999)

Clare Cushman is director of publications for the Supreme Court Historical Society, a private nonprofit organization dedicated to the collection and preservation of the history of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Society accomplishes its mission by conducting educational programs of interest to legal practitioners, scholars, and the general public by supporting historical research; by publishing books, journals,
and electronic materials; and by collecting antiques and artifacts related to the Court’s history.