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Legal Advocacy
CWEALF practices legal advocacy by signing onto amicus
briefs. Through these briefs, we hope to raise the concerns
of women and to ensure their experiences are considered when
policies and laws are established or reformed.
Recent examples of activities CWEALF has participated in include
the Office for Health Care Access (OHCA) case regarding the
purchase of Sharon Hospital by a private company. The work
of CWEALF, on behalf of the Coalition for Choice, ensured
that the sale of the hospital was contingent on the provision
of reproductive health care for patients. This was the first
case of its kind in Connecticut and an important victory for
the Pro-choice movement.
CWEALF, represented by Maureen Murphy (then CWEALF board member),
was involved in the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities
(CHRO) case related to the inclusion of the Boy Scouts in
the state employee charitable campaign. The Boy Scouts of
America (BSA) alleged that Connecticut State Employees Campaign
violated its rights of freedom of speech and freedom of association
by disallowing the BSA to participate in the Campaign because
they exclude open homosexuals from leadership positions. In
July, 2002, the United States District Court, District of
Connecticut denied the BSA’s motion for summary judgement.
The BSA’s appealed this decision and on July 9, 2003,
the federal appeals court ruled that the State of Connecticut
may exclude the Boy Scouts of America from the State Employee
Charitable Campaign because of the Boy Scouts’ anti-gay
policy.
Amicus
Briefs
For the past thirty years, CWEALF has
written and participated in amicus curiae briefs in order
to ensure that women’s concerns are heard when laws
are enacted or reformed. The following is annotated listing
of those briefs related to family, education, civil rights
and employment law.
Family
Law
Adoption
• In re Adoption of Baby Z, 1999
• In re Adoption of CCG and ZCG, 2000
• In re Adoption of RBF and RCF, 2000
Custody/Visitation
• Ireland v. Ireland, 1998
• State of Connecticut v. Anthony Vakilzaden, 1999
• Troxel v. Granville, 1999
• T.B. v. L.R.M., 2001
Child Support
• Boris v. Blaisdell, 1985
• Bowen v. Gilliard, 1987
Divorce and Property Distribution – Pension
Plans
• Tirmenstein v. Tirmenstein, 1989
• Adams v. Adams, 1989
• Berrington v. Berrington, 1993
• Krafick v. Krafick, 1995
Education
Law
Athletics/Title IX
• Cook v. Colgate University, 1993
• Cohen v. Brown University, 1996
• Klinger v. Department of Corrections, 1997
• Boucher v. Syracuse University, 1999
• Curetan v. NCAA, 1999
• Smith v. NCAA, 2001
• Brentwwod Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic
Association, 2000
• Communities for Equity v. Michigan High School Athletic
Association, 2003
Sexual Harassment (School)
• Rowinsky v. Bryan Independent School District, 1996
(school – peer sexual harassment)
• Bruneau v. South Kortright School District, 1998 (school
– employer liability)
• Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, 1999 (school
– peer harassment)
• Murrell v. School District No. 1, 1999 (school –
peer harassment)
• Reed v. Edelwich, 1996 (school – employer liability)
• Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District,
1998 (school – employer liability)
• Canty v. Old Rochester Regional School District, 1999
(school - § 1983 + Title IX)
• Gleason v. Board of Trustees of Salem State College,
2000 (school - § 1983 + Title IX)
• Litman v. George Mason University (open), 2001
Civil
Rights/Equal Rights
Discrimination – Language Proficiency
• Alexander v. Sandoval, 2000
Discrimination – Sexual Orientation
• Steffan v. Aspin, 1994
• Romer v. Evans, 1996
• Thomas v. Anchorage, 2000
• CHRO/John-Jane Doe, 2000
• Boy Scouts of America v. Wyman, 2003
Domestic Violence
• Freedom of Information Commission v. Domestic Violence
Services of Greater New Haven, Inc., 1998
• Doe v. Doe, 1996
• Culberson v. Doan, 1998
• White v. El Gabri; Bentley v. El Gabri, 1998
Reproductive Health – Buffer Zones
• Pro-Choice Network of Western New York v. Schenck,
1995
• Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York,
1997
• United States and Connecticut v. Scott, 1999
• Hill v. Colorado, 2000
• People of the State of New York v. Operation Rescue
National, 2001
• McGuire v. Reilly, 2001
Reproductive Health – Other
• Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, 1989
• Hodgson v. Minnesota, 1989
• Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 1989
• Turner v. Ragsdale, 1989
• Rust v. Sullivan together with New York v. Sullivan,
1991
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v.
Casey, 1992
• Winters v. Costco, 1995
• Hope v. Perales, 1995
• Letter to EEOC on Contraceptive Coverage, 1999
• Stenberg v. Carhart, 2000
• Bost v. Low-Income Women of Texas, 2002
Sexual Assault
• United States v. Lanier, 1997
• Commonwealth v. Fischer, 1998
• Letter to the FBI regarding the definition of rape
for purposes of the Uniform Crime Report (UCR), 2001
• In re Jonathan; Matthew G. v. State of Connecticut,
2002
Employment
Issues
Employment Discrimination
• Walters v. Metropolitan Educational Enterprises, Inc,
1996
• Bryan County v. Brown, 1997
Sex Discrimination
• Board of Directors of Rotary International v. Rotary
Club of Duarte, 1987
• United Auto Workers (UAW) v. Johnson Controls, 1991
• J.E.B. v. Alabama ex. rel. T.B., 1994
• State of Connecticut v. Walker, 1994
• Faulkner v. Jones (the Citadel case), 1995
• United States of America v. Virginia, 1995
• United States of America v. Virginia, 1996
Sexual Harassment (Work)
• Newsday, Inc. v. Long Island Typographical Union,
No. 915, 1990
• Comments to Proposed Guidelines on Harassment Based
on Race, Color, Religion, Gender, National Origin, Age, and
Disability, 1993
• Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc., 1993
• Gary v. Long, 1995
• CHRO ex. Rel. Bilodeau v. United Technologies, Pratt
& Whitney, 1996
• Angelsea Productions v. Commission on Human Rights
and Opportunities, 1996
• Jenson v. Eleventh Taconite Co, 1997
• Keslar v. Bartu, 2000
• Brittell v. State of Connecticut Department of Corrections,
1998
• Oncale v. Sundowner, 1998
• Rocque v. Freedom of Information Commission, 2001
• Pollard v. DuPont, 2001
Discrimination – Pregnancy
• In re Valerie D., 1992
• Ferguson v. City of Charleston, 2000
FMLA
• Testimony and Comments to the Advisory Commission
on Intergovernmental Relations Regarding the Family and Medical
Leave Act, 1996
• Hibbs v. Nevada Department of Human Resources, 2003
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