Sexual Injustice: Supreme Court Decisions from Griswold to Roe

by Marc Stein

Overview

The U.S. Supreme Court of the 1960s and 1970s is typically celebrated by liberals and condemned by conservatives for its rulings on abortion, birth control, and other sexual matters. In this new work, historian Marc Stein demonstrates convincingly that both sides have it wrong. Focusing on six major Supreme Court cases, Stein examines the more liberal rulings on birth control, abortion, interracial marriage, and obscenity in Griswold, Fanny Hill, Loving, Eisenstadt, and Roe alongside a profoundly conservative ruling on homosexuality in Boutilier.

In the same era in which the Court recognized special marital, reproductive, and heterosexual rights and privileges, it also upheld an immigration statute that classified homosexuals as "psychopathic personalities." How, then, did Americans come to believe that the Court supported the sexual revolution? Stein shows that a diverse set of influential journalists, judges, and scholars translated the Court's language about marital and reproductive rights into bold statements about sexual freedom and equality. Creatively researched and persuasively argued, this book not only provides the first in-depth account of Boutilier, one of the Court's earliest gay rights cases, but also will change the way we think about the Supreme Court and the sexual revolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807899373
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	10/04/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Marc Stein is the Jamie and Phyllis Pasker Professor of History at San Francisco State University. He is author of Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement and City of Sisterly and Brotherly Loves: Lesbian and Gay Philadelphia. He is editor-in-chief of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America.
Marc Stein is the Jamie and Phyllis Pasker Professor of History at San Francisco State University. He is author of City of Sisterly and Brotherly Loves: Lesbian and Gay Philadelphia and editor-in-chief of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Marc Stein turns conventional wisdom upside down in this provocative critique of Supreme Court decisions in the era of the sexual revolution. Stein forces us to rethink what liberalism means in ways that extend far beyond issues of sexuality.” — John D'Emilio, coauthor of Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America

“This is an impressive, important, and well-researched book on the Supreme Court’s development and elaboration of the constitutional right to privacy. Marc Stein, who is a wonderful microhistorian, illuminates the underlying interpretive complexities of this period, including the ways in which the opinions of the Supreme Court are often publicly misunderstood.” — David A. J. Richards, Edwin D. Webb Professor of Law, New York University

Editorial Reviews

“Outstanding for collections on gay rights and the law. . . . Highly Recommended.” — CHOICE

“A valuable legal history of the period often referred to as the sexual revolution.” — Journal of Southern History

“An important, readable, and persuasive book. . . . After reading this important new study, readers will indeed think twice before celebrating a sexual revolution in the Court.” — Law and History Review

“Stein’s invaluable study . . . make[s] it required reading for anyone seeking to understand the changing relationship between law and sexuality.” — The American Historical Review

“Stein is the first scholar to examine this episode in any depth and to tell Boutilier’s tragic story following the Supreme Court ruling.” — YFile, York University’s Daily Bulletin

“Offers a sophisticated understanding of the narrow outlook of the Court on issues of sexual rights. . . . An important contribution to the history of law, sexuality, immigration, and citizenship. . . . In addition to his brilliant interpretation of these cases, Stein also presents a beautiful discussion of his approach and methodology as well as a remarkable transparency in his use of potentially difficult sources. . . . Offers a remarkable model and a useful example for all historians.” — H-Net Reviews

“Stein’s analysis [of the case of Boutilier] is thorough, nuanced, and multifaceted.” — Journal of American History

“A must read.” — Jim Downs, Huffington Post

From the Publisher