Four feminist law profs – Jamie Abrams (Louisville), Bridget Crawford (Pace), Kathy Stanchi (Temple) and Linda Berger (UNLV) – have embarked on a United States Supreme Court version of the British Feminist Judgments book. Feminist Judgments was a collaborative project among feminist law professors in the U.K. to rewrite, from a feminist perspective, key decisions on issues relevant to gender. The book compiles 23 rewritten opinions of English law ranging from topics about parenting to the definition of bodily harm to rape and issues of equality. The book is a terrific bridge between feminist academic thinking/writing and the practical world.
Kathy Stanchi saw Professor Erika Rackley (Durham University) , one of the editors of the U.K. Feminist Judgments book, speak over the summer and spoke to her about starting a U.S. version. Erika is well known in the U.K. for her successful effort to convince the government to outlaw “rape porn.”
The editors of the U.S. Supreme Court edition plan to consult U.S. feminist law profs, via a survey, to gather a list of key U.S. Supreme Court decisions that are ripe for rewriting from a feminist perspective. After putting together the list, they will seek feminist law professors who wish to participate in the rewriting. In addition to the rewritten decisions, the U.S. volume, like the U.K. version, will have commentary for each rewritten decision, ideally written by an expert in legal writing or rhetoric.
For more information, please contact Professor Kathy Stanchi (Temple).
-Bridget Crawford
