Justice Ginsburg's Umbrella

A Nation of Widening Opportunities? The Civil Rights Act at Fifty, Samuel Bagenstos and Ellen Katz, eds., University of Michigan Press, 2014

U of Michigan Public Law Research Paper No. 389

19 Pages Posted: 1 Mar 2014 Last revised: 4 Mar 2014

See all articles by Ellen D. Katz

Ellen D. Katz

University of Michigan Law School

Date Written: March 2014

Abstract

This Essay relies on an analogy pressed in the dissenting opinion in Shelby County v. Holder to describe an increasingly prominent conception of federal anti-discrimination law. It is a conception that sees the existing regime to be a source of unjust enrichment to its beneficiaries, one that does not simply make victims of undeniable discrimination whole, but instead places a host of interested parties, victims included, in a decidedly better position than they would have been had the discrimination never occurred. Notably, this conception of federal anti-discrimination law does not deny the persistence of discrimination, including discrimination that is unconstitutional or otherwise invidious. The more pressing worry, however, is that the regime today does more harm than the discrimination it presently addresses.

Keywords: Voting Rights Act, Anti-discrimination law, unjust enrichment

JEL Classification: J70, J71

Suggested Citation

Katz, Ellen, Justice Ginsburg's Umbrella (March 2014). A Nation of Widening Opportunities? The Civil Rights Act at Fifty, Samuel Bagenstos and Ellen Katz, eds., University of Michigan Press, 2014, U of Michigan Public Law Research Paper No. 389, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2402868

Ellen Katz (Contact Author)

University of Michigan Law School ( email )

625 South State Street
LR 960
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1215
United States
734-647-6241 (Phone)

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