This panel will address the argument, heard lately with increasing frequency, that progressive goals have been undermined by over-reliance on the courts, and that the Goodridge decision on marriage equality in Massachusetts was counter-productive because it short-circuited the political process, polarized debate and fueled the right. While focusing on Goodridge, the panel will look at how this view is mirrored by similar criticism of
Roe v. Wade and
Brown v. Board of Education. Are the factual premises of this backlash thesis correct? Are progressive setbacks attributable to excessive reliance on the courts? Where would we be without the landmark rights-based decisions of the last several decades? Should we approach the courts differently at this time in history? Is there a particular sensitivity to using the courts for advancing same-sex relationship recognition?
Praveen Fernandes, Moderator. Carlos Ball, Jennifer Brown, William Eskridge, Matthew McTighe.
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