Laws Written by Men to Protect Women Deserve Scrutiny, Supreme Court Told
History holds a lesson for the Supreme Court, the brief warns: Be skeptical of laws protecting women that are written by men.
The nation’s past is littered with such statutes, say the historians who filed the friend-of-the-court brief, and the motives were suspect.
Some protected women from “the embarrassment of hearing filthy evidence” as members of a jury, a sheltering instinct that resulted in female defendants being judged by panels composed only of men.
Some shielded women from having to work nights as pharmacists in hospitals — but not as low-wage custodians.
More: Laws written by men to protect women deserve scrutiny, Supreme Court told
Also See this Amicus Brief