Year of Graduation
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Major
Political Science
Directing Professor
Ashleigh Breske
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to explore the interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and how this interpretation can become more intersectional for Black queer women. This question is explored within the scope of two theoretical frameworks: Derrick Bell’s theory of interest convergence and Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality. This project examines whether any factors compel SCOTUS to be more intersectional in its approach to the Fourteenth Amendment. Simultaneously, this study also considers what social contexts make SCOTUS more likely to focus on the interests of the oppressor, a demographic the Supreme Court justices are often included in. Due to the nature of this research seeking the motivations and rationale of SCOTUS in their decision-making, I utilize a mixed methods explanatory sequential research design by conducting a discourse analysis and running chi-square significance testing. My discourse analysis includes an investigation of Supreme Court cases, the justices included in the decision-making of each case, and societal contexts at the time of each case. Although there is currently an abundance of literature in the legal world about making scrutiny more intersectional, my work contributes to this discourse by making the intersectionality specific to Black queer women, a population rendered invisible by the Supreme Court and lawmakers alike.
Recommended Citation
Richardson, Kayla M., "Strictly Intersectional Scrutiny: A Recommendation for Transforming the EPC to Highlight Queer Black Women" (2024). Undergraduate Honors Theses, Hollins University. 71.
https://digitalcommons.hollins.edu/ughonors/71
Included in
Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, Fourteenth Amendment Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Jurisprudence Commons, Law and Gender Commons, Law and Race Commons, Law and Society Commons, Legal History Commons, Legal Remedies Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Sexuality and the Law Commons, Social Justice Commons, Supreme Court of the United States Commons