Bradwell v. Illinois 16 Wallace 130 (1873)
Bradwell is the earliest fourteenth amendment case in which the Supreme Court endorsed sex discrimination. Mrs. Myra Bradwell, the editor of the Chicago Legal News, was certified by a board of legal examiners as qualified to be a member of the state bar. An Illinois statute permitted the state supreme court to make rules for admission to the bar. That court denied Mrs. Bradwell's application for admission solely on the ground of sex, although the fact that the applicant was married also counted against her: a married woman at that time was incapable of making binding contracts without her husband's consent, thus disabling her from performing all the duties of an attorney. She argued that the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protected her civil right as a citizen of the United States to be admitted to the bar, if she qualified.
Justice samuel f. miller, speaking for the Court, declared that the right to be admitted to the practice of law in a state court was not a privilege of national citizenship protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Justice joseph p. bradley, joined by Justices noah swayne and stephen j. field, concurred in the judgment affirming the state court, but offered additional reasons. History, nature, common law, and the civil law supported the majority's reading of the privileges and immunities clause, according to Bradley. The "spheres and destinies" of the sexes were widely different, man being woman's protector; her "timidity and delicacy" unfit her for many occupations, including the law. Unlike Myra Bradwell, an unmarried woman might make contracts, but such a woman was an exception to the rule. "The paramount destiny and mission of woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator." Society's rules, Bradley added, ought not be based on exceptions. Chief Justice salmon p. chase dissented alone, without opinion, missing a chance to advocate the cause of sex equality, at least in the legal profession.
Leonard W. Levy
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
"Bradwell v. Illinois 16 Wallace 130 (1873) ." Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. . Encyclopedia.com. 13 Jan. 2021 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
"Bradwell v. Illinois 16 Wallace 130 (1873) ." Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. . Encyclopedia.com. (January 13, 2021). https://www.encyclopedia.com/politics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bradwell-v-illinois-16-wallace-130-1873
"Bradwell v. Illinois 16 Wallace 130 (1873) ." Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. . Retrieved January 13, 2021 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/politics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bradwell-v-illinois-16-wallace-130-1873
Harry Andrew Blackmun , Harry Blackmun Harry Blackmun (born 1908), appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Nixon, became a highly regarded justice usually taking a… John Marshall Harlan (1833-1911) , John Marshall Harlan The second Justice John Marshall Harlan (1899-1971) preached the virtues of judicial restraint and federalism as a persistent di… United States Supreme Court , The U.S. Supreme Court is the nation's highest judicial body. It leads the judiciary, the branch of government responsible for resolving legal disput… Roe V Wade , Roe v. Wade Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 93 S. Ct. 705, 35 L. Ed. 2d 147 (1973), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that declared a preg… Potter Stewart , Potter Stewart U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart (1915-1985) was a strong supporter of civil rights and of First and Fourteenth amendment rig… Thurgood Marshall , Thurgood Marshall 1908–1993 Supreme Court justice Raised in Prosperous Home Joined NAACP Staff Helped End School Segregation Named to Supreme Court L…
Bradwell v. Illinois
BRADWELL, MYRA COLBY
Bradley, Joseph P. (1813–1892)
Reed v. Reed 1971
Roe et al. v. Wade: 1973
Substantive Due Process
Bradway, Becky 1957–
Bradwardine, Thomas.
Bradwardine, Thomas (c. 1300–1349)
Bradstreet, John
Bradstreet, Anne Dudley
Bradstreet, Anne (1612–1672)
Bradstreet, Anne
Bradstreet's Expedition of 1764
Bradstreet's Capture of Fort Frontenac
Bradshaw, Tiny (Myron)
Bradshaw, Timothy
Bradshaw, Terry Paxton
Bradshaw, Terry (1948—)
Bradshaw, Susan
Bradshaw, Robert
Bradshaw, Michael
Bradshaw, Merrill (Kay)
Bradshaw, Maria (1801–1862)
Bradshaw, Hon. Claudette, P.C. (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe) Minister of State (Human Resources Development)
Bradshaw, Henry
Bradshaw, Dale Salvaggio 1970–
Bradshaw, Anne C. 1942–
Bradshaw's Lomatium
Bradwell, Myra (1831–1894)
Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Brady Photographs
Brady Pincushion Cactus
Brady's Escape
Brady, Alice (1892–1939)
Brady, Catherine 1955-
Brady, Ian 1938-
Brady, Ignatius Charles
Brady, James 1928–
Brady, James B.
Brady, Joan
Brady, John (Mary)
Brady, Kimberley S(mith)
Brady, Mary (1821–1864)
Brady, Mathew
Brady, Matthew Francis
Brady, Mildred Edie (1906–1965)
Brady, Orla 1961–
Brady, Patricia
Brady, Patricia 1943–
Brady, Paul
Brady, Rose 1956-