Bradwell v. Illinois
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| Bradwell v. Illinois | ||||||||||||||
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| Argued January 18, 1873 Decided April 15, 1872 |
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| Illinois constitutionally denied law licenses to women, because the right to practice law was not one of the privileges and immunities guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Illinois Supreme Court affirmed. | ||||||||||||||
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| Majority by: Miller Joined by: Clifford, Davis, Strong, Hunt Concurrence by: Bradley Joined by: Field, Swayne Dissent by: Chase |
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| Laws applied | ||||||||||||||
| U.S. Const. amend. XIV | ||||||||||||||
Bradwell v. State of Illinois, 83 U.S. 130 (1872)[1], was a United States Supreme Court case that solidified the narrow reading of the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and determined that the right to practice a profession was not among these privileges.
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[edit] Background of the case
Myra Bradwell applied for membership in the Illinois state bar in accordance with a state statute that permitted any adult of good character and with sufficient training to be admitted. Because she was a woman, however, the Illinois State Bar denied her admission, noting that the "strife" of the bar would surely destroy femininity. Bradwell appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court, arguing that her right to practice law was protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
[edit] The Court's decision
The Supreme Court disagreed with Bradwell. In an 8-1 ruling, it upheld the decision of the Illinois court, ruling that the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did not include the right to practice a profession. Justice Bradley's opinion concurring in the Court's judgment is notable for positing that “The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life... The paramount destiny and mission of women are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator.”
Salmon P. Chase was the sole dissent from the decision, but never filed an opinion to explain his reasoning because he died roughly a week after the Court held conference for the case.
[edit] Subsequent history
About a hundred years later, the Court began employing the Fourteenth Amendment as a way of overturning gender-discriminatory state laws. In doing so, however, it would typically use the "equal protection" clause, rather than the clause cited in Bradwell, "privileges and immunities."
[edit] See also
- Slaughterhouse Cases - established the narrow reading of "privileges [and] immunities" upon which the Bradwell decision was founded.
- List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 83
