Pauli Murray's America Unit 8

Learning Objective:

Students will analyze Pauli Murray’s legal strategies in monumental Supreme Court cases, the questions to the court in historical context, and the lasting impact of the court’s decision on society.

Key Civics Themes: 

• Foundations of United States Government: Students will investigate Murray’s contributions to landmark Supreme Court cases, and the long-term effects of those cases in American history on issues relating to race- and gender-based discrimination in schools, workplaces, and within the legal system. Do the decisions in the cases still stand today? In what ways have the rights secured in these cases been expanded (or contracted) since the time of the original decision?

• Rights and Responsibilities: Analyze the role of the United States Supreme Court in ensuring that laws and policies comply with the Constitution, and safeguarding rights and liberties by reviewing governmental actions. 

• Role of the Individual: In Murray’s professional life, their research and authorship of amicus briefs, Jane Crow and the Law: Sex Discrimination and Title IX, and State Laws on Race and Color (regarded by civil rights leaders as the Bible of the civil rights movement) impacted an inestimable number of legal minds and activists, including Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Thurgood Marshall. How can a deeper understanding of the US Constitution… ???

• Power and Politics: Examine the ways in which the Supreme Court’s power to interpret the Constitution shapes the balance of power in the United States. Consider one of Murray’s landmark cases (e.g. Brown v. Board of Education) and analyze how the Court’s decision influenced politics, social norms, and the balance of power across federal, state, and local governments. 

• Active Engagement: Brainstorm ways to engage in community activism using Murray’s work as a model. Examples could include: researching current legal challenges involving race, gender, or LGBTQ rights and writing amicus curiae briefs outlining their position; creating public awareness campaigns pertaining to Murray’s work and/or current legal challenges; collaborating with local advocacy groups; or engaging with public officials to advocate for causes or policies that align with Murray's principles.

Activities:

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Read pages 8 - 14 in “Pauli’s Bet.”

  1. 1. What was the legal strategy Pauli Murray proposed to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson?

     2. What were the questions to the court in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)?

     3. What else was happening in the mid-1950s politically and culturally?

     4. Why do you think Pauli Murray’s influence and legal strategy have been left out of the Brown v Board of Education story?

• White v. Crook (1966): This case challenged the jury selection process in Lowndes County, Alabama, for gender and race-based discrimination. Pauli Murray was co-counsel for this case with Dorothy Kenyon. The authorship of their brief for the ACLU linked the civil rights and women’s rights movements and successfully challenged the Alabama statute restricting jury service to white males.

  1. 1. What were the questions to the court in White v. Crook?

     2. What else was happening in the mid-1960s?

     3. Research the ACLU Women’s Rights Project and subsequent cases using Murray and Kenyon’s strategies in White v. Crook. 

• Reed v. Reed (1971): Introduce the video, “Ruth Bader Ginsburg Introduces Pauli Murray” from TIME (4:17)

In Previously Unseen Interview, Ruth Bader Ginsburg Shares How Legal Pioneer Pauli Murray Shaped Her Work on Sex Discrimination: https://time.com/5896410/ruth-bader-ginsburg-pauli-murray/

1. 1. 1. How did Pauli Murray influence Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legal strategy?

      2. What were the questions to the court in Reed v. Reed (1971)?

      3. What else was happening in the early 1970s relating to women’s rights?

• Research Pauli Murray’s legal work with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and advocacy for including “sex” in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

• Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corporation (1971): 

1. What were the questions to the court in Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corporation?

2. How did Pauli influence the legal strategy in this case?

3. What rights were women seeking at this time?

• Discussion: What is the common denominator in all of these court cases?