Linda McClain

Paul M. Siskind Research Scholar, Professor of Law at Boston University

Schools

  • Boston University

Links

Biography

Boston University

Linda C. McClain  is known for her work in family law, gender and law, and feminist legal theory. Her scholarship addresses the respective roles of families, other institutions of civil society and of government in fostering citizens’ capacities for democratic and personal self-government. She has engaged with prominent communitarian, civic republican and feminist critiques of liberal legal and political theory and offered a reconstructive liberal feminist approach to such matters as privacy, family and marriage, reproductive issues and welfare law. Her work also addresses sex equality as a legal and constitutional commitment and public value, the responsibility of government to promote equality, and societal tensions over equality and its relationship to other values. She was lead organizer of a 2012 BU Law conference, “Evaluating Claims about ‘the End of Men’: Legal and Other Perspectives.” Since Fall 2010, she has been a Faculty Fellow at the BU School of Theology, where she has pursued issues of pluralism, religion in the public square, and the role of religion in conflict and peacemaking. She contributes to the blog, Balkinization, and frequently speaks to the press on issues concerning family law and marriage.

Professor McClain serves on the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Family and Juvenile Law. She is a member of the Council on Contemporary Families. She is also on the advisory board of the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project. A former faculty fellow at the Harvard University Center for Ethics and the Professions, Professor McClain has been a visiting professor of law at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia. Before joining the faculty of Boston University School of Law in Fall 2007, Professor McClain was the Rivkin Radler Distinguished Professor of Law at Hofstra Law School, where she was also co-director of the Institute for the Study of Gender, Law, and Policy. Prior to entering the legal academy, she practiced litigation at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

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Cases

Falmouth doctor files lawsuit seeking right to die: ‘It’s an option that I want to have’

October 27, 2016

Boston Globe Linda McClain, School of Law A retired Falmouth physician, who has metastatic prostate cancer, filed a lawsuit this week in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston asserting he has a constitutional right to obtain a lethal dose of medication from his doctor and choose when he dies to avoid needless suffering… Expert quote: “Social change […]

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Gay-marriage protest hits high court

August 31, 2015

Boston Herald Linda McClain, School of Law The first religious-based legal challenge to this summer’s ruling requiring all states to authorize same-sex marriage has reached the U.S. Supreme Court, setting the stage for a flurry of lawsuits from public officials, religious institutions 
and even private-sector employees, claiming the decision violates their religious freedom… Expert quote: […]

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Experts Media Alert – SCOTUS to rule on same-sex marriage

June 5, 2015

In April, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on same-sex marriage. The case, Obergefell v Hodges, is a consolidation of earlier same-sex marriage cases and is limited by the court to two questions: 1) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? and 2) Does the Fourteenth Amendment […]

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Categorizing By Sex Is a Remedy for Discrimination

October 20, 2014

New York Times (subscription required) By Linda McClain, School of Law Whether it’s male, female or other, there are legitimate reasons for using the category of “sex”; indeed, one powerful reason is to document, and fix, gaps in equality. Girls and women still experience discrimination and disadvantage on the basis of sex… View full article […]

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“I Love My Husband”/”I Love My Wife”: The Legacy of Loving v. Virginia – by Way of Windsor

October 8, 2014

Balkanization By Linda McClain, School of Law Media coverage of the immediate aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s orders denying review of federal appellate court rulings striking down laws in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin barring marriage by same-sex couples and the recognition of such out-of-state marriages included a remarkable photo of newly-married couples […]

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Gay Marriage Foes Ask for Revival of Virginia Prohibition

May 13, 2014

Bloomberg Linda McClain, School of Law Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban must be restored because the state’s public policy is “to procreate and protect children,” a lawyer seeking revival of the now-unconstitutional restriction told a U.S. appeals court… Expert quote: “This case is particularly appealing because Virginia is the state of Loving v. Virginia.” View full […]

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Gay couples reflect on decade of change in Massachusetts

May 10, 2014

Taunton Daily Gazette Linda McClain, School of Law When Gloria Bailey-Davies finally married the love of her life 10 years ago, she felt a massive burden of stress evaporate in an instant… Expert quote: “I think it’s fairly unusual on a social issue for public opinion to change so rapidly. Clearly this has grown over […]

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Texas AG promises appeal to gay marriage ruling

February 27, 2014

Associated Press Linda McClain, School of Law Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office was working on an appeal Thursday of a federal judge’s decision to lift the state’s ban on gay marriage. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ruled a day earlier that the ban was unconstitutional. But the judge is allowing the law to remain in […]

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What Is Marriage? A Conversation with Linda McClain

January 16, 2014

Huffington Post Linda McClain, School of Law As legalization of same-sex marriage spreads to one-third of states including the recent vote in New Mexico and ruling in Utah and in Oklahoma, our understanding of marriage in general expands and thus our understanding of parenthood and family potentially expand as well… View full article

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Two Landmark Rulings By Nation’s Highest Court Bolsters Gay Marriage

June 26, 2013

WBUR “Radio Boston” Linda McClain, School of Law Gay marriage advocates gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court cheered this morning as the Court issued a pair of landmark rulings on same sex marriage… Listen to audio

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