Bradwell v. Illinois
Bradwell v. Illinois is a landmark Supreme Court case from 1873 that addressed the issue of gender discrimination in the legal profession. Myra Bradwell, a law student and editor of the Chicago Legal News, applied for a license to practice law after passing the bar exam, but her application was denied solely on the grounds of her gender. She contended that this denial violated her rights under the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, the Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, rejected her claim, emphasizing that the states had the authority to grant licenses and that such matters did not pertain to national citizenship. Justice Samuel F. Miller and Justice Joseph P. Bradley's opinions reflected societal attitudes of the time, with Bradley notably suggesting that women's inherent qualities made them unfit for certain professions. The case is significant in the history of gender rights, as it wasn't until Reed v. Reed in 1971 that the Court began to apply the Fourteenth Amendment to address sex-based discrimination in a substantial way. Bradwell v. Illinois thus serves as a pivotal moment in the long struggle for gender equality in the legal field.
Bradwell v. Illinois
Date: April 15, 1873
Citation: 16 Wall. (83 U.S.) 130
Issue: Sex discrimination
Significance: The Supreme Court upheld a state’s denial of the right of women to enter a profession traditionally reserved for men.
Myra Bradwell studied law with her attorney husband, and she edited and published the Chicago Legal News, a leading publication of the Midwest. Although she had passed the bar exam, her application for a state license to practice law was rejected solely because of her sex. She argued that her rights under the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment were violated. By an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court rejected her claim. Speaking for the Court, Justice Samuel F. Miller applied the restrictive interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment that he had announced the previous day in the Slaughterhouse Cases. The granting of licenses to practice law was entirely in the hands of the states and therefore not related to any question of national citizenship. In a concurring opinion, Joseph P. Bradley noted: “The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life.”
Although the Illinois supreme court allowed Bradwell to practice law in 1890, it was not until Reed v. Reed (1971) that the Court applied the Fourteenth Amendment to overturn discriminatory laws based on sex.