Shelly Wells

Bradwell v. The State of Illinois

Outline

  1. Fourteenth Amendment
  2. State and federal privileges
  1. Myra Bradwell
  2. Former Vermont resident and attorney
  3. Current citizen of Illinois
  4. Applied for her license to practice law in Illinois and was rejected because she was a married woman
  5. She sued for her rights under the Fourteenth Amendment
  1. The Case
  2. The decision was ruled that a “person” was never intended to include women
  1. Justice Miller
  2. Right to practice in the courts of the state is left up to the state
  3. Being an US citizen gives the right to pursue a license in the federal court
  4. When the Amendment states a person it was not intended to include women
  1. Justice Bradley
  2. It has not been proven that a woman can do a man’s job
  3. The mission of a woman and the mission of the man
  4. The husband is to have the profession and provide for his family
  5. He feels equality of man and woman is “silly”
  6. Women had no legal existence separate from their husbands.

Shelly Wells

Bradwell v. The State of Illinois

According to the document of Bradwell v. The State of Illinois; Myra Bradwell was denied a license to practice law in Illinois because she was a married woman. The Fourteenth Amendment states “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” When Myra Bradwell sued the state for her right the judgment was determined that a “person” was not to include women. Two Justices commented on the courts decisions.

Justice Miller took the stance that the right to practice in the courts of the state was left up to the state. He states, “This right in no sense depends on citizenship of the United States. It has not, as far as we know, ever been made in any State, or in any case, to depend on citizenship at all.” He also claims that being a United States citizen gives you the right to pursue a license in the federal court. He determined that when the amendment says a “person”, that person was never intended to include women.

Justice Bradley also thought that women should not be allowed to practice law in the state courts. He stated that it has not been proven that a woman can do a man’s job. He says that civil law is that man is the woman’s protector and defender and the mission of a woman is to fulfill the duties of a wife and mother. The husband is to have the profession and provide for his family. He states that the equality of man and woman is silly and even dangerous. Women had no legal existence separate from their husbands. Although many women are unmarried, they may be able to obtain a license because they do not have the duties of wife and mother. “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.”

Although Myra Bradwell was denied the right to practice law in the state courts in 1873, she was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1890 granted a license to practice before the United States Supreme Court in 1892.