Word Games: Language, Intent, and Gender Discrimination Law Under the New Court

by Katherine Minarik

After six years of predictions and nervous waiting for Court-watchers of all ideological stripes, President George W. Bush appointed two new Justices to the Supreme Court less than two years into his second presidential term. The conªrmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito may be a sign of more than just an ideological shift on the Court; they may also signal a shift away from pragmatic statutory interpretation that allows federal anti-discrimination laws to work. The new Court will be asked to determine the scope and meaning of landmark statutes affecting the rights of women.2 If the Court fails to consider how the language of a statute can serve the purpose of that statute, the Court will undermine anti-discrimination laws instead of letting them work. As a result, women’s equality may suffer.

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