Harassment experts to convene at Law School

By Daniel Polluck-Pelzner

FILE PHOTO This weekend, Yale Law School will play host to a three day conference to explore sexual harassment issues.

The Law School symposium, moderated by Law School Professor Jack Balkin, will feature a panel on the implications of sexual harassment law for First Amendment rights. Balkin sees questions not only in the scope of harassment legislation, but also in the problem of defining what kind of speech the Constitution allows. "The problem is to try to draft doctrines of sexual harassment law so as not to trample on free speech," Balkin explained. "But there's no bright line between protected and unprotected speech."

Organizers hope the conference will help clarify the legal approach to sexual harassment. "This will be a great opportunity for people to reflect and debate the future trajectory of sexual harassment in particular and anti-discrimination law in general," Law School Professor Reva Siegel, one of the conference organizers, said. MacKinnon, noted feminist scholar and author of the seminal 1979 study Sexual Harassment of Working Women, whose legacy the symposium celebrates, will attend the conference and deliver the opening remarks.

According to Siegel, MacKinnon's work introduced the notion of sexual harassment as a form of legal discrimination. Building on Owen Fiss's 1976 racial theories, MacKinnon changed the dominant conception of discrimination from one that stressed differences between individuals to one that addressed solidified social structures that subordinated women.

"Catharine MacKinnon played a very important role, both in identifying why sexual harassment is sex discrimination and in developing a framework for status-based discrimination," Siegel, who specializes in anti-discrimination law, said. "[MacKinnon] called attention to the social position of groups within the larger polity--the vertical dimension of discrimination," he said. This "status-based" approach identified a wider range of practices as discriminatory and targeted institutional subordination of particular social groups.

Although MacKinnon's theories have been influential, they are not universally applauded. MacKinnon has received scholarly criticism for her vehement anti-pornography stance, which individuals like Alan Dershowitz think dismisses important First Amendment protections.

Some Yale students are also skeptical of MacKinnon's emphasis on the subordination of women. "I find MacKinnon overly focused on sexual issues and not concerned enough about the First Amendment," Jessica Champagne, BK '01, a student in Introduction to Women's Studies, said. "MacKinnon tends to portray women as powerless victims instead of investing them with strength."

While tackling these difficult issues, conference organizers hope to avoid the debates on President Bill Clinton's, LAW '73, sexual conduct that now dominate the media. Siegel stressed that the symposium was planned long before the White House scandal inundated newspaper headlines. "`Fornigate' is just an interesting context," she said.

But for Political Science Professor Norma Thompson, the idea of avoiding discussion of the President's actions is a cause for concern. "Considering the events of the past several weeks and the setback they imply, I don't see any grounds for celebration at this week's conference," Thompson warned. "The originators of [the feminist] movement may turn out to be its pallbearers as well."

Nevertheless, Balkin cited events at the White House as evidence of how awareness of sexual harassment has grown since the publication of MacKinnon's first book. "In 1979, sexual harassment wasn't understood as a concept. Today we have a law suit against the President," Balkin observed. He acknowledged, however, that resentment has accompanied the increased focus on sexual harassment in the workplace. "The backlash comes from the crazy way [sexual harassment policies have] been implemented by bureaucracies who don't understand the law," Balkin explained.

Many panelists will speak on these issues, which excites Siegel as much as the celebration of MacKinnon's book. "[The symposium is] about the anniversary of the book, but it's also an occasion to bring together the most outspoken legal experts in the field," she said.

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