Shelly Wells
Bradwell v. The State of Illinois
Outline
1. Fourteenth Amendment
a. State and federal privileges
2. Myra Bradwell
a. Former Vermont resident and attorney
b. Current citizen of Illinois
c. Applied for her license to practice law in Illinois and
was rejected because she was a married woman
d. She sued for her rights under the Fourteenth
Amendment
3. The Case
a. The decision was ruled that a “person” was never
intended to include women
4. Justice Miller
a. Right to practice in the courts of the state is left up
to the state
b. Being an US citizen gives the right to pursue a license
in the federal court
c. When the Amendment states a person it was not
intended to include women
5. Justice Bradley
a. It has not been proven that a woman can do a man’s
job
b. The mission of a woman and the mission of the man
c. The husband is to have the profession and provide for
his family
d. He feels equality of man and woman is “silly”
e. 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.