Katherine Franke | Columbia Law School

KATHERINE M. FRANKE

Sulzbacher Professor of Law, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Director, Center for Gender and Sexuality Law
Faculty Director, Public Rights/Private Conscience Project
 

Executive Committee, Institute for Research on Women, Gender and Sexuality,
   Columbia University

Executive Committee, Center for Palestine Studies, Columbia University

Chair, Board of Trustees, Center for Constitutional Rights

Office: Room 626, Jerome Greene Hall
212-854-0061
212-854-7946 fax
[email protected]

Assistant: Elizabeth Boylan
[email protected]
212-854-0167

Courses Taught:

• Racial Justice Litigation Workshop
• Queer Theory Workshop
• Legalizing Social Movements
• Gender Justice
• Critical Legal Thought
• Occupation: Law, Politics, Morality
• Seminar in Legal Scholarship
• Topics in Law and Sexuality: Gay Marriage
• Feminist Theory Workshop
• Gay Marriage Seminar
• Federal Civil Rights Law
• Feminist Legal Theory
• Law & Culture
• Gender and Development
• Torts
• Jurisprudence of Identity
• Legal History Research Seminar - Reconstruction

Other Teaching:

• Contemporary Legal Problems - Bayview Correctional Facility
• Columbia Law Women's Association Reading Group

Fellowships/Honors:

Guggenheim Foundation Fellow 2011-2012
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Institute for Gender and Women Studies, American University in Cairo, May 2008
Fellow, Law and Public Affairs Program, Princeton University, 2007-2008

Education:

B.A., Barnard College, Philosophy, 1981 magna cum laude; J.D., Northeastern University School of Law, 1986; LL.M., Yale Law School, 1993; J.S.D., Yale Law School 1998, Dissertation: Because of Sex.

Employment:

• Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law, Columbia University School of Law 2010 - present
• Professor of Law, Columbia University School of Law 2000 - 2010
• Vice Dean, Columbia University School of Law 2002 - 2004
• Associate Professor of Law, Fordham Law School 1997–00
• Associate Professor of Law, University of Arizona College of Law 1995–97
• Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild 1990 - 1991
• Supervising Attorney, New York City Commission on Human Rights 1987-1990
• Founder and Director, AIDS and Employment Project, San Francisco, CA 1986-1987

Community/Professional Activities:

    Center for Constitutional Rights, Chair, Board of Trustees 
    GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, Editorial Board
    Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, Member of Advisory Board
    Law and Society Association, Member
    Society of American Law Teachers, Member
    American Society for Legal History, Member

Publications:

Books

• Repair: Slavery’s Unfinished Business (forthcoming Haymarket Press 2019)
• Wedlocked: The Perils of Marriage Equality (NYU Press, 2015)

Scholarly Articles                

• "Property or Spouse?" review of Tera W. Hunter, Bound in Wedlock: Slave and Free Black Marriage in the Nineteenth Century, Women's Review of Books (January/February 2018)
• "Opinion of Justice Katherine Franke in Obergefell v. Hodges," (in What Obergefell Should Have Said (Jack Balkin ed., Yale U. Press 2017)
• "What Marriage Equality Teaches Us: The Afterlife of Racism and Homophobia," in After Marriage Equality: The Future of LBGT Rights, (Carlos A. Ball ed., NYU Press 2016)
• "Taking a Break From Acrimony: The Feminist Method of Ann Scales," 91 Denver University Law Review (2013)
• "Dating the State: The Moral Hazards of Winning Gay Rights," 44 Columbia Human Rights Law Review 1 (2012)
• "The Curious Relationship of Marriage and Freedom," in Marriage at a Crossroad (E. Scott and M. Garrison eds. Cambridge U. Press 2012)
• "Dignifying Rights: A Comment on Jeremy Waldron's Dignity, Rights and Responsibilities,"  43 Ariz. St. L.J. 1177 (2012)
• "Public Sex, Same-Sex Marriage, and the Afterlife of Homophobia," in Petite Mort: Recollections of a Queer Public (Carlos Motta & Joshua Lubin-Levy eds. 2011)
• "Marriage Is a Mixed Blessing," Op-Ed, New York Times, June 23, 2011
• "Sexual Rights and State Governance," 104 Am. Soc'y Int'l L. Proc. 385 (2010)
• "Eve Sedgwick, Civil Rights and Perversion," 33 Harv. J. Gender & Law 313 (2009)
• "Longing for Loving," 76 Ford. L.Rev. 2685 (2008)
• "Gendered Subjects of Transitional Justice," 15 Colum. J. Gender & L. 813 (2006)
• "The Politics of Same-Sex Marriage Politics," 15 Colum. J. Gender & L. 236 (2006)
• "The Domesticated Liberty of Lawrence v. Texas," 104 Colum.L.Rev. (2004)
• "Sexual Tensions of Post-Empire," 33 Studies in Law, Politics and Society 63 (2004)
• "On Discipline and Canon," 12 Colum.J. Gender & Law 639 (2003)
• "Taking Care," 76 Chi-Kent L.Rev. 1541 (2001)
• "Rosa v. Park West Bank: Do Clothes Really Make the Man?," 7 Mich.J.Gen.L. 141 (2001)
• "Theorizing Yes: An Essay on Feminism, Law & Desire," 101 Colum. L.Rev. 181 (2001)
• "The Uses of History in Struggles for Racial Justice: Colonizing the Past and Managing Memory," 47 U.C.L.A. L.Rev. 1673 (2000)
• "Becoming A Citizen: Post-Bellum Regulation of African American Marriage," 11 Yale J. of Law & the Humanities 251 (1999)
• "Putting Sex To Work," 75 U.Denver L.Rev. 108 (1998) Reprinted in, Left Legalism/Left Critique (Janet Halley and Wendy Brown eds. 2002)
• "Gender, Sex, Agency and Discrimination: A Reply to Professor Abrams," 83 Cornell L.Rev. 1245 (1998)
• "What’s Wrong With Sexual Harassment?" 49 Stan.L.Rev. 691 (1997) Reprinted in, 13 Civil Rights Litigation and Attorney Fees Annual Handbook (Saltzman ed. 1998)
• "What Does A White Woman Look Like: Racing and Erasing in Law," 74 Texas L.Rev. 1231 (1996) Reprinted in, Critical White Studies: Looking Behind the Mirror (Delgado & Stefancic eds. 1997)
• "The Central Mistake of Sex Discrimination Law: The Disaggregation of Sex from Gender," 144 U.Penn.L.Rev. 1 (1995)
• "Cunning Stunts: From Hegemony to Desire, A Review of Madonna's Sex," 20 N.Y.U.Rev.L.Soc.Chg. 549 (1993-1994)
• "Women in the AIDS Epidemic: A Portrait of Unmet Needs," 9 St. Louis Public L. Rev. 519 (1990) with Arlene Zarembka
• "Turning Issues Upside Down: Reproductive Rights in the Era of AIDS," in AIDS: The Women (1988).

Testimony

• New York City Council, Committee on Contracts, Hearing on Resolution No. 1058-A, Testimony of Professor Katherine Franke, September 8, 2016
• Pennsylvania State Senate, Committee on Labor and Industry, Hearing on Senate Bill No. 1306, Testimony of Professor Katherine Franke, August 30, 2016
• U.S. House Of Representatives, Committee On Oversight And Government Reform, Hearing on H.R. 2802, the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), Testimony of Professor Katherine Franke

Other Writing/Media

• "Just as Boycotts are Making a Difference for LGBTQ People, Some Lawmakers Want to Shut Them Down." Slate.  April 29, 2016.
• "Marriage Equality Can Be Both a Blessing and a Trap for Minority Communities." January 8, 2016.
• "Law Professor: Davis Can't Evoke Religion To Deny Marriage Licenses." NPR. September 1, 2015.
• "A Progressive Agenda for Married Queers." Slate - Outward Blog. June 30, 2015.
• "'Dignity' Could be Dangerous at the Supreme Court." Slate - Outward Blog.  June 25, 2015.
• "Unholy Alliance Between Conservatives and Liberals Behind Rise in RFRAs." Huffington Post Queer Voices.  April 7, 2015.
• "Hobby Lobby 2.0: The Broader Implications for the Left." Huffington Post Politics.  July 11, 2014.
• "Sex, Gender, and the Familiar Fight Over Religious Exemptions." ProPublica.  March 2, 2014.
• "Lesbian 'Husbands' and Gay 'Wives': The Gendering of Gay Divorce." Huffington Post Queer Voices.  July 9, 2013. 
• "All In: Marriage, Rights and Hypocrisy - The Case of David Petraeus." Huffington Post Politics.  November 14, 2012.
• "Why We Boycotted the Equality Forum: Gay Rights Become a Tool in Israel's Rebranding Campaign." Co-written with Rabbi Rebecca Alpert. Huffington Post Queer Voices.  May 8, 2012.
• "PFLAG Holds Israeli Pinkwashing Event." Huffington Post Queer Voices. February 22, 2012.
• "Court of Appeals Prop 8 Ruling - Treating Marriage as a License, not a Sacrament." Huffington Post Queer Voices.  February 8, 2012.
• "Independence Day Greetings from a Marriage 'Liberationist.'" Huffington Post Queer Voices.  July 5, 2011.
• "Marriage is a Mixed Blessing." The New York Times. June 24, 2011.
• "HHS Issues New Medicaid Rules (Sort of) Protecting Same-Sex Couples." Huffington Post Politics.  June 13, 2011.
• "Judge Ware Denies Motion to Vacate Prop 8 Trial." Huffington Post Politics. June 4, 2011.
• "What's the Rush? Columbia President Bollinger Signs New Agreement with the Navy." Huffington Post College. June 2, 2011.
• "Enough Already with 'Love Child,' 'Illegitimate,' and 'Out of Wedlock.'" Huffington Post Media. May 20, 2011.
• "Egyptian Women and Palestinian Men Can Now Confer Egyptian Citizenship on their Children." The World Post, Huffington Post.  May 17, 2011.
• "DOMA's New Lawyers: 'Some Good Americans.'" Huffington Post Politics. May 7, 2011.
• "King & Spalding's Self-Made Mess." Huffington Post Politics. April 26, 2011.
• "King and Spalding Muzzles All Employees From Advocating Repeal of DOMA." Huffington Post Politics.  April 22, 2011
• "Delaware's New Civil Union Law - Read it Before You Apply." Huffington Post Politics.  April 18, 2011.
• "Return of ROTC to Columbia University? An Issue Much Larger than 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'" Huffington Post College. March 9, 2011.
• "Civil Unions in Hawaii and Illinois: How'd They Get it Right?" Huffington Post Politics. February 23, 2011.
• "A Gay Rights Angle on the Egyptian Revolution?" The World Post, Huffington Post. February 22, 2011.
• "Letter to the Editor: Evangelical 'Missions'". With Renée Römkens. The New York Times.  May 27, 2002.
• "Letter to the Editor: Le Mariage: Vows, Redefined." The New York Times. April 23, 2000.
• "Letter to the Editor: Homeless Policy's Roots." The New York Times. Dec. 11, 1999.

Reviews

• "Homosexuals, Torts, and Dangerous Things, in Legal Canons" (Jack Balkin and Sanford Levinson eds. forthcoming Summer 2000 New York University Press)
• "Homosexuals, Torts and Dangerous Things, review of William N. Eskridge, Jr., and Nan D. Hunter Sexuality and the Law, and William B. Rubenstein, Cases and Materials on Sexual Orientation and the Law," 106 Yale L. J. 2661 (1997)

Working Papers

• "Legal Aspects of Gender Assignment" (2002)

Briefs

• Amicus Curiae brief submitted to U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Rosa v. Park West Bank, February 1, 2000, on behalf of NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund and Equal Rights Advocates
• Amicus Curiae brief submitted to U.S. Supreme Court in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc., August 11, 1997
• Amicus Curiae brief submitted to U.S. Supreme Court in Pearson v. Callahan, August 13, 2008