Abby Rubenfeld

Last updated
Abby Rubenfeld
Born1953 (age 6970)
EducationPrinceton University (BA) Boston University (JD)
Occupation(s)Civil rights lawyer, adjunct professor
Children2
Parent
Relatives Paul Reubens (brother)

Abby Rubenfeld (born 1953) is an American civil rights attorney who practices in Nashville, Tennessee. [1]

Rubenfeld received an A.B. with honors from Princeton University, where she was class president, and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1979, where she helped create the Boston University Law Association. [1] [2] She was admitted to practice law in 1979. [2]

She challenged Tennessee's "Homosexual Practices Acts" law, which criminalized sodomy. The sodomy law was overturned in 1996. [3] In 2013, she organized a group of attorneys and plaintiffs to challenge Tennessee's ban on same-sex marriage. She filed the lawsuit that led to Tennessee's inclusion in the U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage nationwide. [3]

She was an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School and chair of the Individual Rights and Responsibilities section of the American Bar Association. [2] [4] [5] [6] She has served as a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and the Human Rights Campaign. [2] She was an attorney and Legal Director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. [4]

Rubenfeld is the daughter of Milton Rubenfeld and the sister of actor Paul Reubens. She is married, and has two daughters and a stepdaughter. [2]

Related Research Articles

Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that most sanctions of criminal punishment for consensual, adult non-procreative sexual activity are unconstitutional. The Court reaffirmed the concept of a "right to privacy" that earlier cases had found the U.S. Constitution provides, even though it is not explicitly enumerated. It based its ruling on the notions of personal autonomy to define one's own relationships and of American traditions of non-interference with private sexual decisions between consenting adults.

The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, better known as Lambda Legal, is an American civil rights organization that focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities as well as people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) through impact litigation, societal education, and public policy work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah L. Cook</span> American judge (born 1952)

Deborah Louise Cook is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, based in Akron, Ohio. She served as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 1995 to 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanderbilt University Law School</span> Graduate school of Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University Law School is a graduate school of Vanderbilt University. Established in 1874, it is one of the oldest law schools in the southern United States. Vanderbilt Law School is one of the most selective law schools in the United States and has a 14.25% acceptance rate. Vanderbilt Law enrolls approximately 640 students, with each entering Juris Doctor class consisting of approximately 175 students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Smith Gibbons</span> American judge (born 1950)

Julia Smith Gibbons is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy D'Alemberte</span> American politician

Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte was an American lawyer, professor, politician, educational administrator, president of the American Bar Association, and president of Florida State University (FSU), from 1994 to 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornelia Clark</span> American judge (1950–2021)

Cornelia Anne Clark was an American attorney and jurist who served as a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court from 2005 until her death in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahala Ashley Dickerson</span> American lawyer and civil rights advocate

Mahala Ashley Dickerson was an American lawyer and civil rights advocate for women and minorities. In 1948 she became the first African American female attorney admitted to the Alabama State Bar; in 1951 she was the second African American woman admitted to the Indiana bar; and in 1959 she was Alaska's first African American attorney. In 1983 Dickerson was the first African American to be elected president of the National Association of Women Lawyers. Her long legal career also helped to pave the way for other women attorneys. In 1995 the American Bar Association named her a Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement honoree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Craig Daughtrey</span> American judge (born 1942)

Martha Craig "Cissy" Daughtrey is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Mary L. Bonauto is an American lawyer and civil rights advocate who has worked to eradicate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and has been referred to by US Representative Barney Frank as "our Thurgood Marshall." She began working with the Massachusetts-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, now named GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) organization in 1990. A resident of Portland, Maine, Bonauto was one of the leaders who both worked with the Maine legislature to pass a same-sex marriage law and to defend it at the ballot in a narrow loss during the 2009 election campaign. These efforts were successful when, in the 2012 election, Maine voters approved the measure, making it the first state to allow same-sex marriage licenses via ballot vote. Bonauto is best known for being lead counsel in the case Goodridge v. Department of Public Health which made Massachusetts the first state in which same-sex couples could marry in 2004. She is also responsible for leading the first strategic challenges to section three of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Massachusetts</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of Massachusetts enjoy the same rights as non-LGBT people. The U.S. state of Massachusetts is one of the most LGBT-friendly states in the country. In 2004, it became the first U.S. state to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, and the sixth jurisdiction worldwide, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Lenk</span> American judge

Barbara A. Lenk is an American attorney and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. On April 4, 2011, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick nominated her to that position and she was confirmed by the Governor's Council on May 4, 2011. She took the oath of office on June 8, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Tennessee</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Tennesseans face some legal challenges that non-LGBT Tennesseans do not. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in the state. Marriage licenses have been issued to same-sex couples in Tennessee since the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015.

John J. Bursch was the 10th Michigan Solicitor General. He was appointed by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on February 28, 2011. Prior to being Michigan Solicitor General, Bursch served as chair of the Appellate Practice and Public-Affairs Litigation Groups at Warner Norcross & Judd. Bursch argued in more than 6% of all the cases the U.S. Supreme Court heard during his tenure as solicitor general. Bursch returned to private practice at Warner Norcross & Judd in December 2013, and founded his own law firm in 2016, Bursch Law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT history in the Netherlands</span>

The history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the Netherlands has reflected the shades of tolerance or rigidity which were utilized by the rulers of the country at various periods in its history. Since World War II, the movement for LGBT rights has been galvanized by both events abroad and increasing liberalization domestically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in law</span> Involvement of women in the study and practice of law

Women in law describes the role played by women in the legal profession and related occupations, which includes lawyers, paralegals, prosecutors, judges, legal scholars, law professors and law school deans.

Carol Eggert Dinkins is an American attorney. Under President Ronald Reagan, Dinkins served as the Assistant Attorney General of the Land and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice, and later the 20th United States Deputy Attorney General. Under President George W. Bush, Dinkins chaired the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

Laura Coates is an American attorney. She has formerly served as a trial attorney for the law firms Faegre & Benson and Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, and a federal prosecutor for the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Since 2016, she has served as an analyst for CNN, and became the network's chief legal analyst in 2023.

Nancy D. Polikoff is an American law professor, LGBT rights activist, and author. She is a professor emerita at Washington College of Law. Polikoff's work focuses on LGBT rights, family law, and gender identity issues. She authored Beyond Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law (2008).

Sharon McGowan is an American lawyer and a partner at Katz Banks Kumin LLP, an employment and whistleblower firm based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining KBK, she was the legal director and chief strategy officer for Lambda Legal. McGowan was an Obama administration appointee in the role of Acting General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel for Policy at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. She also served as Principal Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice. In 2019, she was honored with the Stonewall Award, bestowed by the American Bar Association's Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

References

  1. 1 2 Klemesrud, Judy (1971-12-16). "Never Underestimate Power of a Woman, Even at Princeton". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Rubenfeld Law firm website. Retrieved January 11, 2021
  3. 1 2 Barchenger, Stacey. "Abby Rubenfeld fought for equality decades before gay marriage win". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  4. 1 2 "Abby R. Rubenfeld". Vanderbilt Law School. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  5. "Past Chairs". National Law Association. Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  6. "A Brief History of the American Bar Association". American Bar Association. 1999-08-05. Archived from the original on 2005-03-30. Retrieved 2008-10-17.