Abstract
Coverture is the legal personhood of a married woman. This doctrine has negatively affected women’s legal and social roles and altered the scope of the Equal Protection clause, both explicitly and implicitly. This Note explores the relationship between coverture and present-day equal protection jurisprudence moving forward and argues that the Supreme Court’s decisions have continued to preserve coverture in today’s legal framework. Historical beliefs about coverture are discussed, as well as their implications on the legal framework today. The claim of this Note is that the Supreme Court has continued to bolster coverture with its legal opinions, and to truly rid America of coverture, the Court must change its equal protection jurisprudence. This Note is divided into four parts. Parts I and II outline the history of coverture and related jurisprudence. Part III summarizes the current equal protection jurisprudence pertaining to gender. Part IV explains what the Court could have done differently to avoid the present-day equal protection doctrine that does not fully protect gender.
Keywords
GENDER INEQUALITY, Coverture, Equal Protection Clause