Jordan Blair Woods, Faculty Director

Jordan Blair Woods, associate professor of law, is a national expert in the area of sexual orientation and gender identity law, and also researches in the areas of criminal law and procedure, family law, and constitutional law. Prior to joining the University of Arkansas faculty, Woods served as a fellow at the Williams Institute, a nationally recognized research center on LGBT law and public policy at UCLA School of Law. Woods is a two-time recipient of the Dukeminier Award, which recognizes the best LGBT scholarship published in the previous year. Woods holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College, a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law, and Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy in criminology from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Scholar.

“We observe that few areas of law and policy have changed as quickly or as dramatically as those regulating the legal rights of members of the LGBTQ community. ”
Michael Hollomon
Legacy Leader, Richard B. Atkinson Law and Sexuality Fund

Dean Richard B. Atkinson

Richard B. Atkinson was the 10th dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law, and served from Jan. 6, 2003 until his unexpected death while attending the American Bar Association annual meeting in August of 2005. While on faculty, Atkinson was one of two faculty members selected by the graduating class to participate in the hooding ceremony at commencement virtually every year since the tradition began in the early 1990s.

Atkinson is repeatedly described as a kind, quiet and strong leader and processor, which could be partially due to his training. After receiving a Master of Divinity from Yale University, he stayed for a Juris Doctor. He was admitted to practice in Georgia, became an associate with the law firm of King and Spalding in Atlanta before former President Bill Clinton, a friend from law school, convinced him to move to Fayetteville. A tribute to his legacy and the Richard B. Atkinson Law and Sexuality gift from Michael Hollomon and Eric Wailes, which launched the program, gives an accurate picture, but reading the comments from his former students at the end of the article shows the depth of his impact.

“Michael and I hope this support will help shape and enhance the School of Law’s academic and clinical programs to advance understanding of the law, especially as it pertains to the issues and challenges of law and sexuality.”

Eric Wailes
Legacy Leader, Richard B. Atkinson Law and Sexuality Fund

Recent LGBTQ Law & Policy Classes at the School of Law

Law & Sexuality

This survey course explores legal issues surrounding sexuality.  The course objectives are to: (1) provide an introduction to several different areas of the law involving sexuality and gender identity/expression, and (2) reflect critically on the ways in which the law historically and currently regulates and constructs sexuality and gender.  Key areas include legislation, constitutional law, criminal law, and family law. This is a two-credit course.

Atkinson LGBTQ Law & Policy Colloquium

This course is part of the Richard B. Atkinson LGBTQ Law & Policy Colloquium, an annual series that brings in prominent speakers who are working on a diverse range of LGBTQ law and policy topics of interest to the Arkansas community. The colloquium provides a forum for scholars to present cutting-edge research and engage with both law and non-law students who enroll in the colloquium at the University of Arkansas. This is a two-credit course.

LGBTQ Communities and Criminal Justice

This two-credit course is dedicated to issues involving how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities and individuals come into contact with and experience the criminal justice system. To explore these issues, the course will examine sources from multiple disciplines, including law, criminology, sociology, psychology, and LGBTQ/feminist studies. Specific areas to be covered include victimization, offending, policing, courts, and incarceration.

Recent LGBTQ Law & Policy Research at the School of Law

Criminal Justice

Jordan Blair Woods, “Framing Legislation Banning the ‘Gay and Trans Panic’ Defenses,” 54 U. RICH. L. REV. 833 (2020), .

Jordan Blair Woods, “LGBTQ in the Courtroom: How Sexuality and Gender Identity Impact the Jury System,” Chapter 4, pp. 61-83, in CRIMINAL JURIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY: PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE AND THE LAW (Oxford Univ. Press, C., Najdowski & M. Stevenson eds., 2018).

Jordan Blair Woods, “LGBT Identity and Crime,” 105 CALIF. L. REV. 667 (2017).

Discrimination

Danielle Weatherby, “Contemplating Masterpiece Cakeshop” 74 WASH. & LEE L. REV. ONLINE 86 (2017) (co-authored with Terri Day).

Danielle Weatherby, “LGBT Rights and the Mini RFRA: A Return to Separate But Equal,” 65 DEPAUL L. REV. 1015 (2016) (co-authored with Terri Day).

Danielle Weatherby, “The Case for LGBT Equality: Reviving the Political Process Doctrine and Repurposing the Dormant Commerce Clause,” 81 BROOK. L. REV. 1015 (2016) (co-authored with Terri Day).

Education

Danielle Weatherby, “From Jack to Jill: Gender Expression as Protected Speech in the Modern Schoolhouse,” 39 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 89 (2015).

Employment

Danielle Weatherby, “Commentary on Hively v. Ivey Tech. Community College,” in FEMINIST JUDGMENTS: EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION OPINIONS REWRITTEN (Cambridge University Press 2020).

Families and Child Welfare

Jordan Blair Woods, “Religious Exemptions and LGBTQ Child Welfare,” 103 MINN. L. REV. 2343 (2019).

Jordan Blair Woods, “Unaccompanied Youth and Private-Public Order Failures,” 103 IOWA L. REV. 1639 (2018).