Download Marie-Amélie’s CV here.
EDUCATION
2018 Ph.D., History, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Dissertation: Deviant Justice: The Transformation of Gay and Lesbian Rights in America, with Distinction
2007 J.D., Columbia Law School, New York, NY
James Kent Scholar
2006 M.St., Women’s Studies, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Distinction on thesis
2003 B.S.F.S., Comparative Studies (Middle East and Europe), Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Magna cum laude
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2018-present Associate Professor, Wake Forest Law School
2017-2018 Berger-Howe Fellowship in Legal History, Harvard Law School
2015-2017 Associate in Law Fellowship, Columbia Law School
2016-2017 Lecturer in Law, Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic, Columbia Law School
PUBLICATIONS
Books:
Family Matters: Queer Households and the Half-Century Struggle for Legal Recognition (Cambridge University Press, Studies in Legal History Series, 2024) (forthcoming).
Articles:
Exploring Identity, 54 Fam. L. Q. 1 (2021) (peer reviewed) (received Haub Law Emerging Scholar Award in Gender and Law) (reviewed by Erez Aloni on Jotwell Equality and Aníbal Rosario-Lebrón on Jotwell Family Law).
Expanding LGBT, 74 Fla. L. Rev. 243 (2021) (selected for Harvard/Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum).
Queering Reproductive Justice, 54 Rich. L. Rev. 671 (2020) (invited symposium contribution).
Framing Trans Rights, 114 Nw. U. L. Rev. 555 (2019) (Dukeminier Award recipient) (selected for Michigan Junior Scholars Conference).
The LGBT Disconnect: Politics and Perils of Legal Movement Formation, 2018 Wis. L. Rev. 504.
Bureaucratic Agency: Administering the Transformation of LGBT Rights, 36 Yale L. & Pol’y Rev. 83. (2018) (Dukeminier Award recipient).
Expressive Ends: Understanding Conversion Therapy Bans, 68 Ala. L. Rev. 793 (2017) (Dukeminier Award recipient).
Agency Nullification: Defying Bans on Gay and Lesbian Foster and Adoptive Parents, 51 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 363 (2016).
The Custody Crucible: The Development of Scientific Authority About Gay and Lesbian Parents, 32 L. & Hist. Rev. 487 (2016) (peer reviewed) (reviewed by Mary Ziegler on Jotwell).
The Harmless Psychopath: Legal Debates Promoting the Decriminalization of Sodomy in the United States, 24 J. Hist. Sexuality 225 (2015) (peer reviewed).
The Modern Mulatto: A Comparative Analysis of the Social and Legal Positions of Mulattoes in the Antebellum South and the Intersex in Contemporary America, 15 Colum. J. Gender & L. 665 (2006).
Gendered Crime, Raced Justice: A Critical Race Feminist Approach to Forensic DNA Databank Expansion, 19 Nat’l Black L.J. 78 (2005).
Book Chapters:
Regulating Same-Sex Sexuality in the Twentieth Century, in The Cambridge History of Sexuality in the United States (Jen Manion & Nick Syrett eds.) (in process) (invited contribution).
The Coming Out of American Law, in The Bill of Rights in Modern America (David J. Bodenhamer & James W. Ely, Jr. eds., 3d ed.) (2022) (invited contribution, peer reviewed).
Shorter Works:
Complicating Conformity, 40 L. & Hist. Rev. 819 (2022) (invited contribution).
Commentary for Massachusetts v. Blache, in Feminist Judgments: Criminal Law (Sarah Deer et al. eds.) (2022).
Book Reviews:
Review of Queer Career: Sexuality and Work in Modern America, L. & Hist. Rev. (forthcoming 2023).
Review of The Streets Belong to US: Sex, Race, and Police Power from Segregation to Gentrification by Anne Gray Fischer, 62 Am. J. Leg. Hist. 211 (2022).
Review of Raising Government Children: A History of Foster Care and the American Welfare State by Catherine E. Rymph, 53 J. Soc. Hist. 316 (2019).
Op-Eds & Letters:
Protecting Trans Children: Scientific Uncertainty and Legal Debates Over Child Custody and Access to Care, Bill of Health (Harvard Law School, Petrie Flom Center), Sept. 20, 2023.
“Don’t Say Gay” Laws Harm Students Already at Risk, Atlanta J.-Const., Feb. 17, 2023.
Everyday People Must Save Marriage Equality, Winston-Salem J., Dec. 9, 2022.
Florida’s Bill Restricting LGBTQ Discussion Will Hurt All Children, LGBTQ and Straight, Wash. Post, Mar. 9, 2022.
False Claims of Protecting Children are Fueling Anti-Trans Legislation, Wash. Post, July 6, 2021.
Letter in response to “Why So Many Mothers Feel Like Failures,” N.Y. Times, Mar. 5, 2021 (with Meghan Boone & Jane Aiken).
The History Behind the Latest LGBTQ Rights Case at the Supreme Court, Wash. Post, Nov. 17, 2020.
The Fight Against AIDS Has Shaped How Potential COVID-19 Drugs Will Reach Patients, Wash. Post, Apr. 29, 2020.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2018-present Civil Procedure I & II, Family Law, Public Interest Advocacy, Professional Development (Wake Forest University School of Law)
2015-2017 Legal Practice Workshop, Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic (Columbia University School of Law)
2013-2015 American Legal History, Media and Medicine in Modern America, Women in Modern America, U.S. Gay and Lesbian History (Yale University, Teaching Fellow)
LEGAL PRACTICE
2008-2011 Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Litigation Associate
Practiced white collar criminal defense and complex commercial litigation. Drafted appellate and trial briefs in criminal and civil cases addressing discovery obligations, admissibility of expert testimony, jury instructions, and sentencing. Assisted in two trials and an arbitration hearing, preparing direct and cross-examinations and drafting evidentiary motions. Participated in mock jury exercises to evaluate trial arguments. Assisted in taking and defending depositions of fact and expert witnesses. Drafted mediation position statements in contract disputes and fraud cases. Represented client in successful asylum petition based on forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
2007-2008 State Attorney’s Office, Miami-Dade County
Assistant State Attorney
Investigated and prepared misdemeanor and felony criminal cases from arrest to trial. Interviewed victims, officers, and witnesses, reviewed evidence, and assessed whether to proceed on charges. Argued motions that included bond revocation, probation violation, probable cause determination, witness competency, and admissibility of evidence. Conducted bench trials, jury trials, and hearings. Drafted appellate brief.
AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS
2021 Michael Cunningham Prize, Dukeminier Awards Journal (Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law)
2021 Haub Law Emerging Scholar Award in Gender and Law (Pace Law School)
2021 Professor of the Year (Wake Forest University)
2020 William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Early Career Scholar Research Fellowship
2020 Pilot Research Grant (Wake Forest University)
2019 Michael Cunningham Prize, Dukeminier Awards Journal (Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law)
2019 Wallace Johnson Program for First Book Authors (American Society for Legal History)
2018 Stu Walter Prize, Dukeminier Awards Journal (Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law)
2017 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship (declined)
2016 William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Research Fellowship in American Legal History
2015 John Morton Blum Fellowship (research grant) (Yale University)
2015 Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies Research Award (Yale University)
2014 Conference Travel Fellowship (Yale University)
2014 Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies Research Award (Yale University)
2013 Phil Zwickler Memorial Research Grant (Cornell University)
2013 Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies Research Award (Yale University)
2013 History Department Pre-Dissertation Research Fellowship (Yale University)
2012 Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies Research Award (Yale University)
2011-2013 Richard J. Franke Fellowship (merit scholarship) (Yale University)
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
“Discrimination by Popular Vote,” presented at the American Society for Legal History, Nov. 10-12, 2022.
“Gender Expansive Children in Domestic Relations Matters: Redefining ‘Best Interests,’” presented at the Colorado Bar Association Family Law Section, May 11, 2022.
“Reading Rainbows: Inculcating Tolerance in the Nation’s Schools,” presented at the Harvard Law School Legal History Workshop, Mar. 2, 2022.
“Reading Rainbows: Inculcating Tolerance in the Nation’s Schools,” presented at the William & Mary Faculty Workshop, Sept. 16, 2021.
“Exploring Identity,” presented at Families Without Borders (Université de Tours), Apr. 1, 2021.
“Exploring Identity,” presented at Wash. Univ. Sch. of Law Faculty Workshop, Jan. 13, 2021 (invited presentation).
“Expanding LGBT,” presented at the Harvard/Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum, July 13, 2020.
“Expanding LGBT,” presented at the Junior/Senior Southeastern Faculty Forum, Nov. 1-2, 2019.
“Framing Trans Rights,” presented at the Michigan Law School Junior Scholars Conference, Apr. 26-27, 2019.
“Getting to LGBT,” presented at the American Society for Legal History, Nov. 9-10, 2018.
“Reading Rainbows: Battles Over Gay-Inclusive Curricula in 1990s America,” presented at the Harvard Law School Legal History Workshop, Feb. 22, 2018.
“Why LGBT?,” presented at the American Society for Legal History, Oct. 27-28, 2017.
“The Boomerang Effect: LGBT Rights Strategy and Countermobilization,” presented at the New York Area Family Law Scholars Workshop, Aug. 18, 2017.
“Agency Nullification: Administering the Transformation of LGBT Rights,” presented at the American Society for Legal History, Oct. 28-30, 2016.
“Symbolic Legislation: Understanding Conversion Therapy Bans,” presented at the Law and Society Association, June 2-5, 2016.
“Modernizing Morality: Scientific Evidence in Anti-Gay Ballot Initiatives,” presented at the Organization of American Historians, Apr. 7-10, 2016.
“The Delayed Cure: Legal Implications of American Psychiatric Association Debates about Homosexuality after 1973,” presented at the American Historical Association, Jan. 2-5, 2015.
“Agents of Change: Executive Agency Policies on Gay and Lesbian Foster and Adoptive Parents,” presented at the Family Law Scholars and Teachers Conference, June 21, 2015.
“The Parenthood Paradox: Psychological Research on Gay and Lesbian Parenting,” presented at the American Association for the History of Medicine, May 8-11, 2014.
“The Custody Crucible: The Centrality of Lesbian Mother Custody Cases to Gay Rights,” presented at the American Society for Legal History, Nov. 6-9, 2014.
“From Sexual Psychopath to Deviant Sodomite: The Transition from Sexual Psychopath Legislation to the Decriminalization of Sodomy in America,” presented at the European Social Science and History Conference, April 23-26, 2014.
SERVICE AND ACTIVITIES
2020-present Committee for Research Fellowships and Awards, American Society for Legal History
2020-present Academic Engagement and Advising Committee, Wake Forest Law School (chair, 2022-2023)
2020-present Junior Faculty Workshop, Wake Forest Law School (founder and chair)
2022-present Mid-Atlantic Family Law Scholars’ Roundtable (founder and organizer)
2020-2021 Faculty Supervisor, Wake Forest Law Pro Bono Unemployment Insurance Project
2019-present Faculty Advisor, Wake Forest Law OUTLaws, DVAC, First Generation Professionals
2019-present Intellectual Life Committee, Wake Forest Law School
2018-present Peer reviewer (Law & History Review, Law & Society Review, Journal of Homosexuality, Modern Intellectual History)
2018-2020 Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Wake Forest Law School
2014-2017 Publications Committee, American Society for Legal History
2013-2015 Graduate and Professional Student Senate, Yale University
2013-2015 Amy Rossborough Fellowship Coordinator, Yale College Dean’s Office
2013-2014 Legal History Forum Fellow, Yale Law School
2013-2014 Graduate and Professional Student Title IX Advisory Board, Yale University
2003-2007 Columbia Journal of Gender & Law (Editor-in-Chief, Production Editor, Articles Editor)
2006-2007 Courtroom Advocates Project Coordinator, Domestic Violence Project
BAR ADMISSIONS
Florida
New York