Mirror of Justice

Lip Gloss & Law Enforcement: Women In The Criminal Justice Field

July 16th, 2009 at 01:07pm Under Juvenile Law

The field of criminal justice is no longer a male-dominated industry. In fact, it is now a booming and nearly recession-proof field that is constantly seeking highly-trained individuals of both gender. The following are descriptions of the many rewarding career options the field of criminal justice has to offer for women.

Law Enforcement:

Opportunities for women exist in law enforcement at local, county, state and federal levels. Whether you want to work patrol, corrections, security or become specialized in some area, law enforcement may be the place for you. State positions are available in the area of highway patrol or the division of criminal intelligence. Federal positions for law enforcement vary within each agency. Such positions are available in the Federal Bureau of Investigations; Border Patrol; Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm; Secret Service and Homeland Security.

Civilian Support:

Every agency of criminal justice uses civilian support personnel and many of these positions are held by women. Report takers, dispatchers, records specialists, computer information support personnel and radio technicians are the predominate positions held by civilian support.

Court Positions:

Lawyers, victim advocates, domestic violence advocates, paralegals, court reporters and support staff positions are other viable options for women in criminal justice. There are investigative positions for both prosecutors and defense attorneys as well. These positions generally require some prior investigative experience.

Corrections

The field of corrections offers many advantages to women as well. Female correctional officers are needed in any institution that houses females. These can also range from adult to juvenile facilities and maximum to minimum security facilities.

Civilian Positions:

Private security grows each day as more and more agencies are filling in where law enforcement can no longer reach. Large corporations and hospitals often have security/loss prevention positions that offer better hours and advancement opportunities than law enforcement.

Forensic Science

Criminalistics is a field within criminal justice that will continue to grow as technology grows. This field involves advanced crime scene investigating. Arson, handwriting, ballistics, DNA, drug screening and fibers are only a few of the many areas of specialties within the forensic science fields.

When looking at a career in the criminal justice field, women are only as limited as their thinking. Find your passion and follow it, as gender should never stop you from any career you choose.

California Women’s Rights Attorney Says Employment Discrimination Lawsuits Under the Fair Pay Act of 2009 Will Finally Get Women Equal Pay

July 13th, 2009 at 09:01pm Under Uncategorized

As a result of the first bill signed by President Obama, women finally have a much greater chance of receiving pay that is equal to what men receive for the same work from an employer. However, it is still likely to require the filing of numerous lawsuits before employers come to grips with the fact that they can no longer get away with paying less money to women.

 

On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed into law, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, the first bill signed into law by the President paving the way for these lawsuits to require that equal pay be given to women, by way of seeking back pay awards for the difference they were paid and what men were paid for the same work.

 

If you have been discriminated against in your employment in California by receiving less pay for the same work performed by persons of the other gender, even though the statute of limitations has been extended by this Act, you still need to speak with a women’s rights lawyer or an employment attorney as soon as possible.

 

If you are a woman and you’ve been receiving less pay than men are receiving for the same work from the same employer, visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com and call us at any of the numbers easily found on our website.

 

Prior to the Act becoming law, as a result of a Supreme Court ruling, women were required to file suit within 180 days after first being paid unfairly, even if the discrimination of being paid less than male workers in the same jobs continued.

 

And if a woman failed to discover that male workers were being paid more for the same work, a woman still could not hold her employer accountable if she didn’t learn of the unfairness and take action within 180 days of first being paid the lesser rate.

 

Under the Fair Pay Act of 2009 signed into law by President Obama, the statute of limitations of 180 days starts with each discriminatory paycheck, rather than when the employer starts to discriminate. So long as a woman in CA files her claim within 180 days of receiving any discriminatory paycheck, not just the first one, she is considered timely in bringing her claim.

 

An important aspect of the Act is that the effective date of the Act is retroactively set at May 28, 2007, which will allow it to apply to all compensation discrimination claims that have been filed on or after that date.

 

Women can sue for back pay awards for up to two years before she files her employment discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Fair Pay Act of 2009 does not change the two-year back pay limit.

 

The Fair Pay Act is a major victory for women in California who have long been discriminated against in the pay they receive for the same work that men perform and are paid substantially more in many places. It has been determined that women have been earning only 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. This Act will likely go a long way in addressing that unfairness, although it will likely require a good many lawsuits to hammer this home to employers who discriminate against women in their pay guidelines.

 

With the signing of this Act into law, initial victories in CA against an employer will likely lead to settlement of other lawsuits for co-employees who have been discriminated against in the same manner by the same employer.

 

Those who would say that the Act will lead to the employment of less women in such positions by employers fearful of such lawsuits simply don’t understand the anti-discrimination laws in this country and the greater risk employers would be taking if they adopted such a discriminatory stance in their hiring practices.

 

Even with the retroactive effect of the Act, employers in California may be slow to increase the salaries and hourly rates of their women employees until lawsuits begin to fly. Employers who have previously gotten away with discriminating against women in CA may only react in more numbers when they begin to feel the full weight of the law themselves or see large judgements against other employers who have discriminated against women.

 

Visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com and call us if you have been discriminated in your pay from an employer in California based on your being a woman, compared with the pay received by men for the same work

 

The votes in favor of the bill in the Senate included every Democratic senator except Senator Edward Kennedy who was absent because of his health, and all four Republican women senators. Every Republican male senator except Arlen Spector voted against it. If that won’t come back to haunt the Republicans in the next election, it is hard to imagine what else they will do to alienate themselves more from the women’s vote.

 

Under the Act, an unlawful practice occurs when a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted, when a person becomes subject to the decision or practice, or when a person is affected by the decision or practice, including each time wages, benefits or other compensation is paid.