This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
The latest book by Helena Silverstein, professor of government and law and head of the department, has been selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice magazine.
Girls on the Stand: How Courts Fail Pregnant Minors was published by New York University Press. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that states may require parental involvement in the abortion decisions of pregnant minors as long as minors have the opportunity to petition for a “bypass” of parental involvement. To date, virtually all states that mandate parental involvement have put judges in charge of the bypass process. In her book, Silverstain presents a detailed picture of how the bypass process works.
Silverstein teaches courses on political theory, the First Amendment, equality in U.S. law and politics, modern political theory, and law and society. She also developed and teaches an interdisciplinary First-Year Seminar on contemporary political controversies. The College has honored her with its Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award, Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Award for superior teaching and scholarly contribution to her discipline, and Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Faculty Lecture Award in recognition of excellence in teaching and scholarship.
Silverstein engaged several students in the research for Girls on the Stand, including Mark Tronziger ’97, Kathryn Lundwall Alessi ’98, Ashley Brook ’98, Leanne Spietel ’02, Emily Francis ’03, and Shannon Sullivan ’04.
Silverstein’s research on the implementation of state regulations mandating parental consent or notification when pregnant minors seek abortions has been published in Law & Social Inquiry, Law & Policy, Iowa Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, and Law and Inequality. It has also been cited in legal briefs, including the 2006 Supreme Court case Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. She has appeared on CNN, ABC News, and National Public Radio and in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, and other media.
She also is author of Unleashing Rights: Law, Meaning, and the Animal Rights Movement (University of Michigan Press, 1996).
Choice magazine, published by the American Library Association, is the premier source for reviews of academic books, electronic media, and Internet resources of interest to those in higher education. Every year, its editors single out for recognition the most significant print and electronic works reviewed in Choice during the previous calendar year. They apply several criteria, including overall excellence in presentation and scholarship, importance relative to other literature in the field, and distinction as a first treatment of a given subject in book or electronic form, originality or uniqueness of treatment, and value to undergraduate students.