Schlesinger v. Ballard - Impact

From the standpoint of women's rights, it appeared on one level that Schlesinger gave women what amounted to special privileges, at least in the Court's treatment of the tenure statutes, while still demanding and receiving equal rights. But this was only on one level: on another, the case simply served to highlight the fact that differing promotional opportunities between men and women were virtually a fact of life. Likewise the case was at odds with decisions such as Stanton v. Stanton (1975) and Craig v. Boren (1976), which sought to establish complete parity between males and females with regard to the age of majority. As for its raising of the issue of women in combat, the case helped pave the way for Rostker v. Goldberg (1981), in which the Court rejected inclusion of women in the draft by a vote of 6-3.