Digital Commons Network^™

Reconsidering A Parent’S ‘Apparent’ Authority In Intergenerational Co-Residence: The Need For A Paradigm Shift In Evaluating Parental Consent To Search Adult Children’S Bedrooms, Hillary B. Farber

Hillary B. Farber

Intergenerational households are the fastest growing living arrangement in the country. The foreclosure crisis, high unemployment rate, and exorbitant health care costs are causing adults across the generational spectrum to make choices based on their newly realized financial circumstances. An important social effect caused by the weakened economy is that more adult children are moving back into their parent’s home, and aging parents are increasingly seeking refuge in their adult child’s home.

Firmly established precedent makes clear that a parent’s consent to a police search of a minor child’s bedroom for evidence of a minor’s criminal activity is a reasonable …

Do You Swear To Tell The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth Against Your Child?, Hillary B. Farber

Hillary B. Farber

Currently in the United States forty-five states and the federal system do not recognize an evidentiary parent-child privilege. The United States Supreme Court has never granted certiorari in a case involving recognition of a parent-child privilege. For many, it is a revelation to learn that the government can compel testimony about communications and observations between parents and their children. A rights-based argument in favor of a parent-child privilege has not been articulated before in legal scholarship. This paper singles out one specific context, the prosecution of juveniles, and argues that such a privilege is essential in order to ensure children …

To Testify Or Not To Testify: A Comparative Analysis Of Australian And American Approaches To A Parent-Child Testimonial Exemption, Hillary B. Farber

Hillary B. Farber

Among many legal systems there are certain relationships that are deemed to possess such societal worth that despite the evidentiary value a witness may possess, he is immune from being compelled to testify against the other party in the relationship. In the United States, courts have recognized an evidentiary privilege for spouses, lawyers and their clients, psychotherapists and their patients. Surprisingly, the United States has not adopted a federal common law or statutory parent-child privilege. Among the civil law countries in Europe and Asia, a majority of countries prohibit parents and children from testifying against one another. Australia is the …