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Full-Text Articles in Law

Freedom On Paper: Reforms To Women’S Rights In Saudi Arabia Will Not Be Effective Until Male Guardianship Is Abolished, Mackenzie Kramer Dec 2023

Freedom On Paper: Reforms To Women’S Rights In Saudi Arabia Will Not Be Effective Until Male Guardianship Is Abolished, Mackenzie Kramer

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Male guardianship, a societal custom derived from Islamic law, renders women in Saudi Arabia second class citizens. The country’s preservation of male guardianship has broken its agreement to adhere to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the leading international women’s rights treaty. Throughout the past decade the country’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman al Saud (“MbS”), has issued rulings that work to slowly dismantle the apparatus of male guardianship. These developments have been both meaningful and restrained; MbS attempts to tread lightly into human rights reforms to garner the support of western allies, …


Order Of Protection Or Deportation? How Civil Orders Of Protection Entangle Noncitizens And Their Families In The Immigration And Criminal Legal Systems, Creating The Harm That They Were Intended To Prevent., Sarah E. Corsico Dec 2023

Order Of Protection Or Deportation? How Civil Orders Of Protection Entangle Noncitizens And Their Families In The Immigration And Criminal Legal Systems, Creating The Harm That They Were Intended To Prevent., Sarah E. Corsico

Brooklyn Law Review

A civil protection order can act as an important form of relief for an individual experiencing violence; however, it can also bring extreme complications and consequences for noncitizens. Unlike its intended purpose as a remedy separate from punitive state systems, civil protection orders can replicate the harm of the criminal legal system for noncitizens—barring someone from gaining immigration status, delaying applications, impacting international travel, and at its worst, resulting in deportation. Despite the high stakes nature of these proceeding, for the most part, there is no right to assigned counsel in civil protection order cases. As a result, many individuals …


Battling Baby Brokers: A Comparative Analysis Of The United States’ Versus Europe’S Adoption Policies, Amanda P. Gonzales Aug 2023

Battling Baby Brokers: A Comparative Analysis Of The United States’ Versus Europe’S Adoption Policies, Amanda P. Gonzales

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Child adoption involves the permanent transfer of parental rights from a child’s biological or legal parents to another party. Parties in the Unites States (US) have engaged in this process in various forms for centuries. Today, over one hundred thousand children are adopted by American families each year. Many of these adoptions take place privately through agencies. An agency assists in the process of matching prospective adoptive parents with birth parents from whom they will adopt a child. In exchange for this assistance, the prospective adoptive parents pay tens of thousands of dollars in fees and expenses to the agency …


A Call To Action For Parents' Lawyers In The Family Regulation System: Bearing Witness As Praxis And Practice In The Face Of Structural Injustice, Joshua Michtom May 2023

A Call To Action For Parents' Lawyers In The Family Regulation System: Bearing Witness As Praxis And Practice In The Face Of Structural Injustice, Joshua Michtom

Journal of Law and Policy

In this Essay, a public defender specializing in parent defense argues that the family regulation system is fundamentally unfair to parents, and that this unfairness is perpetuated by closed courtrooms and a lack of public understanding. He calls on lawyers who represent parents in these proceedings to make the practice of public storytelling integral to their work, by reporting the injustices that happen in family regulation courts to a broader audience, and helping clients tell their own stories publicly when they want to. He argues that only when the workings of this system are broadly exposed can policy change and …


When Permanency Is Permanent Separation: In The Family Regulation System, A Temporary Removal Fast Tracks Terminating Parents' Rights, Alison Peebles May 2023

When Permanency Is Permanent Separation: In The Family Regulation System, A Temporary Removal Fast Tracks Terminating Parents' Rights, Alison Peebles

Journal of Law and Policy

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (“ASFA”) is a federal law that creates a mandate for states to move to terminate parents’ rights if a child has been in foster care for fifteen out of the twenty-two most recent months. The federal government then pays states for each adoption over a set threshold amount, which has resulted in terminating over two million children’s parents’ rights and disbursing over four hundred million dollars to states. Black families, Indigenous families, and families of color as well as low-income families disproportionately experience the trauma and harm of permanent family separation. This Note argues …


Determining Marriage Length In Support Calculations: Should Cohabitation Count?, Mark Strasser Jun 2022

Determining Marriage Length In Support Calculations: Should Cohabitation Count?, Mark Strasser

Journal of Law and Policy

Many states have sought to make spousal support awards more predictable by linking them to marital length. States doing so must decide whether to include premarital cohabitation within the calculation determining marriage duration, which for many couples will significantly affect the ultimate determination. This Article discusses some of the difficulties in achieving consistency and predictability in marital length determinations, focusing on how the supreme courts in Massachusetts and North Dakota have sacrificed those goals in their attempts to achieve what they likely thought to be more equitable results in individual cases.


A Lineage Of Family Separation, Anita Sinha Feb 2022

A Lineage Of Family Separation, Anita Sinha

Brooklyn Law Review

Family separation is a practice rooted in US history. In order to comprehensively examine the most recent execution of separating children from their parents under the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, we need to follow and understand this history. That is what this Article does. Examining the separation histories of enslaved, Indigenous, and immigrant families, it offers critical context of a reoccurring practice that has had devastating effects largely on communities of color, and across generations. By contextualizing the separation of migrant families crossing the US-Mexico border under zero tolerance, this Article identifies narratives that consistently rely on xenophobia and …


Survived & Coerced: Epistemic Injustice In The Family Regulation System, Lisa S. Washington Jan 2022

Survived & Coerced: Epistemic Injustice In The Family Regulation System, Lisa S. Washington

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Weaponizing Fear, Lisa S. Washington Jan 2022

Weaponizing Fear, Lisa S. Washington

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Punishing Drug Use During Pregnancy: Is It Time To “Just Say No” To Fetal Rights?, Danika E. Gallup Dec 2021

Punishing Drug Use During Pregnancy: Is It Time To “Just Say No” To Fetal Rights?, Danika E. Gallup

Brooklyn Law Review

In family courts throughout the country, civil neglect and abuse petitions are routinely brought against individuals based on their drug use during pregnancy. While some may be quick to justify such state interventions in the name of child protection based on the presumption that drug use always harms fetuses in utero and the child once it is born, this note questions the propriety of such justifications. While drug use during pregnancy may result in detrimental health outcomes, the theoretical underpinning of this premise has been dramatically distorted due to racist and classist assumptions that permeate child protective schemes. Medical research …


Compulsory Dna Testing In Argentina: The Right To Truth Versus The Right To Privacy, Margaret Foster Dec 2021

Compulsory Dna Testing In Argentina: The Right To Truth Versus The Right To Privacy, Margaret Foster

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

During the Dirty War—a seven year repression by the Argentinian junta of political dissidents and alleged subversives—an estimated 500 babies were stolen from their mothers while imprisoned and given to leading military officials as "adopted" children. These children had their true identities erased and replaced with a false one covering up their true origins. This Note will explore Argentina's response to the Dirty War. Namely, it will consider the tension between the right to truth—an international right right often associated with enforced disappearances—and the right to privacy. In particular, it will consider cases in which adults resisted DNA testing to …


Without Religion W(H)Ither Family Law?, Anita Bernstein Jan 2021

Without Religion W(H)Ither Family Law?, Anita Bernstein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Are You There, Law? It's Me, Semen, Anita Bernstein Jan 2021

Are You There, Law? It's Me, Semen, Anita Bernstein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Emergency Removals Without A Court Order: Using The Language Of Emergency To Duck Due Process, Jane Brennan Dec 2020

Emergency Removals Without A Court Order: Using The Language Of Emergency To Duck Due Process, Jane Brennan

Journal of Law and Policy

For a brief moment during the recent September democratic presidential debate, the ugly underbelly of the child welfare system unexpectedly took center stage. When asked about what responsibility Americans need to take to repair the legacy of slavery, the former vice president responded by propagating a myth that Black parents do not know how to parent. Former Vice President Joe Biden said “[w]e bring social workers into homes and parents to help them deal with how to raise their children. It’s not that they don’t want to help. They don’t—they don’t know quite what to do.” What exactly is it …


Limited Scope Lottery: Playing The Odds On Your Ability To Withdraw, Lianne S. Pinchuk Jun 2020

Limited Scope Lottery: Playing The Odds On Your Ability To Withdraw, Lianne S. Pinchuk

Brooklyn Law Review

Limited scope representation, also called unbundled representation, has become widespread and widely used over the past three decades. While the American Bar Association has amended its model rules to expressly permit such representation, it failed to amend its model rules governing withdrawal. Some states have been more proactive than others in confronting potential withdrawal issues in limited scope representation. Those states that have attempted to remedy the withdrawal/termination issues have created specific rules governing limited scope engagements allowing for easier withdrawal by attorneys in such matters. Neither New York nor the American Bar Association have promulgated rules (or model rules) …


Neglecting Responsibilities: The Uniform Probate Code's Failure To Address Child Maltreatment And Poverty, Joshua Hamlet Dec 2019

Neglecting Responsibilities: The Uniform Probate Code's Failure To Address Child Maltreatment And Poverty, Joshua Hamlet

Journal of Law and Policy

When a child or adolescent passes away, parents are typically stricken with grief and unable to cope with the devastation. Unfortunately, the emotional toll is not the only challenge parents face. Some are forced to handle legal battles regarding the administration of their deceased child’s estate. Since the majority of children do not have a will, state adoptions of the Uniform Probate Code dictate what happens to the child’s estate during these tragedies. But what happens in the event these parents abused or neglected their child while that child was still living? While the Uniform Probate Code advises that these …


From Family, They Flee: Asylum For Victims Of Forced Marriage, Amanda R. Fell May 2019

From Family, They Flee: Asylum For Victims Of Forced Marriage, Amanda R. Fell

Brooklyn Law Review

In 2016, 15.4 million people across the globe, the majority being young women and girls in impoverished communities, were victims of forced marriage. Many of these young victims were forced into marriages because of their place within a particular family that used the marriage to derive a benefit, economic or otherwise, for the family as a whole. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, to be granted asylum in the United States a person must prove (1) past persecution or fear of future persecution; (2) membership in one of five enumerated protect grounds; and (3) that the persecution is on account …


Dads Are Parents, Too: Why Amending The Pregnancy Discrimination Act Is Necessary For Courts To Determine If A Parental Leave Policy Violates Title Vii, Krista Gay Oct 2018

Dads Are Parents, Too: Why Amending The Pregnancy Discrimination Act Is Necessary For Courts To Determine If A Parental Leave Policy Violates Title Vii, Krista Gay

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

To attract millennials desiring a work-life balance, large companies have begun to offer new parent leave to both male and female employees and commonly offer longer leave to women than men. Although a company may offer pregnancy disability leave to women without offering similar leave to men, if the company classifies the leave as parental bonding leave, it must be offered equally. If it is not, as highlighted by recent lawsuits against JP Morgan and Estée Lauder, a Title VII claim can arise. Historically, courts have had difficulty deciding if such a policy does in fact violate Title VII, because …


Her Belly, Their Baby: A Contract Solution For Surrogacy Agreements, Devon Quinn May 2018

Her Belly, Their Baby: A Contract Solution For Surrogacy Agreements, Devon Quinn

Journal of Law and Policy

The 1986 Baby M case was the first American court ruling regarding the validity of surrogacy. The contentious custody battle between the intended parents and their surrogate highlighted the issues and fears associated with the practice, impacted legislation throughout the United States, and captured national media attention. Since 1986, however, the landscape of the American family has changed -- gay marriage has been legalized in the United States, one in eight American heterosexual couples struggle with fertility issues, women are more likely to wait longer to have children, and developments in technology such as in-vitro fertilization offer new fertility options …


The New York Court Of Appeals' Expansion Of The Definition Of The Term “Parent” Leaves Future Questions Unanswered, Ilana Sharan Dec 2017

The New York Court Of Appeals' Expansion Of The Definition Of The Term “Parent” Leaves Future Questions Unanswered, Ilana Sharan

Journal of Law and Policy

On August 30, 2016, the New York Court of Appeals in Brooke S.B. v. Elizabeth A.C.C., expanded the definition of the term “parent,” overruling the twenty-five-year-old bright line rule that limited standing to seek custody or visitation to traditional parents. In 1991, the New York Court of Appeals decided Alison D. v. Virginia M. where they defined “parent” to include only people who have a biological or adoptive relationship with the child, reasoning that the typical family consisted of a husband and wife. In many cases subsequent to Alison D., the court attempted to alleviate the harsh application this rule …


Cutting Off The Umbilical Cord–Reflections On The Possibility To Sever The Parental Bond, Tali Marcus Dec 2017

Cutting Off The Umbilical Cord–Reflections On The Possibility To Sever The Parental Bond, Tali Marcus

Journal of Law and Policy

Parenthood is a status comprising exclusivity relating to the rights and responsibilities concerning the child. The rights and obligations imbued in the parental status are evident first and foremost during the child’s minority. Nonetheless, the status has legal meaning and implications that extend beyond the child’s minority and carry on throughout adulthood. By defining parenthood and assigning parental status, the law establishes legal as well as social responsibility towards the child and a bond for life. This article questions the eternal aspect of parenthood and aspires to initiate discussion pertaining to the social and legal conventions that pose parenthood as …


Redefining Parental Rights: The Case Of Corporal Punishment, Cynthia Godsoe Jul 2017

Redefining Parental Rights: The Case Of Corporal Punishment, Cynthia Godsoe

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Have Prenup, Will Travel: Why England’S Law On Marital Agreements Has Attracted Forum Shoppers And How The Courts Can Fight Back, Karina Vanhouten May 2017

Have Prenup, Will Travel: Why England’S Law On Marital Agreements Has Attracted Forum Shoppers And How The Courts Can Fight Back, Karina Vanhouten

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

This Note examines the English judiciary’s reluctance to fully accept marital agreements, and the disruptive effect this has in the global legal arena. In our increasingly international world, the fundamental events of family life—marriage, divorce, and death—often no longer occur in the same jurisdiction. In recent years, prospective divorcées from around the globe have flocked to England to take advantage of the country’s matrimonial law, which generally favors the party seeking to invalidate or minimize a marital agreement. This forum-shopping phenomenon is problematic because English courts regularly disregard foreign marital agreements that would be valid and binding in other jurisdictions, …


Anchoring More Than Babies: Children's Rights After Obergefell V. Hodges, Susan Hazeldean Apr 2017

Anchoring More Than Babies: Children's Rights After Obergefell V. Hodges, Susan Hazeldean

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Domestic Violence Law, Abusers’ Intent, And Social Media: How Transaction-Bound Statutes Are The True Threats To Prosecuting Perpetrators Of Gender-Based Violence, Megan L. Bumb Jan 2017

Domestic Violence Law, Abusers’ Intent, And Social Media: How Transaction-Bound Statutes Are The True Threats To Prosecuting Perpetrators Of Gender-Based Violence, Megan L. Bumb

Brooklyn Law Review

The rapid expansion of social media has brought with it a new platform for perpetrators of domestic violence to assert power and control over their victims. The statutes presently used to prosecute abusers fail to protect victims from social media threats and to punish abusers for making those threats. Using the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Elonis v. United States, this note proposes a straightforward solution to a multifaceted problem—how to better protect victims of domestic violence from social media threats while maintaining abusers’ First Amendment rights. The answer is not mere clarification of the true threat doctrine; it is …


Beyond Walls And Fences: Exploring The Legal Geography Of Gated Communities In Mixed Spaces, Manal Totry-Jubran Jan 2017

Beyond Walls And Fences: Exploring The Legal Geography Of Gated Communities In Mixed Spaces, Manal Totry-Jubran

Journal of Law and Policy

In the last three decades, a new type of physical seclusion has appeared around the world: the gating and walling of urban and suburban spatial residences. This phenomenon, led mainly by dominant socio-economic groups, is referred to as “gated communities.” This article focuses on the legal challenges that gated communities raise in ethnocratic societies that share a legacy of segregation and of unequal distribution of land. The main argument is that, due to this legacy, the legality of gated communities and walls that separate communities generate legal debates that goes beyond classic legal claims of rights violations of non-residents of …


Beyond Walls And Fences: Exploring The Legal Geography Of Gated Communities In Mixed Spaces, Manal Totry-Jubran Jan 2017

Beyond Walls And Fences: Exploring The Legal Geography Of Gated Communities In Mixed Spaces, Manal Totry-Jubran

Journal of Law and Policy

In the last three decades, a new type of physical seclusion has appeared around the world: the gating and walling of urban and suburban spatial residences. This phenomenon, led mainly by dominant socio-economic groups, is referred to as “gated communities.” This article focuses on the legal challenges that gated communities raise in ethnocratic societies that share a legacy of segregation and of unequal distribution of land. The main argument is that, due to this legacy, the legality of gated communities and walls that separate communities generate legal debates that goes beyond classic legal claims of rights violations of non-residents of …


Redrawing The Boundaries Of Relational Crime, Cynthia Godsoe Jan 2017

Redrawing The Boundaries Of Relational Crime, Cynthia Godsoe

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Deported By Marriage: Americans Forced To Choose Between Love And Country, Beth Caldwell Dec 2016

Deported By Marriage: Americans Forced To Choose Between Love And Country, Beth Caldwell

Brooklyn Law Review

As the fiftieth anniversary of Loving v. Virginia approaches, de jure prohibitions against interracial marriages are history. However, marriages between people of different national origins continue to be undermined by the law. The Constitution does not protect the marital rights of citizens who marry noncitizens in the same way that it protects all other marriages. Courts have consistently held that a spouse’s deportation does not implicate the rights of American citizens, and the Constitution has long been held inapplicable in protecting the substantive due process rights of noncitizens facing deportation. Given the spike in deportations over the past decade, hundreds …


From Baby M To Baby M(Anji): Regulating International Surrogacy Agreements, Yehezkel Margalit Jan 2016

From Baby M To Baby M(Anji): Regulating International Surrogacy Agreements, Yehezkel Margalit

Journal of Law and Policy

In 1985, when Kim Cotton became Britain’s first commercial surrogate mother, Europe was exposed to the issue of surrogacy for the first time on a large scale. Three years later, in 1988, the famous case of Baby M drew the attention of the American public to surrogacy as well. These two cases implicated fundamental ethical and legal issues regarding domestic surrogacy and triggered a fierce debate about motherhood, child-bearing, and the relationship between procreation, science, and commerce. These two cases exemplified the debate regarding domestic surrogacy—a debate that has now been raging for decades. A new ethical and legal debate …