Law Commons^™

The Child Client: Representing Children In Child Protective Proceedings, Merril Sobie

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Part I of this article outlines the historical context and addresses the child's right to legal representation. Part II discusses the child's legal status by defining the specific legal interests, her procedural rights as a party to the litigation, the right to choose counsel, and the child's right to be involved as a participant. The penultimate Part analyzes the role of the child's counsel, including an outline of the relevant statutes, the diametrically opposed positions of state legislatures and the organized bar, and the hopelessly conflicting contemporary case law. The final Part addresses the fundamental deficiencies of the “best interests” …

Parent Perceptions Of Child Care Choice And Quality In Four States, Helen Raikes, Brian Wilcox, Carla Peterson, Susan Hegland, Jane Atwater, Jean Ann Summers, Kathy Thornburg, Jacqueline Scott, Wayne Mayfield, Julia C. Torquati, Carolyn P. Edwards

Center on Children, Families, and the Law (and related organizations): Publications

The purpose of the Year 2 Studies of the Midwest Child Care Research Consortium was to assess parent perceptions of child care choices and quality across four states. The states studied — Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska — comprise U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region 7. The current study was conducted by asking 1,325 parents to complete a paper and pencil survey. The parents all had children receiving child care from providers who participated in an earlier telephone survey of 2,022 providers and in observations of 365 providers. Results from that study are reported elsewhere1. Providers in the …

Evaluating Marriage: Does Marriage Matter To The Nurturing Of Children?, Robin Fretwell Wilson

Faculty Scholarship

Three decades ago, it would have been inconceivable for people to discuss seriously the idea of withdrawing the legal and financial support society gives to marriage. In recent years, however, thinkers and policymakers have given more serious thought to the possibility of eliminating marriage as a category entitled to the State’s support. An important consideration in this debate is whether keeping or eliminating the State’s support of marriage matters to the well-being of children. A wealth of studies contemplating modern family forms now exists, many of which invariably stack newer family structures up against the more traditional nuclear family. Until …

Removing Violent Parents From The Home: A Test Case For The Public Health Approach, Robin Fretwell Wilson

Faculty Scholarship

Few decisions are as determinative of a child’s well-being and long-term success as the decision to remove a child from his or her own home following an allegation of abuse by a parent. Using the public health lens Professor Marsha Garrison develops elsewhere in this Issue, this Comment examines one of the most critical questions Child Protective Services agencies face thousands of times a day: whether to remove a child who is a possible victim of abuse or neglect from his or her home. This evidence-based approach shows that the choice to remove the child rather than the alleged offender …

Post-Crawford: Time To Liberalize The Substantive Admissibility Of A Testifying Witness's Prior Consistent Statements, Lynn Mclain

All Faculty Scholarship

The United States Supreme Court's 1995 decision in Tome v. United States has read Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1)(B) to prevent the prosecution's offering a child abuse victim's prior consistent statements as substantive evidence. As a result of that decision, the statements will also be inadmissible even for the limited purpose of helping to evaluate the credibility of a child, if there is a serious risk that the out-of-court statements would be used on the issue of guilt or innocence.

Moreover, after the Court's March 2004 decision in Crawford v. Washington, which redesigned the landscape of Confrontation Clause analysis, other …

Harry Potter & The Law: Family Life And Moral Character, James C. Smith

Scholarly Works

Harry Potter's mistreatment by his Muggle family does not amount to a legal wrong. Notice that Dumbledore did not threaten the Dursleys with legal proceedings, either in Muggle or Wizard tribunals. The ethic of equitable treatment is societal and lacks a legal basis in Anglo-American family law. Family law has many facets; it is an amalgam of legal rules and principles. My focus is the lens of property law -- in particular, family property norms -- although it is also plain that the Dursleys have not violated non-property based family law norms.

Michigan Court Improvement Program Reassessment, Muskie School Of Public Service

Children, Youth, & Families

The Michigan Court Improvement Program was required to conduct a reassessment of its laws and performance and to adopt a strategic plan to further improve its handling of child protection cases. The Muskie School of Public Service, Cutler Institute for Child and Family Policy, and the American Bar Association’s Center for Children and the Law contracted with Michigan’s State Court Administrative Office to conduct the Reassessment. This report represents the results of the reassessment study.

Spruce Run News (Summer 2005), Spruce Run Staff

Maine Women's Publications - All

No abstract provided.

The Lessons Of People V. Moscat: Confronting Judicial Bias In Domestic Violence Cases Interpreting Crawford V. Washington, David Jaros

All Faculty Scholarship

Crawford v. Washington was a groundbreaking decision that radically redefined the scope of the Confrontation Clause. Nowhere has the impact of Crawford and the debate over its meaning been stronger than in the context of domestic violence prosecutions. The particular circumstances that surround domestic violence cases 911 calls that record cries for help and accusations, excited utterances made to responding police officers, and the persistent reluctance of complaining witnesses to cooperate with prosecutors -- combine to make the introduction of "out-of-comment statements" a critical component of many domestic violence prosecutions. Because domestic violence cases are subject to a unique set …

Fathers And The Supreme Court: Founding Fathers And Nuturing Fathers, Nancy E. Dowd

UF Law Faculty Publications

This article critiques the Supreme Court's negative, stereotypic views of fatherhood, especially unmarried fatherhood, and argues that the Court should reconsider and refine its definition of fatherhood around nurture. The corrective for the Court's current view is not to revert to a status-based definition of fatherhood, but rather to reinforce and recast its prior fathers' rights decisions to establish a definition grounded on relationship and care. What should be discarded are outdated stereotypes about men as incapable, incompetent caregivers, as well as patriarchal norms of status and ownership based in genetic and economic fatherhood recognized exclusively within marriage. Instead, fatherhood …

Secondhand Smoke And The Family Courts: The Role Of Smoke Exposure In Custody And Visitation Decisions, Kathleen Dachille, Kristine Callahan

Faculty Scholarship

This publication is designed to assist courts, practitioners and lay people who are faced with a custody or visitation proceeding in which a child's exposure to secondhand smoke has been or may be raised.

Adoption With Contact Law Awaits Governor's Signature, Elizabeth Samuels

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Removing Violent Parents From The Home: A Test Case For The Public Health Approach, Robin Fretwell Wilson

Faculty Scholarship

Child services caseworkers adhere to the belief that, in the absence of prosecution, the only remedy for protecting a child harmed by a parent is to remove the child from her home. The effect of this often is to leave the alleged perpetrator in the household with the victim's siblings. Using sexual violence as an example, this Comment contends the evidence of potential risk for the remaining children is so overwhelming that, as a matter of policy, an adult who violates one child should be removed from the household. Parents who commit incest rarely stop with one child. Ignoring such …

Federalism's Fallacy: The Early Tradition Of Federal Family Law And The Invention Of States' Rights, Kristin Collins

Faculty Scholarship

By examining the history of the federal government's role in the regulation of the family, this article joins the work of others who in recent years have begun to piece together the history of the federal government's role in crafting domestic relations law and policy.'⁸ Much of this attention has focused on federal involvement in domestic relations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with relatively less consideration given to the pre-Civil War period. Though recent contributions to this field have helped to cure this imbalance, ¹⁹ there remains a strong sense, especially among lawyers and judges, that …

Spruce Run News (Spring 2005), Spruce Run Staff

Maine Women's Publications - All

No abstract provided.

Policy Brief: Compensation Of Early Childhood Teachers: What Value Do We Place On Young Children?, Kathy Thornburg, Helen Raikes, Brian Wilcox, Carolyn P. Edwards, Julia C. Torquati, Susan Hegland, Carla Peterson, Jean Ann Summers, Jane Atwater

Center on Children, Families, and the Law (and related organizations): Publications

In 2001, university researchers and state program partners in four states (Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska) initiated the Midwest Child Care Research Consortium (MCCRC). The focus of the Consortium’s work is to conduct a longitudinal study on a range of issues associated with early childhood program quality and the workforce. Across the four states, a random sample of 2,022 child care providers participated in the study representing licensed infant, toddler, and preschool centers as well as Head Start and Early Head Start programs, license-exempt centers, and licensed and unlicensed family child care homes. In Nebraska, 508 providers participated in telephone …

Policy Brief - Infant Care In Nebraska: Characteristics Of Providers, Quality Of Care, And Parent Perceptions, Kathy Thornburg, Helen Raikes, Brian Wilcox, Carolyn P. Edwards, Julia C. Torquati, Susan Hegland, Carla Peterson, Jean Ann Summers, Jane Atwater

Center on Children, Families, and the Law (and related organizations): Publications

In 2001, university researchers and state program partners in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska initiated the Midwest Child Care Research Consortium. A random sample of 2,022 child care providers from all four states participated in the study representing licensed infant, toddler, and preschool centers and including Head Start and Early Head Start programs, license-exempt centers, and licensed and unlicensed family child care homes. In Nebraska, 508 providers participated in telephone interviews and 85 of those programs were randomly selected for an observational quality assessment. This report summarizes the survey responses of 236 Nebraska professionals providing care for infants and toddlers, …

Regulation, Subsidy Receipt And Provider Characteristics: What Predicts Quality In Child Care Homes?, Abbie Raikes, Helen Raikes, Brian Wilcox

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

Far less is known about predictors of quality for family child care homes than for child care centers. The current study of 120 randomly-selected family child care providers in four Midwestern states examined distal, state policy-level variables (family child care regulations and the concentration of children cared for who received public child care subsidies, referred to as subsidy density), and proximal, provider-level variables (providers’ level of education and reported annual training hours) as influences on global quality and caregiver sensitivity. More regulation, lower subsidy density, higher levels of provider education and more training hours were associated with higher global quality …

Delinquency And Gun Violence: The Intervening Role Of Values Toward Guns, Ryan Spohn

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

The current research project examines the intervening role of values towards gun possession and gun use in predicting involvement of high school-aged males in general delinquency and gun-related delinquency. As the first step of the project, we examine the factors that influence the values that the youth have towards gun possession and gun use. The most important factors producing positive values towards guns are a need for protection, having friends who carry guns, being a gang member, and being a victim of a gun crime. In contrast, frequency of church attendance reduces such values. As the next step, we examined …

Pulpits And Platforms: The Role Of The Church In Determining Protest Among Black Americans, Scott T. Fitzgerald, Ryan Spohn

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

This article further specifies the relationship between church-based resources, group identification and political activism among black Americans. Previous research indicates that political communication within churches and activism within the church serve to motivate political participation. Our research suggests that, net of relevant controls, activism within the church does not significantly increase protest politics. A key determinant of protest participation is attending a church that exhibits a politicized church culture, and this effect is contingent upon educational attainment and membership in secular organizations. Hence, the church serves as a crucial context for the dissemination of political messages and exposure to opportunities …

Is Consent Necessary? An Evaluation Of The Emerging Law Of Cohabitant Obligation, Marsha Garrison

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Results Of A Judicial Survey On The Maryland Department Of Juvenile Services, Gloria Danziger, Barbara A. Babb

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Unacceptable Collateral Damage: The Danger Of Probation Conditions Restricting The Right To Have Children, A Felicia Epps

Journal Publications

You have the right to have as many children as you desire. You can have seven like the Waltons, six like the Brady Bunch, or none at all like Oprah. It is all left to your discretion-unless you fail to pay child support, and as a result end up facing criminal charges. The United States Constitution protects the right to freedom in procreation decisions. Generally, this means that the government cannot interfere with such decisions unless it has a compelling reason to do so. Even then, such interference must be narrowly tailored to meet government interests.

This article explores the …

Reforming Child Protection: A Public Health Perspective, Marsha Garrison

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

'Til Death Do Us Part ... After That, My Dear, You're On Your Own: A Practitioner's Guide To Disinheriting A Spouse In Illinois, 29 S. Ill. U. L.J. 207 (2005), Ronald Z. Domsky

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

George's Story: Voice And Transformation Through The Teaching And Practice Of Therapeutic Jurisprudence In A Law School Child Advocacy Clinic, Bernard P. Perlmutter

Articles

No abstract provided.

Sex, Lies, And Honor In Italian Rape Law, Rachel A. Van Cleave

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Business Of Intimacy: Bridging The Private-Private Distinction, Martha M. Ertman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Telling Stories, Saving Lives: The Battered Mothers' Testimony Project, Women's Narratives, And Court Reform, Leigh S. Goodmark

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Eligibility For Medical & Family Leave Under The Fmla: Development Of The Statutory Text 1985-1993, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Charts and Summaries of State, U.S., and Foreign Laws and Regulations

No abstract provided.