Law Commons^™

Would You Make It To The Future? Teaching Race In An Assisted Reproductive Technologies And The Law Classroom, Sonia Gipson Rankin

Faculty Scholarship

Would you make it to the future? For the last five years, I have started my Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) lecture in Family Law with this question. Students take the query seriously. They ponder their lived experiences such as home training, medical history, education, financial well-being, personality traits, work ethic, and social graces when determining if they would be the “model DNA” someone might select in a future society. The good-natured jokes about being nearsighted, having a pitiful jump shot, and wearing orthodontic headgear turn reflective when someone raises the question: would someone in the future select my race? In …

Resulting And Constructive Trusts In The Contemporary Singaporean Family Context, Man Yip

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The legal rules that emerge in a society are shaped by the conditions of that society. In the area of trusts law, this chapter argues that the English principles of the presumed resulting trust and the common intention constructive trust have been adapted to suit the Singaporean family context. At first sight, given that Singapore law has declined to follow the Stack v Dowden line of developments that have taken place in English law concerning beneficial ownership of family property, it may appear that Singapore trusts law is more conservative and that pre-Stack English law is better preserved on Singapore …

From Experiencing Abuse To Seeking Protection: Examining The Shame Of Intimate Partner Violence, A. Rachel Camp

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Shame permeates the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV). People who perpetrate IPV commonly use tactics designed to cause shame in their partners, including denigrating their dignity, undermining their autonomy, or harming their reputation. Many IPV survivors report an abiding sense of shame as a result of their victimization—from a lost sense of self, to self-blame, to fear of (or actual) social judgment. When seeking help for abuse, many survivors are directed to, or otherwise encounter, persons or institutions that reinforce rather than mitigate their shame. Survivors with marginalized social identities often must contend not only with the shame of …

Matkulak V. Davis, 138 Nev. Adv. Op. 61 (Sept. 01, 2022), Sam Pope

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Deviations from the Nevada Administration Code’s framework for calculating a parent’s base child support obligations may not exceed the party’s total obligation. Furthermore, a district court’s decision to award reasonable attorney fees and costs will stand absent an abuse of discretion. Here, the district court deviated from NAC 425.150(1)’s framework and increased the appellant’s child support obligation by nearly $2,000 per month over NAC 425.140’s base child support obligation. This deviation exceeded the appellant’s monthly total obligation which the district court calculated to $823.04. Therefore, the Supreme Court of Nevada reversed the district court’s decision and remanded with instructions to …

Inconceivable Families, Malinda L. Seymore

Faculty Scholarship

Basic biology tells us that each child has no more than two biological parents, one who supplies the egg and one who supplies the sperm. Adoption law in this country has generally followed biology, insisting only two parents be legally recognized for each child. Thus, every adoption begins with loss. Before a child can be adopted, that child must first be cut off from their family of birth, rendering the equation of adoption one of subtraction, not addition. This Article examines the biological model of adoption that insists on mimicking the nuclear family—erasing one set of parents and replacing them …

A Religious Right To Abortion: Legal History And Analysis, Law, Rights, And Religion Project

Center for Gender & Sexuality Law

There is a long and rich history of religious support, across a wide range of faith traditions, for the right to reproductive autonomy, including abortion. A number of religious denominations, including the Presbyterian Church, Reform and Conservative Judaism, the United Church of Christ, and the Unitarian Universalist Association, support a legal right to abortion in most or all circumstances. Several religious denominations have even — long before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — issued statements explaining that the right to reproductive health care is an essential aspect of their members’ religious …

Antiabortion Civil Remedies And Unwed Fatherhood As Genetic Entitlement, Yvonne F. Lindgren

Faculty Works

Antiabortion civil remedy laws in effect in five states grant putative fathers the right to sue abortion providers for wrongful death regardless of their relationship to the gestating parent. While these laws represent an important new development in the movement to restrict the abortion right, they also expand parental recognition of unwed fathers. Constitutional law requires that unwed fathers who seek to assert parental rights must establish that they possess both biological connection and a relationship with their child or the gestating parent—what has come to be known as “biology-plus.” However, antiabortion civil remedy laws vest parental recognition and rights …

Martinez V. Avila, Jr., 138 Nev. Adv. Op. 49 (June 30, 2022), Candace Mays

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Supreme Court of Nevada reviewed a district court’s decision granting legal paternity to the biological father of a child over the objection of the person who assumed paternity over the child pursuant to a Voluntary Parenting Agreement. The Court held that while paternity can be established and memorialized through written instruments, biological paternity is supreme.

Youth And Families Matter: Reconstructing The System One Youth At A Time From The Expertise Of Youth Advocates, Marcia Hopkims, Kara Finck, British Christopher, Duane Price, Anthony Simpson, Ishale Watson

All Faculty Scholarship

A group of youth advocates were tasked with discussing their experiences in the child welfare system as children and their perspectives on reforming the system. Informed by their experiences in foster care and work with the Juvenile Law Center, the youth advocates addressed issues of racism, reform, abolition, and child well-being. They concluded that meaningful reform of the child welfare system mandates a radical realignment of power to provide full participation, collaboration, and shared decision-making authority to families impacted by the child welfare system.

To Negotiate, Mediate Or Litigate? Examining The Durability Of Divorce Outcomes In The Singapore Family Courts, Dorcas Quek Anderson, Eunice Chua, Yilin Ning

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

For many years, the courts have been grappling with the paradox of marriages—the most intimate of relationships—being dissolved in the courts that represent a public and adversarial setting. Despite the growth of divorce interventions, the perennial struggle remains in many courts on how to reduce the intense acrimony of divorce litigation. The question remains on the scope of “mainstream” interventions to be offered by the courts to divorce litigants. The current study therefore explores the use of court-connected negotiation, mediation, and litigation in the Singapore Family Justice Courts. It uses a statistical method of survival analysis to produce insights on …

Smith's Last Stand? Free Exercise And Foster Care Exceptionalism, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

Part I first situates Fulton [Fulton v. City of Philadelphia] within two broader contexts—the clash between social equality rights for sexual minorities and religious freedom, and a pattern of eliding children from legal contests over their lives. It then explains why the standard constitutional framing of social equality versus religious freedom contests is improper when the state is acting as guardian and proxy for children or other non-autonomous persons. Part II sets out a proper framework for analyzing these conflicts, elucidating the scope and nature of the state’s parens patriae authority—a lacuna in constitutional jurisprudence. Part III applies …

Racial Trauma In Civil Rights Representation, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Anthony V. Alfieri

Articles

Narratives of trauma told by clients and communities of color have inspired an increasing number of civil rights and antiracist lawyers and academics to call for more trauma-informed training for law students and lawyers. These advocates have argued not only for greater trauma-sensitive practices and trauma-centered interventions on behalf of adversely impacted individuals and groups but also for greater awareness of the risks of secondary or vicarious trauma for lawyers who represent traumatized clients and communities. In this Article, we join this chorus of attorneys and academics. Harnessing the recent civil rights case of P.P. v. Compton Unified School District, …

Race And Regulation Podcast Episode 1 - Black Families Matter, Dorothy E. Roberts

Penn Program on Regulation Podcasts

Drawing on her latest book, Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families—And How Abolition Can Build a Safer World, law and sociology expert Dorothy Roberts of the University of Pennsylvania examines the fundamental racism of the child welfare system, which she argues regulates families in ways that disproportionately and negatively affect people of color. She explains why this system of family regulation should be dismantled and replaced with one that better protects children.

Law School News: Professor Of The Year 2022: Brittany Reposa 05/19/2022, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Non-Governmental Organizations (Ngos) In Improving Human Rights In Iraq, Naser A. Yahya

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Iraq has had a long history of human rights violations since its inception as a modern state in 1921. This is true especially under the personalistic dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Under his regime, the Iraqi people suffered a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, including political imprisonment, torture, and summary and arbitrary executions. This regime used a variety of mechanisms to squelch political dissent, including house-to-house searches; arbitrary arrests, often in large numbers; surveillance; harassment and questioning of family members; detention of targeted individuals, such as those returning to Iraq pursuant to amnesties, at unknown locations; …

Credible: Why We Doubt Accusers And Protect Abusers: A Book Talk With Author Deborah Tuerkheimer, Deborah Tuerkheimer, Emily Sack

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Creating Lightbulb Moments: Developing Higher-Order Thinking In Family Law Classrooms Through Court Observations, Sonia Gipson Rankin

Faculty Scholarship

This article fills a critical gap in the family law literature by arguing that teaching doctrinal family law in conjunction with the application of established learning theory and pedagogy yields a deeper engagement with the subject matter and leads to more practice-ready lawyers. ABA Standards 301, 303, and 304 do not clearly articulate the distinction between experiential education and experiential learning; doctrinal law classrooms are often bereft of experiential learning activities. By incorporating active learning and inclusive pedagogy in the doctrinal classroom and following recommendations from the MacCrate Report and Family Law Education Reform Project, students will be better prepared …

The Current Status Of Women In Morocco And How It Can Be Improved, Amanda Maia

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My paper will explore the conditions of gender minorities in Morocco through representation, NGOs, social structures, and resources therein to support the progress of acquiring more rights for these demographics. With an emphasis on the status of women in Morocco. My main questions as it stands are: What are the living conditions for women in Morocco and how can they be improved? What progress has been and still can be made to improve the quality of life and foster joy for these demographics in Morocco? Since the 1990s, there has been significant progress in Morocco to improve Family Law and …

Children’S Online Privacy: An Overview Of How Young People Use Social Media And How Lawmakers Seek To Better Protect And Empower Families Online, Zackary Blanton, Mark Gnatowski, Madison Jenkins, Rachel Kagan, Anabelle Roy, Libby Shaw, Bri Wendol, Monica Wilson-Reid

Gator TeamChild Juvenile Law Clinic

The goal of this white paper is to provide an overview of current and pending children’s online privacy legislation and a summary of online social media platforms commonly used by children and teens.

Doing Better For Indigenous Children And Families: Jordan’S Principle Accountability Mechanisms Report, Naiomi Metallic, Hadley Friedland, Shelby Thomas

Reports & Public Policy Documents

In Part 1 of this report, we attempt to summarize the long history that forms the context of the need for independent accountability measures to meaningfully address the discrimination identified by the CHRT in Caring Society and prevent similar practices in the future. Drawing from this context, in Part 2, we set out what we identify as 10 key accountability needs of Indigenous children and families that must be addressed in order to provide effective accountability. Finally, in Part 3, we discuss features of effective accountability mechanisms and propose three interconnected mechanisms that we believe address the accountability …

An Institute Of One's Own: Polly Bunting's "Messy Experiment" Of Helping Women Navigate Work-Family Conflict, Linda C. Mcclain

Shorter Faculty Works

Maggie Doherty, The Equivalents: A Story of Art, Female Friendship, and Liberation in the 1960s (2021).

In 1960, Mary (“Polly”) Ingraham Bunting, newly-appointed President of Radcliffe College, wrote an essay for The New York Times Magazine to encourage applications to the new Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study. In the essay, Bunting connected the Institute’s goal of ending the “waste of highly talented, educated womanpower” to helping women as well as to better realizing America’s “heritage” and “aspirations.” The Institute would help “intellectually displaced women”—mothers whose homemaking and childcare responsibilities had interrupted their careers—get back on track through a financial stipend …

The Third Annual Women In Law Leadership Lecture: A Fireside Chat Featuring Amy Barasch, Esq., Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Covid-19: A Catalyst To Automate Protection Order Petitions To Support Self-Represented Litigants, Ayyoub Ajmi

Faculty Works

COVID-19 exacerbated the crisis in access to legal services especially for victims of domestic violence for whom the pandemic made their situations even more precarious. In this article, the author shares his experience of building and implementing an automated solution to help pro-se litigants petition the court for emergency protection orders remotely and without the need to visit the courthouse. The article describes the lessons learned in developing a state court online portal dedicated to educating abuse victims and providing them with an automated way to petition the court for protection orders remotely without the need to visit a courthouse. …

Separation And Connectedness: Global Norms Of Open Versus Closed Adoption, Malinda L. Seymore

Faculty Scholarship

Book Abstract:

Bringing together some of the world’s leading family law scholars, as well as bright and emerging minds in the field of global family law, this book explores the differences and commonalities in the conceptualization and legal treatment of families throughout different legal traditions. Each chapter delves into topics integral to family law jurisprudence and serves as a novel examination into a deep slice of family law. Together, the four parts and sixteen chapters create a melodious and intriguing examination of groundbreaking and cutting-edge areas of law in the realm of the family. The four parts primarily focus upon …

Achieving Equality Without A Constitution: Lessons From Israel For Queer Family Law, Laura T. Kessler

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

How might the United States reconcile conflicts between equality and religious freedom in the realm of family law? To answer this question, this chapter considers recent developments in family (personal status) law in Israel. While Israel may at first blush appear to be the last place that feminists and queer theorists should look for solutions to modern conflicts between democratic and religious values, this chapter argues that the Israeli experience has much to offer critical family scholars working to develop pluralistic legal approaches to family regulation. Israel is a country with a diverse population and unique political and legal context …

The Public Accommodations Dilemma - Whose Right Prevails, Meg Penrose

Faculty Scholarship

This essay gives a brief history of religious liberty-based objections to public accommodations law promoting societal integration and provides a potential solution. It argues there are parallels between LGBTQ discrimination and race discrimination, including the continued resistance to full integration and equality. The essay suggests a potential solution to the public accommodations dilemma between anti-discrimination and religious liberty in redefining the scope of religious liberty. Courts should protect religious services and activities—not secular services and activities. The status (religious or secular) of the person providing services should be irrelevant. The focus of public accommodations laws, and legal challenges to these …

Getting To Yes: The Makings Of Paid Leave In Massachusetts, Christa Kelleher, Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson, Priyanka Kabir, Lillian Hunter, Cassandra M. Porter, Center For Women In Politics And Public Policy, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

Considered one of the strongest paid family and medical leave laws in the nation, the paid leave law adopted in Massachusetts in 2018 was notable for the depth and range of robust caregiving supports and protections for workers. But just as notable is how the law came to be. After all, paid leave bills had been filed for years in Massachusetts. Decades in fact. Yet until 2018, there had been limited movement in the legislature to establish a statewide program. What led to the passage of paid leave legislation in Massachusetts with approval from a Republican Governor? What factors influenced …

Singapore’S Adult Guardianship Law And The Role Of The Family In Medical Decision-Making, Hang Wu Tang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Singapore’s adult guardianship law was derived from the Mental Capacity Act in England and Wales. This article explores the process of how Singapore’s Mental Capacity Act was adapted and fine-tuned to operate in a jurisdiction with different cultural conditions, religions, familial norms, and social institutions. The first part of the article demonstrates that despite its apparent similarities, the policymakers in Singapore have omitted crucial portions of the Mental Capacity Act which deal with the human rights of persons lacking capacity. This omission is unsurprising considering Singapore’s history of advancing an Asian values approach to human rights. In the second part, …

A Proposal For Paid Family Leave In Utah, Erin Wong

Student Works

When a woman gives birth, the arrival of that child will have a statistically significant negative impact on that woman’s employment, earning potential, health, and overall wellbeing. The arrival of a child has no statistically significant impact on men’s employment, earning potential, or overall health and wellbeing. The labor force experiences a drain of talent and productivity when mothers leave the market in large numbers after having a child. Many mothers who wish to remain the workforce after childbirth are faced with the impossible choice of their child’s health or their own job and earning potential. Many fathers or partners …

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

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.