Law Commons^™

The Child Vanishes: Justice Scalia's Approach To The Role Of Psychology In Determining Children's Rights And Responsibilities, Aviva Orenstein

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Article explores how Justice Antonin Scalia’s hostility to psychology, antipathy to granting children autonomous rights, and dismissiveness of children’s interior lives both affected his jurisprudence and was a natural outgrowth of it. Justice Scalia expressed a skeptical, one might even say hostile, attitude towards psychology and its practitioners. Justice Scalia’s cynicism about the discipline and the therapists who practice it is particularly interesting regarding legal and policy arguments concerning children. His love of tradition and his rigid and unempathetic approach to children clash with modern notions of child psychology. Justice Scalia’s attitude towards psychology helps to explain his jurisprudence, …

Social-Ecological And Protective Factor Approach To Managing Parental Incarceration, Jacquelyn Harris

Dissertations

Mass imprisonment does not only impact the incarcerated individual; it also affects approximately five million children in the United States. Researchers identified and compare the impact of parental incarceration on child development. They acknowledged the protective factors across the lifecycle from a social-ecological perspective and specifically related to parental incarceration. The comprehensive literature review inspired an innovative model, the social-ecological and protective factor approach to managing parental incarceration. The primary goal of this model is to combat the detrimental effects of parental incarceration by identifying protective factors across the lifecycle and throughout the microsystem, mesosystem, and exosystem. This model is …

America’S Second-Class Children: An Examination Of President Trump’S Immigration Policies On Migrant Children And Inquiry On Justice Through The Catholic Perspective, Gabriel Sáenz

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Not Your Average Summer Camp: Children In Immigration Detention, Cindy Izquierdo

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Police Prevention Of Domestic Homicide: Missed Opportunities And Barriers To Change, Michael D. Saxton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This integrated-article dissertation focused on the critical role of police in responding to domestic violence (DV) and recognizing the potential risk of adult and child homicides. The first study examined the police role in domestic homicide through an analysis of cases reviewed by the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee in Ontario, Canada. Homicide cases with police contact were found to have 1.6 times more risk factors compared to those without police contact. Cases also show an overall scarcity of formal risk assessments, even when there was prior police contact. The second study was a national survey on the types of …

How Should Justice Policy Treat Young Offenders?, B J. Casey, Richard J. Bonnie, Andre Davis, David L. Faigman, Morris B. Hoffman, Owen D. Jones, Read Montague, Stephen J. Morse, Marcus E. Raichle, Jennifer A. Richeson, Elizabeth S. Scott, Laurence Steinberg, Kim A. Taylor-Thompson, Anthony D. Wagner

All Faculty Scholarship

The justice system in the United States has long recognized that juvenile offenders are not the same as adults, and has tried to incorporate those differences into law and policy. But only in recent decades have behavioral scientists and neuroscientists, along with policymakers, looked rigorously at developmental differences, seeking answers to two overarching questions: Are young offenders, purely by virtue of their immaturity, different from older individuals who commit crimes? And, if they are, how should justice policy take this into account?

A growing body of research on adolescent development now confirms that teenagers are indeed inherently different from adults, …

Adverse Childhood Experiences In The New Mexico Juvenile Justice Population, Yael Cannon, George Davis, Andrew Hsi, Alexandra Bochte

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Faculty from the University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Law and the UNM School of Medicine, and New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) initiated a joint project to look at the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) nationally and in New Mexico. The study was intended to better establish the association between early childhood trauma and delinquency, as well as to explore the role that law and medicine can play in ensuring better health and juvenile justice outcomes for children who have experienced ACEs.

Food Policy And Cognitive Bias, Paul F. Campos

Publications

No abstract provided.

Facilitating Forgiveness And Reconciliation In “Good Enough” Marriages, Solangel Maldonado

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The article offers information on the long-term effects of divorce on children and parents under the analysis of the social science literatures. It informs that the U.S. Courts should encourage reconciliation between low-discord parents which in turn would help to save their marriage and protect their children from negative psychological effects of their divorce.

Adult Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse And The Statute Of Limitations: The Need For Consistent Application Of The Delayed Discovery Rule, Gregory G. Gordon

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Building Resilience In Foster Children: The Role Of The Child's Advocate, Frank E. Vandervort, James Henry, Mark A. Sloane

Articles

This Article provides an introduction to, and brief overview of trauma, its impact upon foster children, and steps children's advocates" can take to lessen or ameliorate the impact of trauma upon their clients. This Article begins in Part 11 by defining relevant terms. Part III addresses the prevalence of trauma among children entering the child welfare system. Part IV considers the neurodevelopmental (i.e., the developing brain) impact of trauma on children and will explore how that trauma may manifest emotionally and behaviorally. With this foundation in place, Part V discusses the need for a comprehensive trauma assessment including a thorough …

Child Welfare Cases Involving Mental Illness: Reflections On The Role And Responsibilities Of The Lawyer-Guardian Ad Litem, Frank E. Vandervort

Articles

Child welfare cases involving mental illness suffered either by a child or his parent can be among the most difficult and perplexing that a child’s lawyerguardian ad litem (L-GAL) will handle. They may present daunting problems of accessing necessary and appropriate services as well as questions about whether and when such mental health problems can be resolved or how best to manage them. They also require the L-GAL to carefully consider crucially important questions—rarely with all the information one would like to have and too often with information that comes late in the case, is fragmented or glaringly incomplete. This …

Predators And Propensity: The Proper Approach For Determining The Admissibility Of Prior Bad Acts Evidence In Child Sexual Abuse Prosecutions, Basyle Tchividjian

Basyle Tchividjian

The admissibility of prior bad act evidence in child sexual abuse prosecutions oftentimes makes the difference between a guilty and not guilty verdict. Recently, jurisdictions have growingly embraced the admission of such evidence for the purpose of establishing the defendant’s propensity to sexually victimize children. Due to the potentially high prejudicial effect of admitting propensity evidence, it is more critical than ever that courts carefully apply the decisive evidentiary gatekeeper, the probative value balancing test of Federal Rule of Evidence 403 and its state equivalents. Over the years, courts and legislators have attempted to develop analytical frameworks to be used …

Rhode Island Left Out Of Fbi Initiative, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Evolutionary Theory And Kinship Foster Care: An Initial Test Of Two Hypotheses, David J. Herring, Jeffrey J. Shook, Sara Goodkind, Kevin H. Kim

Articles

Public child welfare systems increasingly rely on kin to serve as foster parents. This study tests two hypotheses concerning kinship foster care that have been formulated based on evolutionary theory and behavioral biology research. The first hypothesis is that on average foster children are likely to benefit from higher levels of parental investment and realize better outcomes if placed with kin rather than non-kin foster parents. The second hypothesis is that on average children in kinship foster care placements are likely to benefit from higher levels of parental investment and realize better outcomes if placed with some types of kin …

The Scientific Shortcomings Of Roper V. Simmons, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

This Article contends that some of the case law and social science research that form the basis for the United States Supreme Court's decision in Roper v. Simmons are insufficient and outdated. The Court also relies heavily upon briefs submitted by the respondent and his amici, in lieu of providing more pertinent citations and analysis that could have enhanced and modernized the Court's arguments. The sparse and sometimes archaic sources for Roper potentially limit the opinion's precedential value. For example, the Court cites Erik Erikson's 1968 book, Identity: Youth and Crisis, to support the view that, relative to adults, juveniles …

Induced Autism The Legal And Ethical Implications Of Inoculating Vaccine Manufacturers From Liability, Helia Garrido Hull

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Foster Care Placement: Reducing The Risk Of Sibling Incest, David J. Herring

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Westermarck theory maintains that incest avoidance arises from the physical proximity of siblings during a critical period of early childhood. This proximity gives rise to an inhibiting effect on post childhood sexual interest. Two recent studies of sibling relationships have verified and refined the Westermarck theory, indicating that the critical period extends through the first four years of childhood. The theory and the studies have implications for child welfare laws, policies and practices surrounding the placement of siblings in foster care. Namely, the findings provide powerful reasons for placing siblings together during the critical period in order to minimize …

6. Applying Suggestibility Research To The Real World: The Case Of Repeated Questions., Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

Herd Behavior In Designer Genes, Peter H. Huang

Publications

The ability of individuals to choose their children's genes has increased over time and may ultimately culminate in a world involving free market reprogenetic technologies. Reprogenetic technologies combine advances in reproductive biology and genetics to provide humans increased control over their children's genes. This Article offers economic perspectives that are helpful in understanding the possibly unexpected ethical, legal, and social issues at stake in using reprogenetic technologies for trait enhancement selection. The Appendix analyzes two competitive games that might arise in such a biotechnological society. Specifically, the Article focuses on herd behavior, caused by either a popularity contest or positional …

The Child Sexual Abuse Literature: A Call For Greater Objectivity, John E.B. Myers

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Accusations of Child Sexual Abuse by Hollida Wakefield and Ralph Underwager., The Battle and the Backlash: The Child Sexual Abuse War by David Hechler., On Trial: America's Courts and Their Treatment of Sexually Abused Children by Billie Wright Dziech and Chales B. Schudson.

Cults, Deprogrammers, And The Necessity Defense, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note considers the applicability of the necessity defense in criminal prosecutions of parents and deprogrammers. Part I explores the conflicting policies that underlie the traditional necessity defense, and suggests that courts replace their unitary approach to necessity with a "choice of evils" defense - for actors reasonably attempting to avoid a greater evil - and a "compulsion" defense - for actors reacting understandably to the pressure of circumstances. Part II applies these defenses to deprogramming cases, and concludes that rarely may they be advanced successfully.

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Prior To Voluntary Commitment By A Parent Or Guardian To A State Mental Institution, Children Under The Age Of 18 Are Entitled To Specific Procedural Due Process Rights Which Cannot Be Waived By The Committing Adult, Mark J. Levin

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

On The Voluntary Admission Of Minors, Louis Lessem

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The past several years have been witness to dramatic changes in both the theory and practice of civil commitment. In the law, this development has taken the form of increased concern for the protection of the personal liberties of the mentally ill while among members of the medical profession it has been experienced as a part of the process of opening up the back wards. Legislatures in many states have responded by revising their mental health statutes to establish more rigorous standards for commitment, periodic review of the status of committed patients, and better procedural safeguards throughout the commitment process. …