Law Commons^™

For Better And For Better: The Case For Abolishing Civil Marriage, Anibal Rosario Lebron

Anibal Rosario Lebron

This article examines – on the eve of next term U.S. Supreme Court’s review of same-sex marriage equality cases (The DOMA Cases) – whether extending the protections and benefits of marriage to more groups is the appropriate solution for attaining a more egalitarian society or whether it would be better to simply abolish civil marriage in order to achieve such a goal. The piece explores why we still adhere to the unequivocal definition of the family as a bureaucratized, monogamous, sexuated married couple with children, and how we could achieve familial disestablishment (requiring the state to recognize the existence of …

What's In A Name? The Case For The Disestablishment Of Marriage, Carolyn A. Mcconnell

Carolyn A McConnell

The most remarkable social change of the past two decades has been the movement for gay rights focused on the right to marry. The movement for gay marriage has made urgent (and indeed is bringing to the Supreme Court) the question of what the right to marry might be and what marriage is. Marriage is, among other things, a sacred and expressive institution imbued with robust notions of the good life, but it is also a state license. That is, in our society, marriage is established as religion is not, and this places marriage in deep tension with liberal ideals. …

What's In A Name? The Case For The Disestablishment Of Marriage, Carolyn A. Mcconnell

Carolyn A McConnell

The most remarkable social change of the past two decades has been the movement for gay rights focused on the right to marry. The movement for gay marriage has made urgent (and indeed is bringing to the Supreme Court) the question of what the right to marry might be and what marriage is. Marriage is, among other things, a sacred and expressive institution imbued with robust notions of the good life, but it is also a state license. That is, in our society, marriage is established as religion is not.

This paper addresses the question begged by centuries of American …

Over My Dead Body: A New Approach To Testamentary Restraints On Marriage, Ruth S. Lee

Ruth S Lee

Money is a tool that can be wielded from the grave. It is not uncommon to find deeds or wills that shape the behavior of the living by conditioning a grant, devise, or bequest, on a potential beneficiary’s conduct. Sometimes these conditions involve a limitation on marriage—prohibiting, penalizing, or requiring marriage to one of a particular religious faith or ethnicity. Courts have held that complete restraints on marriage are unreasonable, contrary to public policy, and void. However, partial restraints of marriage are valid as long as it is “reasonable.” A restraint is “unreasonable” if a marriage permitted by the restraint …

Multiplicity Of Marriage Forms In Contemporary South Africa, Roberto A. Garetto Ph.D.

Roberto A. Garetto Ph.D.

From the perspective of family law, South Africa seems particularly interesting as it recognizes a multiplicity of marriage forms, according to its laws: not only common law marriage, deeply linked with the traditions of Western culture, but also customary marriage and same-sex marriage. Customary marriage, a plural marriage practiced in the form of polygyny, is deeply related to the cultural identity of some South Africans; same-sex marriage is an innovation related to fundamental rights affirmed in the post-apartheid Constitution of 1996. The South African Constitution has a highly advanced sensibility related to issues of human dignity, equality, and freedom. Both …