Law Commons^™

Brian H. Stuy (With Foreward By David Smolin), Open Secret: Cash And Coercion In China's International Adoption Program, Brian H. Stuy

David M. Smolin

Open Secret is a documentation and analysis of seriously abusive practices in China's intercountry adoption system. The article describes three kinds of abuses: baby-buying programs at Chinese orphanages, "confiscations" of children by population control officials, and "education" programs in which orphanages falsify the ages and family situation of teenagers in order to make them paper eligible for intercountry adoption. The article questions the effectiveness of the Hague legal regimen for intercountry adoption, particularly in the context of China. A brief foreward by David Smolin places Brian Stuy's extensively-researched article about adoptions from China in a broader context.

A Due Process Compliant Pathway To Restore Constitutional Fetal Personhood And To Reverse Roe V Wade, Philip A. Rafferty Par

philip a rafferty par

No abstract provided.

Marriage Penalty: How Stacking Income Affects The Secondary Earner’S Decision To Work, Kevin M. Walsh

Kevin M Walsh

Our progressive tax rate structure is aimed at taxing citizens fairly and based on their ability to pay. The rate structure, however, partially loses its purpose when analyzing the income taxation of married individuals. If a married couple decides to file jointly they are sometimes taxed at higher rates than individuals are depending on the incomes of the couple. This has created what we know today as the “marriage penalty,” and it can serve as a deterrent to the secondary earner from working.

There is no simple solution to address how the marriage penalty, in combination with necessary expenses, affects …

Corporate Boardroom Diversity: Why Are We Still Talking About This?, Lawrence J. Trautman

Lawrence J. Trautman Sr.

What exactly is board diversity and why does it matter? How does diversity fit in an attempt to build the best board for any organization? What attributes and skills are required by law and what mix of experiences and talents provide the best corporate governance? Even though most companies say they are looking for diversity, why has there been such little progress? Are required director attributes, which are a must for all boards, consistent with future diversity gains and aligned with achieving high performance and optimal board composition? My goal is to provide answers to these questions, and to discuss …

Commodification Of The Female Egg: Stem Cell Technology And The Future, Rachel Rose Ostrander

Rachel Rose Ostrander

As the science of stem cell research progresses it is difficult to tell what implications it will have on our society and for women. I will begin this discussion by examining how science has viewed women in the past, and use this as a basis to conjecture about how they will be viewed and treated in the future. Prevalent gender bias in scientific writing should be a cause for concern as the science of stem cell research and commodification of the female egg becomes more of a reality.

The process of egg donation has stirred much debate in the feminist …

Abortion In South Africa And The United States: An Integrative, Contrastive Comparative Analysis Of The Effect Of Legal And Cultural Influences On Implementation Of Abortion Rights, Danielle Y. Blanks

Danielle Y Blanks

Despite similarly progressive abortion rights laws, women in South Africa and the U.S. experience completely different levels of access to legal and safe abortions. In this paper, I will seek to explain the reasons for this disparity by describing the ways in which natural law has influenced the application of law in the U.S. and South Africa while examining the role of cultural values in the realization of abortion rights. I will take an integrative approach to explain ideological similarities and a contrastive approach to denote the cultural differences that have led to a de facto marginalization of South African …

Reforming Irish Abortion Law In The Wake Of Tragedy: Looking To Portugal And Germany For Culturally Sensitive Models, Kimi M. Ide-Foster Miss

Kimi M. Ide-Foster Miss

On October 18, 2012, “inhumane laws, lack of guidelines on how to apply the laws that do exist, fear of prosecution on behalf of doctors, medical incompetence, [and] influences of the most conservative wing of the Catholic Church over hospitals” all merged together to end in one of the saddest deaths in modern medicine. The death of Savita Halappanavar, a thirty one-year old married dentist, in an Irish hospital shocked the country. Dying at the Galway University Hospital Intensive Care Unit after being 17 weeks pregnant and found to be miscarrying, her repeated requests for an abortion fell on deaf …

In Defense Of Surrogacy Agreements: A Modern Contract Law Perspective, Yehezkel Margalit

Hezi Margalit

The American public’s attention was first exposed to the practice of surrogacy in 1988 with the drama and verdict of the Baby M case. Over the last twenty-five years the practice of surrogacy has slowly but surely become increasingly socially accepted and even welcomed. This evolution serves to emphasize the bizarre judicial and legislative silence regarding surrogacy that exists today in the vast majority of U.S. jurisdictions. In this article I describe and trace the dramatic revolution that took place during the recent decades as the surrogacy practice has totally changed from one viewed as problematic and rejected to a …

Impropriety’S Invisible Hand: Judicial Race And Gender Biases Within State Supreme Courts, Robert K. Christensen, John Szmer, Anthony M. Kreis

Robert Christensen

No abstract provided.

The Beginning Of The End Of Coverture: A Reappraisal Of The Married Woman’S Separate Estate, Allison Anna Tait

Allison Anna Tait

Before statutory enactments in the nineteenth century granted married women a limited set of property rights, the separate estate trust was, by and large, the sole form of married women’s property. Although the separate estate allowed married women to circumvent the law of coverture, historians have generally viewed the separate estate as an ineffective vehicle for extending property rights to married women. In this Article, I reappraise the separate estate’s utility and argue that Chancery’s separate estate jurisprudence during the eighteenth century was a critical first step in the establishment of married women as property-holders. Separate estates guaranteed critical financial …

Marriage Equailty: Why Laws Restricting Same-Sex Couples' Rights Should Be Subject To Heightened Scrutiny Under Equal Protection Challenges., Cory A. Delellis

Cory A DeLellis

This thesis discusses why laws that restrict marital rights and recognition, on the basis of the couple’s sexual orientation, should be subject to a heightened or intermediate level of judicial scrutiny under Equal Protection challenges. This thesis addresses, analyzes, and suggests why sexual orientation – within the context of same-sex couples – should be considered a quasi-suspect class, rather than a non-suspect class, so that laws negatively impacting couples based on their sexual orientation are subjected to a fairer and more reasonable level of judicial scrutiny.

Ivf And The Law: How Legal And Regulatory Neglect Compromised A Medical Breakthrough, Steve Calandrillo

Steve P. Calandrillo

The rise of assisted reproductive technology like in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a method of human reproduction represents a remarkable medical achievement. It has allowed millions of infertile and same-sex couples to have children who were previously only the subject of their unrequited dreams. Live births and success rates have increased dramatically in the past decade, so much so that many fertility clinics “guarantee” a baby to clients who sign up. But with success comes inevitable downsides. Everyone knows that the price tag is steep, but given the demand, that obstacle seems to deter relatively few determined individuals. More insidious …

Virgin Fathers: Paternity Law, Assisted Reproductive Technology, And The Legal Bias Against Gay Dads, Elizabeth J. Levy

Elizabeth J Levy

In a small town called Bethlehem, the famous story goes, a young virgin woman gave birth to a son. At the heart of this story lies an enigma that would transform Western civilization: if a woman becomes pregnant without engaging in sexual intercourse with a man, then who is the father of her child? In the twenty-first century United States, the proliferation of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has given this metaphysical question a new significance. More specifically, how the law assigns paternity outside of sexual intercourse is relevant for all men who participate in ART and become “virgin fathers.” In …

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 …

Picture [Im]Perfect: Photoshop Redefining Beauty In Cosmetic Advertisements, Giving False Advertising A Run For The Money, Ashley R. Brown

Ashley R Brown

This paper discusses the use of Photoshop in the United States and when overly retouched ads cross the threshold into False Advertising. I consider opinions from the NAD and whether or not a "Photoshop Law" would ever be feasible in the United States.

Beyond Paroline: Ensuring Meaningful Remedies For Child Pornography Victims At Home And Abroad, W. Warren H. Binford

W. Warren H. Binford

This article considers how the United States could fulfill its international treaty obligations to support the full restoration of child pornography victims in the aftermath of the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Paroline v. United States. The article details how the United States provided leadership historically in creating a skeletal legal framework domestically and internationally to help combat child pornography and restore victims, and highlights how that framework is failing victims on a near-universal basis in an age dominated by technological innovation and globalization. The article proposes the adoption and implementation of effective domestic and international …

Masculinity And Title Ix: Bullying And Sexual Harassment Of Boys In The American Liberal State, Nancy C. Cantalupo

Nancy C Cantalupo

This article examines two recent “hot topics” related to Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”): sex-segregated schooling and gender-based violence including sexual harassment and bullying. First, in 2006, the Department of Education suspended Title IX’s prohibition of sex-segregated education in K-12 public schools amidst some sex segregation advocates’ claims that a “feminized” educational system causes sex discrimination against boys. Second, over the last decade an increasing number of boys have sued or complained against their schools for sex discrimination in the form of gender-based violence (including same-sex bullying, sexual harassment, hazing, and sexual violence).

This article …