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Full-Text Articles in Law
Sex Before Violence: Girls, Dating Violence, And (Perceived) Sexual Autonomy, Cheryl Hanna
Sex Before Violence: Girls, Dating Violence, And (Perceived) Sexual Autonomy, Cheryl Hanna
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This article explores the phenomenon of girl violence by examining teen dating violence and girls' experiences with intimate abuse both as victims and as perpetrators. While there is a tendency to view women's experiences as victims of violence as separate and distinct from their experiences as victims of violence, the two phenomena are interrelated. A girl's violent victimization can lead her to victimize someone else, just as her own violence can lead her to violent victimization. These conversations about young women and sexual behavior are especially important for lawyers and advocates. While the implementation of legal strategies such as civil …
Domestic Violence As A Factor In Custody Determinations In New York State, Hon. Judith J. Gische
Domestic Violence As A Factor In Custody Determinations In New York State, Hon. Judith J. Gische
Fordham Urban Law Journal
In 1996, the New York State Legislature mandated that rial courts consider the effect of domestic violence in child custody and visitation disputes. In 1998, the legislature amended the law to provide that, under most circumstances, a person convicted of murdering a child's parent shall be denied custody and visitation. The amendment was in response to a growing national trend to give greater attention to the serious effect domestic violence has on children. While the law now conveys the seriousness with which the legislature view domestic violence, many problems inherent in resolving custody and visitation disputes involving domestic violence still …
Understanding The Victim: A Guide To Aid In The Prosecution Of Domestic Violence, Jennice Vilhauer
Understanding The Victim: A Guide To Aid In The Prosecution Of Domestic Violence, Jennice Vilhauer
Fordham Urban Law Journal
As one of the most prevalent crimes in the country, domestic violence is one of the most frequently handled cases for prosecutors across the nation. Despite their commonality, however, domestic violence cases can raise the anxiety level of even the most experience prosecutors. There are several causes of such anxiety. First, domestic violence cases are often plagued by evidentiary problems that occur when a victim does not desire prosecution. Second, even in states where mandatory prosecution laws have been enacted, it can still be difficult to successfully prosecute a case when a victim is hostile, uncooperative and acting in direct …
The Role Of The Law Guardian In A Custody Case Involving Domestic Violence, Nancy S. Erickson
The Role Of The Law Guardian In A Custody Case Involving Domestic Violence, Nancy S. Erickson
Fordham Urban Law Journal
A law guardian for a child has an extremely difficult job, one that arguably requires a higher degree of diligence than that of an attorney representing a competent adult. Yet, under New York law, the role of the law guardian for a child involved in a custody is not clearly defined. When domestic violence is involved, the law guardian's role becomes crucial. The role of the law guardian for a child in a custody case involving domestic violence has been expanded as a result of the enactment of chapter 85 of the 1996 Laws of New York. This article outlines …
Women, Children And Domestic Violence: Current Tensions And Emerging Issues
Women, Children And Domestic Violence: Current Tensions And Emerging Issues
Fordham Urban Law Journal
A symposium in which the conference speakers give a clear and disturbing picture of how we ascribe a kind of omnipotence to mothers vis-a-vis their children. If children are hurt, it is assumed that those at fault must be the mothers, and they are likely to be blamed even when it is the father who strikes the blows, lands the punchers or terrifies the child. Somehow, we imagine they should have been able to snatch the children out of harms way. The answer to this problem ultimately lies in making sure the ways victims of domestic violence think about their …
Charging Battered Mothers With "Failure To Protect": Still Blaming The Victim
Charging Battered Mothers With "Failure To Protect": Still Blaming The Victim
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Domestic violence harms children and families. In the past several years, efforts to recognize this harm have led to the passage of new state laws that allow for concurrent criminal and family court jurisdiction in domestic violence cases, mandate arrest in domestic violence situations and require courts to consider domestic violence as a factor in custody decisions. Unfortunately, the heightened awareness of the harm domestic violence causes children has also resulted in a punitive policy towards battered women in the child welfare system. Increasingly in New York City, abuse and neglect proceedings are brought against battered mothers. Their children are …
Weighing The Domestic Violence Factor In Custody Cases: Tipping The Scales In Favor Of Protecting Victims And Their Children, Kim Susser
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Many new laws and policies are emerging in the area of domestic violence. In 1994, the Legislature passed the Family Protection and Domestic Violence Intervention Act- a complete overhaul of laws dealing with domestic violence in both the civil and criminal arean. The Legislature declared that domestic violence is now a crime. It is unfortunate that batterers are not always consider criminals when they seek custody of their children. If convicted of a stranger crime, courts are known to accord weight to the batterer's criminal history. When the victim is the child's mother, it seems to be another story. All …
Stopping New Yorkers' Stalkers: An Anti-Stalking Law For The Millennium, Demetra M. Pappas
Stopping New Yorkers' Stalkers: An Anti-Stalking Law For The Millennium, Demetra M. Pappas
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This essay concerns itself with some of the legislative responses to stalking in New York and examines some of the specific anti-stalking provisions of the Clinic Access and Anti-Stalking Act of 1999, recently signed by New York Governor George Pataki. The author interviews Senator Michael A.L. Balboni, Assemblyman Scott Stringer, and the Assemblyman's former Legislative Director Rob Hack, who were all heavily involved in getting the legislation passed, offering a unique perspective.
Gender Difference In Perceiving Violence And Its Implication For The Vawa's Civil Rights Remedy, Renee L. Jarusinsky
Gender Difference In Perceiving Violence And Its Implication For The Vawa's Civil Rights Remedy, Renee L. Jarusinsky
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The enactment of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 was viewed as "a potential vehicle of empowerment" for women, and was a long-awaited morve toward gender equality in the United States. By enacting the VAWA, Congress emphatically expressed a strong commitment to curb and attack the pervasiveness of sex-based violence. In practice, however, the civil rights remdy has fallen short. In the few VAWA cases brought under the civil rights remedy, the "crime of violence" requirement has been interpreted in such a narrow way that it strips the remedy of any effect. While there is confusion as to …
Civil Rights Law In Transition: The Forty-Fifth Anniversary Of The New York City Commission On Human Rights
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Symposium co-sponsored by the New York City Commission on Human Rights and the Fordham Urban Law Journal includes transcripts of panel discussions on topics at the intersection of law and policy. These topics include mediation, domestic violence, disability law, hate crimes legislation, sexual harassment, and sexual orientation law.
Protection Of Domestic Violence Victims Under The New York City Human Rights Law's Provisions Prohibiting Discrimination On The Basis Of Disability, Marta B. Varela
Protection Of Domestic Violence Victims Under The New York City Human Rights Law's Provisions Prohibiting Discrimination On The Basis Of Disability, Marta B. Varela
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Article analyzes the need to create a new protected class of domestic violence victims to shield them from discrimination in employment. The Article examines arguments for and against proposed legislation to revise the human rights law governing disability, section 8-107 of the New York City Administration Code. The Article concludes that this legislation is unnecessary because the law already provides sufficient protection to domestic violence victims without requiring that victims disclose their domestic violence status to their employers.
Protecting Women's Welfare In The Face Of Violence, Martha F. Davis, Susan J. Kraham
Protecting Women's Welfare In The Face Of Violence, Martha F. Davis, Susan J. Kraham
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This article argues that the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program provides a valuable means of continuing support for impoverished women. It points out that such women are at an increased risk of domestic violence, and that they are often unable to escape from abusive relationships because they and their children are economically dependent on their partners. The article criticizes proposed reforms to AFDC from this context, arguing that without the safety net provided by public assistance, many women and children would be trapped by financial constraints in dangerous or life threatening relationships. Thus, an adequate level of public …
Five Year Report Of The New York Judicial Committee On Women In The Courts, The Judicial Committee On Women In The Courts
Five Year Report Of The New York Judicial Committee On Women In The Courts, The Judicial Committee On Women In The Courts
Fordham Urban Law Journal
In response to a report submitted by the Judicial Committee on Women, which concluded gender bias to be a "pervasive problem" in the New York State Court System, a Task Force was created to implement the recommendations of that committee. The Five Year Report is a summary of the work done by the Committee and notes the progress made in the fight for more gender equality in our courts. The Committee concluded that although significant progress has been made, there is still a long way to go in the fight for gender equality.
Protecting Battered Women: A Proposal For Comprehensive Domestic Violence Legislation In New York, Lisa R. Beck
Protecting Battered Women: A Proposal For Comprehensive Domestic Violence Legislation In New York, Lisa R. Beck
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This note proposes that New York implement a mandatory arrest policy for certain types of domestic violence. The author first examines New York's current methods of addressing domestic violence, including previous attempts at decriminalization, judicial remedies, and the effectiveness of orders of protection. The author then describes the issues of the current discretionary arrest policy. The note examines domestic violence legislation in other states, then proposes a comprehensive statutory scheme to address domestic violence in New York state.
The Inadequate Police Protection Of Battered Wives: Can A City And Its Police Be Held Liable Under The Equal Protection Clause?, Jeffrey A. Shapiro
The Inadequate Police Protection Of Battered Wives: Can A City And Its Police Be Held Liable Under The Equal Protection Clause?, Jeffrey A. Shapiro
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The police strive to settle the vast majority of wife battering cases without arrest or through mediation, often leading to terrible results for the abused wife. This Note supports holding a city and its police liable under the equal protection clause for the inadequate police protection of battered wives. The Note finds the best legal strategy under the equal protection clause would involve showing impermissible gender-based discrimination.