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Full-Text Articles in Law

Exceptions: The Criminal Law's Illogical Approach To Hiv-Related Aggravated Assaults, Ari E. Waldman Nov 2010

Exceptions: The Criminal Law's Illogical Approach To Hiv-Related Aggravated Assaults, Ari E. Waldman

Ari E Waldman

This article identifies logical and due process errors in cases involving HIV-related aggravated assaults, which usually involve an HIV-positive individual having unprotected sex without disclosing his or her HIV status. While this behavior should not be encouraged, this paper suggests that punishing this conduct through a charge of aggravated assault – which requires a showing that the defendant’s actions were a means likely to cause grievous bodily harm or death – is fraught with fallacies in reasoning and runs afoul of due process. Specifically, some courts use the rule of thumb that HIV can possibly be transmitted through bodily fluids …


Familiar Stories: An International Suggestion For Lgb Family Military Benefits After The Repeal Of “Don’T Ask, Don’T Tell”, Maureen Brocco Sep 2010

Familiar Stories: An International Suggestion For Lgb Family Military Benefits After The Repeal Of “Don’T Ask, Don’T Tell”, Maureen Brocco

Maureen Brocco

This Article advocates for Congress to make benefits available to the families of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) servicemembers after the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, by passing an amended version of the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009 (DPBOA). Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is only one element of the quandary of laws preventing LGB servicemembers from receiving military family benefits equal to those of their heterosexual peers. The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) limits the federal definition of a marriage to opposite-sex couples and explicitly bars same-sex couples from receiving federal recognition, regardless of the …


The Meaning Of Marriage: Immigration Rules And Their Implications For Same-Sex Spouses In A World Without Doma, Scott Titshaw Jan 2010

The Meaning Of Marriage: Immigration Rules And Their Implications For Same-Sex Spouses In A World Without Doma, Scott Titshaw

Scott Titshaw

An estimated 35,000 U.S. Citizens are living in our country with same-sex foreign partners, but with no right to stay here together on the basis of their relationship. Many are faced with a choice between their partners and the country they love. This is true, even if the couple is legally married in one of the growing number of states and foreign countries that recognize same-sex marriage. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines “marriage” under all federal law as an exclusively heterosexual institution, now stands squarely in their way. Reform options that would help these couples to stay …


Sorry Ma'am, Your Baby Is An Alien: Outdated Immigration Rules And Assisted Reproductive Technology, Scott Titshaw Jan 2010

Sorry Ma'am, Your Baby Is An Alien: Outdated Immigration Rules And Assisted Reproductive Technology, Scott Titshaw

Scott Titshaw

The growing use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and legal recognition of same-sex relationships are raising questions regarding the recognition of parent-child relationships. State and foreign family law have been wrestling with these issues for decades, but U.S. immigration law is lagging far behind. So far, guidance exists on only one ART related issue under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA): whether a U.S. citizen transmits her citizenship to a child born abroad. Unfortunately, that guidance is contradictory. The U.S. Department of State (DOS) requires genetic kinship for citizenship transmission. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals focuses on the parents’ …


International Human Rights Law And Co-Parent Adoption, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson Jan 2010

International Human Rights Law And Co-Parent Adoption, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Children would benefit substantially if governments legally recognized same sex marriages and parenting. This article analyzes international human rights law, co-parent adoption, and the recognition of gay and lesbian families. It addresses civil marriage and adoption challenges for same sex families and assesses European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence relating to same-sex adoption. This article considers the international community's efforts to implement the best interest of the child standard concluding that recognition of same sex families is in the best interest of the child and should be facilitated in a timely manner by jurisdictions at all levels.