Law Commons^™

Legal Representation Of Parents In Child Dependency Cases In Virginia, Eric J. Reynolds

University of Richmond Law Review

Virginia’s current system of providing court-appointed legal counsel for parents involved in child dependency cases is unsustainable and inadequate, requiring swift and dramatic action from the state government. Inadequate legal representation for parents often leads to poor outcomes for children and a lack of protections for the parents’ due process rights. While attempts to improve the system have been made in recent years, they are often quickly dismissed. The largest hindrances in the current system, this Article suggests, is that court-appointed attorneys for parents are typically underpaid, undertrained, and consequently unable to meaningfully advocate for their client. Due to the …

The Current State Of Abortion Law In Virginia Leaves Victims Of Domestic And Sexual Violence Vulnerable To Abuse: Why Virginia Should Codify The Right To Abortion In The State Constitution†, Courtenay Schwartz

University of Richmond Law Review

All people must have access to safe and legal reproductive health care—especially victims of sexual and domestic violence who can and do become pregnant because of the violence they experience. This year, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In doing so, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion. Though abortion access is currently protected in Virginia, this could change with each new General Assembly session. To guard against the danger that this poses to …

Humanize, Don't Paternalize: Victim-Offender Mediation After Intimate Partner Violence, Ren Warden

University of Richmond Law Review

Retributive legal systems fail survivors of intimate partner violence. In criminal cases, when the government and the offender are the parties to the matter, the legal status of a survivor is reduced to that of a mere witness. Survivors then must surrender their agency in the fight against their own trauma. Survivors of intimate partner violence (“IPV”) who turn to civil litigation to recover after their experiences may experience further trauma as a result of time-consuming, extensive, and often invasive contact with the legal system. Even restitution, a largely restorative remedy, lacks the agency, finality, and emotive opportunities that IPV …

Disrupting The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Reforming The Role Of The School Resource Officer, Olivia Seksinsky

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

A School Resource Officer (“SRO”) is a law enforcement officer employed

by local law enforcement agencies to provide security to public schools. As

a result of fatal and highly publicized school shootings such as Columbine

and Parkland, SROs have become a fixed aspect of many school communities.

There are tens of thousands of SROs patrolling the halls of Virginia’s

public elementary and secondary schools every year. Despite their intended

purpose to keep students safe and prevent crime, SROs too often contribute

to the school-to-prison pipeline. When SROs are brought into the classroom

to address “disruptive” behaviors, students are at an …

A Gardener's Tale: Confronting Racial Discrimination At The Intersection Of The School-To-Prison Pipeline And Adolescent Health, Sogand Falahatpour

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Racism is a public health crisis and it is killing Black youth. Systemic racism

in education is a root cause of a long list of inequities faced by Black

youth. These inequities compound over the years and create extreme hurdles

to academic success and, in many cases, are hazardous to overall health.

The school-to-prison pipeline is a severe health equity issue affecting

Black children and adolescents. Racism is a core social determinant of health

that has a profound impact on child and adolescent health. Moreover, health

is not just an individual matter; institutional and structural forces influence

who has access …

Choosing Children: Preventing Intra-Family Conflict From Feeding The Prison Pipeline, Samantha D. Mier

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Parents struggling to raise challenging children often lack needed community

support. These parents turn to law enforcement when they feel their

child cannot be controlled. Problematically, law enforcement officers are

trained to respond to crime, not simple parent-child domestic disputes. Thus,

when parents call police during disagreements, the argument may end in arrest

and contact with the juvenile court system. Interaction with the juvenile

justice system carries a myriad of risks. This comment outlines the risks inherent

in calling the police and entering the juvenile court system. The author

evaluates existing alternatives to calling law enforcement and recommends

that communities …

Family Law, Rachel A. Degraba

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article provides a practical update on recent changes in Virginia law in the family law realm, including, but not limited to, divorce, custody and visitation, adoption, child support, and equitable distribution of assets and debts. There have been significant legislative amendments regarding the divorce process with the introduction of the Uniform Collaborative Law Act as well as the removal of the corroborating witness requirement for no-fault divorce matters. This succinct synopsis outlines legislative changes as well as significant judicial decisions within the past year.

Queering Reproductive Justice, Marie-Amélie George

University of Richmond Law Review

Queer reproductive justice applies the reproductive justice movement’s principles to queer needs and interests. The reproductive justice movement differs from the reproductive rights struggle by emphasizing that reproductive rights are about much more than whether and how to terminate a pregnancy.3 Founded in the mid- 1990s by feminists of color, this movement adopted a holistic approach to reproductive rights. As advocates argued, people’s ability to exercise personal bodily autonomy, decide to have or not have children, and raise any children they had were also reproductive rights concerns. Reproductive justice work thus encompasses a range of topics, including accessing sex education …

Riding The Storm Out After The Stonewall Riots: Subsequent Waves Of Lgbt Rights In Family Formation And Reproduction, Colleen Marea Quinn

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article will explore how LGBT family formation has evolved since the Stonewall Riots. The primary means for LGBT families to build their families, other than traditional intercourse between a man and a woman, were and continue to be through adoption and Assisted Reproductive Technologies (“ART”). In the world of assisted reproduction, typically a lesbian couple or a single woman use donor sperm, either known or unknown, coupled with artificial insemination. Gay men traditionally utilize a traditional or true surrogate (who is genetically related to the child) along with artificial insemination using the sperm of an intended father. As medical …

Building Queer Families And The Ethics Of Gestational Surrogacy, Kimberly Mutcherson

University of Richmond Law Review

Throughout American history, government has used the law to deny some citizens the right to create or sustain families with children to show contempt for those citizens. As LGBT people fought for dignity, equality, and justice from Stonewall to the present, one of the greatest success stories of that fight is the change in how the law defines and protects families. Into the 1990s, people in samesex relationships had cause to fear that their sexual orientation could be used to deprive them of custody of their children. Now, many states, through statute or case law, routinely recognize two parents of …

Ethical Blindspots In Adoption Lawyering, Malinda L. Seymore

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article discusses ethical issues relevant to adoption attorneys, as well as the lessons from behavioral ethics that inform the ethical blind spots common in the practice. The Model Rules for attorneys address a number of areas relevant to the complexitiesof adoption practice. Rules relating to competency and confidentiality, conflicts of interest and dual representation, and the lawyer’s roles as counselor as well as advocate are particularly germane. Although much has been written about the dual representation issue in adoption, other issues of professional responsibility in adoption cases have not been as carefully explored. This Article seeks to remedy that. …

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor (Unless They Are From “One Of Three Mexican Countries”): Unaccompanied Children And The Humanitarian Crisis At The U.S. Southern Border, Samantha R. Bentley

University of Richmond Law Review

This Comment argues that the United States’s response to the humanitarian crisis at its border is wholly inadequate. It argues that the government chose to advance two policies, Zero Tolerance and Family Separation, that exacerbated the humanitarian crisis at the border. These policies facilitated practices that violated domestic and international law. Most importantly, this Comment argues that the United States government traumatized one of the most vulnerable groups of people in the world: children.

"In The Little World": Breaking Virginia's Foster-Care-To-Prison Pipeline Using Restorative Justice, Joanna R. Steele

University of Richmond Law Review

This Comment proposes that integrating restorative justice conferencing into Virginia’s foster care system can help break its foster-care-to-prison pipeline. Part I details Virginia’s foster care system and the foster-care-to-prison pipeline. Part II reviews and explains how restorative conferencing in Glenmona, Northern Ireland’s equivalent foster care system correlates strongly with decreased incarceration of foster children. Part III outlines how Virginia can implement the same restorative conferencing in its foster care system and pioneer a program that could affect its foster-care-to-prison pipeline.

Improving Lawyers’ Health By Addressing The Impact Of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Karen Oehme, Nat Stern

University of Richmond Law Review

Although the legal profession has recognized the importance of improving attorneys’ mental health, it has largely ignored recent social and scientific research on how adverse childhood experiences (“ACEs”) can harm attorneys’ long-term well-being. This article reviews the science of ACEs and argues that law schools and the legal profession should educate law students and attorneys about the impact of prior trauma on behavioral health. Without such education, law schools and the legal system are missing a crucial opportunity to help lawyers prevent and alleviate the maladaptive coping mechanisms that are associated with ACEs. Until such knowledge is widespread, many lawyers …

Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Paid Parental Leave: How The United States Has Disadvantaged Working Families, Kate Miceli

University of Richmond Law Review

This article argues the critical need for the United States to pass a comprehensive paid parental leave program, specifically, the FAMILY Act, to support all families’ financial and caregiving needs and eliminate gender bias in the workplace. First, this article explains the current state of federal parental leave in the United States. Next, it details what an ideal parental leave policy should look like. Finally, it explores current paid parental leave options on the state level as well as proposed federal legislation.

Family Law, Allison Anna Tait

University of Richmond Law Review

Once again this year, the Virginia courts and legislature have been occupied with a range of family law matters—from divorce, to custody, to support. Spousal support, in particular, has been much discussed in legislative chambers, as well as in courtrooms, and significant legislative changes will redesign how divorcing couples draft settlement agreements in the coming years. In other areas, there has been less activity and fewer results. Both the House of Delegates and the Senate of Virginia failed to move out of committee bills that would repeal “the statutory prohibitions on same-sex marriages and civil unions or other arrangements between …

Virginia Ranks Forty-Ninth Of Fifty: The Need For Stronger Laws Supporting Foster Youth, Nadine Marsh-Carter, Bruin S. Richardson Iii, Laura Ash-Brackley, Cassie Baudeán Cunningham

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Family Law, Allison Anna Tait

University of Richmond Law Review

Another year of family law activity in Virginia brought both new

legislation, which will likely have long-term impacts, as well as a

new set of judicial opinions that will bring changes to the Virginia

rules. The terrain covered in the legislation and opinions varies,

but it includes certain fixtures such as marriage and divorce requirements,

equitable distribution, spousal and child support, and

child custody. This brief overview addresses all these areas, beginning

with the legislative changes and then moving to the courts.

Improper Delegation Of Judicial Authority In Child Custody Cases: Finally Overturned, Dale Margolin Cecka

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Intersection Of Contract Law, Reproductive Technology, And The Market: Families In The Age Of Art, Deborah Zalesne

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Family Law, Allison Anna Tait

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Troxel Revisited: A New Approach To Third-Party Childcare, Jeffrey A. Parness

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article will first explore the new de facto parent state laws originating in both statutes and cases. These laws often limit current parental decisionmaking about childcare due to an earlier conscious or implicit ceding of parental authority. The article will then examine current third-party childcare laws, including those specially addressing stepparents and grandparents. The analysis will show that such laws typically do not comparably limit current parental decisionmaking due to earlier ceding of parental authority, making third-party childcare more difficult because of requirements like "harm or potential harm to the child." Finally, the article suggests a new approach to …

Recent Children's Policy And Legislative Developments In Virginia: A Brief History, A Bright Future, The Honorable Christopher K. Peace, Amy L. Woolard

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In this piece, we will outline the structural and policy developments implemented in Virginia in recent years that set the stage for a sea change in children’s services in Virginia.

Recent Children's Policy And Legislative Developments In Virginia: A Brief History, A Bright Future, Christopher K. Peace, Jay Leftwich

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

In this piece, we will outline the structural and policy developments implemented in Virginia in recent years that set the stage for a sea change in children’s services in Virginia.

Troxel Revisited: A New Approach To Third-Party Childcare, Jeffrey A. Parness

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This article will first explore the new de facto parent state laws originating in both statutes and cases. These laws often limit current parental decisionmaking about childcare due to an earlier conscious or implicit ceding of parental authority. The article will then examine current third-party childcare laws, including those specially addressing stepparents and grandparents. The analysis will show that such laws typically do not comparably limit current parental decisionmaking due to earlier ceding of parental authority, making third-party childcare more difficult because of requirements like "harm or potential harm to the child." Finally, the article suggests a new approach to …

Two Dads Are Better Than One: The Supreme Court Of Virginia's Decision In L.F. V. Breit And Why Virginia's Assisted Conception Statute Should Allow Gay Couples To Legally Parent A Child Together, Lauren Maxey

University of Richmond Law Review

This comment examines whether gay men can have a child through a surrogacy arrangement in Virginia and whether gay men can retain parental rights through surrogacy contracts under the Virginia Assisted Conception Act. The Virginia laws affect gay males and gay females equally, but this comment addresses the issues arising with same-sex couples in the context of gay dads. Part II provides a background of surrogacy and specifically discusses surrogacy in relation to same-sex couples. Part III provides a general background of adoption and the establishment of parentage rights. Part IV describes the Assisted Conception Act,the legislative history of the …

Terminating Parental Rights Through A Backdoor In The Virginia Code: Adoptions Under Section 63.2-1202(H), Dale Margolin Cecka

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Family Law, Sharon K. Lieblich

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Spoliation In Child Welfare: Perspectives And Solutions, Dale Margolin

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article examines the potential effects of failing to preserve or produce evidence in the child welfare tort context. Section Two provides an overview of the record-keeping policies and practices in child protective systems throughout the country. It also describes the toll that civil litigation has taken on these systems because of negligent care of children. Section Three explains spoliation and its civil and criminal ramifications in other contexts. Section Four analyzes the effects that missing records have on child welfare torts. Section Five discusses best practices for attorneys and courts in addressing spoliation in child welfare tort litigation. Section …

My Daddy's Name Is Donor: Evaluating Sperm Donation Anonymity And Regulation, Mark Ballantyne

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In Part I, this comment explores the debate on anonymous sperm donation and the current law in the United States. Part II surveys new developments in the regulation of sperm donation internationally and domestically. Part III reviews "My Daddy's Name is Donor" and how its findings relate to the anonymity debate. Part IV concludes with suggestions regarding the national registry and future regulation of sperm donation in the United States.