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Full-Text Articles in Law
Introduction, Michael S. Wald
Introduction, Michael S. Wald
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Virtually everyone agrees that the family is a vital institution. Because of the perceived importance of the family to the state, our society always has tried to regulate both the form and functions of families. Laws prescribe who may form a family, the rights and obligations of family members towards each other, and the substantive and procedural rules for dissolving families.
The Myth Of State Intervention In The Family, Frances E. Olsen
The Myth Of State Intervention In The Family, Frances E. Olsen
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Most people concede that there are times when state officials should intervene in the private family. Doctrines of family privacy are no longer thought to justify societal neglect of beaten wives or abused children. Yet society continues to use the ideal of the private family to orient policy. It seems important therefore to examine the concept of state intervention in the private family. In this essay, I argue that the private family is an incoherent ideal and that the rhetoric of nonintervention is more harmful than helpful.
House Of Judah: The Problem Of Child Abuse And Neglect In Communes And Cults, Gregory M. Gochanour
House Of Judah: The Problem Of Child Abuse And Neglect In Communes And Cults, Gregory M. Gochanour
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This Note argues that although some modifications were appropriate, state intervention and removal of children, even from a commune or cult, should be handled through examination of each individual parent/child relationship. Part I examines the statutory and case law framework for state intervention and removal of children from the custody of abusive parents in Michigan, and discusses the policies supporting these laws. Part II examines the circumstances present in the House of Judah and notes the state's departures from the statutes and rules. Part III analyzes and evaluates the usefulness and wisdom of these departures. Finally, Part IV briefly proposes …
From Coitus To Commerce: Legal And Social Consequences Of Noncoital Reproduction, Joan Heifetz Hollinger
From Coitus To Commerce: Legal And Social Consequences Of Noncoital Reproduction, Joan Heifetz Hollinger
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This paper argues that there is an urgent need for the creation and clarification of a legal framework within which contemporary efforts to produce or procure children can take place. State legislatures should act now in order to avoid the kind of crisis that confronts Great Britain, where an infant girl, the product of a breached surrogacy contract, has been impounded by a British court. While the court ponders how to determine the legal parentage of this particular child, Parliament considers criminal penalties for those who arrange surrogacy contracts and general regulations to constrain IVF and ET research and practice. …
Exclusion Of Families With Children From Housing, George Palmer Schober
Exclusion Of Families With Children From Housing, George Palmer Schober
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This Note attempts to resolve the most significant problems raised by discrimination against children in housing. Part I briefly analyzes the prevalence of child exclusion in different types of housing. It also provides a statistical analysis of the rental housing market to enable the reader to gauge the extent of the problem in one type of housing. Part II discusses policy arguments supporting both those who seek to exclude children and those who advocate government policies forbidding exclusion. Part III then examines the various approaches that states have adopted in this area, as well as federal implications of the issue. …
Beyond State Intervention In The Family: For Baby Jane Doe, Martha Minow
Beyond State Intervention In The Family: For Baby Jane Doe, Martha Minow
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Newspapers and broadcasters gave major billing to the story. Headlines announced: "The Life or Death Question of Baby Doe;" and "Baby Doe's Parents Call U.S. Action Intimidating." The medical care decisions about this infant born with spina bifida, microcephaly, and other severe disabilities, not only attracted mass media attention, but also led to both state and federal court proceedings. Legislative hearings raised the issue of her care. Many commentators debated what should happen to this infant of Long Island parents. This article instead will ask: what was all the attention about?; why are cases like this so riveting?; and might …
The Next Step: Definition, Generalization, And Theory In American Family Law, Carl E. Schneider
The Next Step: Definition, Generalization, And Theory In American Family Law, Carl E. Schneider
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
The Journal of Law Reform's Symposium on Family Law comes opportunely, in legal scholarship's spring of hope, its winter of despair, at a time when we have everything before us, when we have nothing before us. As is natural in such an epoch, reflection about legal scholarship, about its history, purposes, and methods, has flourished. This Symposium invites us to extend that reflection to family law, and this essay attempts, tentatively and speculatively, to accept the invitation.