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Full-Text Articles in Law
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 …