Law Commons^™

Sorry Ma'am, Your Baby Is An Alien: Outdated Immigration Rules And Assisted Reproductive Technology, Scott Titshaw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

Gay And Lesbian Elders: Estate Planning And End-Of-Life Decisionmaking, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

This Article addresses the three areas of core concern for gay and lesbian elders -- chosen family, financial insecurity, and anti-gay bias in the context of estate planning. The first section provides an overview of the current generation of gay and lesbian elders, including a summary of pre-Stonewall history and existing demographic information. The second section outlines the challenges associated with drafting an estate plan that favors chosen family over next of kin. The third section engages the topic of financial insecurity, discussing various benefits and government programs, such as social security and Medicaid planning. The fourth and final section …

Applying Nuisance Law To Internet Obscenity, Michael J. Gray

Michael J. Gray

The current use of criminal law to prosecute Internet obscenity is ineffective and at the same time unfair. While prosecution of obscenity over the internet is extremely rare, when a prosecution does occur the punishment is extremely harsh. This paper advocates the use of nuisance law injunctions as a better alternative to responding to Internet obscenity. Nuisance law provides the advantage of allowing for wider enforcement of obscenity law on the Internet, while at the same time reducing the penalty for violating the subjective Miller test for obscenity. This paper also explores recent applications of nuisance law to the Internet …

The Rise, Fall And Rise Again Of The Genetic Foundation For Legal Parentage Determination, Yehezkel Margalit

Hezi Margalit

Recently, we have witnessed dramatic changes in the formation of the family and parenthood. One of the results of those shifts is a growing number of children growing up outside of the traditional marriage framework. Therefore, the dilemma of determining a child's parentage, which was usually resolved by a legal fiction as to the child's legal parents, is becoming increasingly problematic. It is appropriate that any discussion of the establishment of legal parentage should start with a study of the rise of the most popular modern model, the genetic model.

It is relevant to point out that from the beginning …

'Freedom Of Contract' In Halachic Family Law? – A Comparison Of The Babylonian Talmud And The Palestinian Talmud, Yehezkel Margalit

Hezi Margalit

Recently we are witness to a growing interest in nuptial agreements, both in Jewish and civil law. In civil law it is customary to trace the “meta-story” of the development of civil family law from sacrament to status and from status to contract. Indeed, during the last fifty years we have seen how nuptial agreements developed to regulate different aspects of marriage in civil law, both in Israel and in the rest of the world. During the last twenty-five years an interest has also emerged in halakhic perspectives on “freedom of contract,” which is available for couples who wish to …

Secretly Falling In Love: America's Love Affair With Controlling The Hearts And Minds Of Public School Teachers, Kristin D. Shotwell

Kristin D Shotwell

The Protestant origins of American public schools, rigid gender roles, and obsolete legal doctrines combined to create a pubic identity for the female teacher as a chaste role model. This ideal of the teacher as an asexual, moral figure persists, and teachers continue to be discharged for private, legal behavior because it offends community morality. Drawing on work from religious, legal and educational historians, this article explores how Protestant values, coverture, male-only suffrage, and the spousal rape exemption led to the development of a stringent moral code for America’s earliest female teachers.

This article explores how teachers gained some due …