Family Law Commons^™

Feminist Perspectives On Disaster, Pandemics, And Intimate Partner Violence, Margaret Drew

Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic brought international awareness to the likelihood of increased abuse of those in abusive intimate partner relationships because of the forced confinement with their abusers (Bettinger-Lopez and Bro, A double pandemic: domestic violence in the age of COVID 19, Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/double-pandemic-domestic-violence-age-covid-19, 2020). While this awareness was much discussed, assistance to survivors of abuse was limited because survivors often could not reach out for help, nor could advocates wishing to offer assistance safely reach in to advise them (Taub, A new Covid-19 crisis: domestic abuse rises worldwide. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/world/coronavirus-domestic-violence.html, 2020). The ever-present influence of the …

Medical Disputes And Conflicting Values: Is There A “Right To Die” Later?, Janet L. Dolgin

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dispute Settlement Under The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: A Preliminary Assessment, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) will add a new dispute settlement system to the plethora of judicial mechanisms designed to resolve trade disputes in Africa. Against the discontent of Member States and limited impact the existing highly legalized trade dispute settlement mechanisms have had on regional economic integration in Africa, this paper undertakes a preliminary assessment of the AfCFTA Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM). In particular, the paper situates the AfCFTA-DSM in the overall discontent and unsupportive practices of African States with highly legalized dispute settlement systems and similar WTO-Styled DSMs among other shortcomings. Notwithstanding the transplantation of …

Meaning, Biology And Identity: The Rights Of Children, Anika Smith

Catholic University Law Review

Sperm and egg donation in the United States is only loosely regulated, and the current regime privileges the anonymity of the adult donor over the child’s right to identity. The majority of people conceived through anonymous donation do not support the practice but find their rights abrogated by contracts made by their intentional and biological parents. Donor reliance on the anonymity guaranteed by those contracts is shifting as at-home genetic testing limits their expectation of privacy, with more biological ties being discovered by children conceived through gamete donation. This Comment explores the child’s right to identity in family law cases, …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Rwu Law News: The Newsletter Of Roger Williams University School Of Law 06-2020, Roger Williams University School Of Law, Michael M. Bowden, Katie Mulvaney

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Under Ten Eyes, Anthony Michael Kreis

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

Carliss Chatman’s If a Fetus Is a Person, It Should Get Child Support, Due Process and Citizenship brilliantly captures the moment America is in, where abortion rights hang in the balance as state legislators, like those in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, and elsewhere clamor to embrace fetal personhood. But, as Professor Chatman illustrates, legislators have expressed no interest in the full logical extent of this policy or the rights that should attach to a fetus if their measures ultimately become effective. The article incisively demonstrates how fetal personhood is singularly focused on ending abortion in the United States and is gaining …

Personhood: Law, Common Sense, And Humane Opportunities, Helen M. Alvaré

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

It is pointless to approach Professor Chatman’s argument on its own terms (to wit, “tak[ing] our laws seriously,” or equal application across myriad legal categories of “full personhood” rights) because these terms are neither seriously intended nor legally comprehensible. Instead, her essay is intended to create the impression that legally protecting unborn human lives against abortion opens up a Pandora’s box of legal complications so “ridiculous” and “far-fetched” that we should rather just leave things where they are under the federal Constitution post-Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. This impression, in turn, is a tool to …

If A Fetus Is A Person, It Should Get Child Support, Due Process, And Citizenship, Carliss N. Chatman

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

This Article was originally published in The Washington Post on May 17, 2019. It has been edited and updated prior to its publication in the Washington and Lee Law Review.

Alabama has joined the growing number of states determined to overturn Roe v. Wade by banning abortion from conception forward. The Alabama Human Life Protection Act subjects a doctor who performs an abortion to as many as ninety-nine years in prison. The law has no exceptions for rape or incest. It redefines an “unborn child, child or person” as “[a] human being, specifically including an unborn child in utero …

Law In The Time Of Covid-19, Katharina Pistor

Faculty Books

The COVID-19 crisis has ended and upended lives around the globe. In addition to killing over 160,000 people, more than 35,000 in the United States alone, its secondary effects have been as devastating. These secondary effects pose fundamental challenges to the rules that govern our social, political, and economic lives. These rules are the domain of lawyers. Law in the Time of COVID-19 is the product of a joint effort by members of the faculty of Columbia Law School and several law professors from other schools.

This volume offers guidance for thinking about some the most pressing legal issues the …

The Baker Act: Time For Florida To Get Its Act Together, Alexander Lemieux

Child and Family Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Fertility Fraud And Proposal For Florida Legislation, Cheyenne Dunn

Child and Family Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Dangers Of Disclosure: How Hiv Laws Harm Domestic Violence Survivors, Courtney K. Cross

Washington Law Review

People living with HIV or AIDS must decide whether, how, and when to disclose their positive status. State laws play an outsized role in this highly personal calculus. Partner notification laws require that current and former sexual partners of individuals newly diagnosed with HIV be informed of their potential exposure to the disease. Meanwhile, people who fail to disclose their positive status prior to engaging in sexual acts—even acts that carry low to no risk of infection—can be prosecuted and incarcerated for exposing their partners to HIV. Although both partner notification laws and criminal HIV exposure laws were ostensibly created …

Not Everyone Is Safer At Home: The Harsh Reality That Many Domestic Violence Victims Face In Light Of Covid-19 “Stay At Home” Orders, Megan Divine

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

Domestic violence victims are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Home is not a safe place for everyone. Abuse thrives in silence and isolation. Isolation exacerbates the types of violence and abuse that victims experience. The coronavirus pandemic presents a perfect opportunity for abusers to exercise increased levels of coercive control. This includes not only physical abuse, but also emotional, financial, and psychological abuse. Survivors too, are impacted by many of these concerns. Limited finances and decreased access to housing, support, and affordable childcare increases the potential for survivors to return to their abusers. Many have considered the coronavirus crisis …

Fetal Equality, Shaakirrah R. Sanders

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

I join Carliss Chatman’s call to fully consider the equal protection implications of the conception theory and raise an additional right to which a fetus may be entitled as a matter of equal protection: health care, which implicates state laws that provide civil and criminal exemptions to parents who choose religious healing instead of medical care for their children and minor dependents. The evidence of harm to children from religious healing is well documented. Yet, currently, approximately forty-three U.S. states and the District of Columbia have some type of exemption to protect religious healing parents in civil and criminal cases. …

The New "Essential": Rethinking Social Goods In The Age Of Covid-19, Olatunde C.A. Johnson

Faculty Scholarship

The Covid-19 crisis has laid bare the fragility of social insurance systems in the United States and the lack of income security and basic benefits for many workers and residents. The United States has long had weaker protections for workers compared to other liberal democracies racial and economic disparities among those most affected by these dislocations (analyses are hampered by a paucity of demographic data). Those who were socially and economically vulnerable before the pandemic (for example due to homelessness, immigration status, or incarceration) are likely to suffer the most harm. Changes in workplace conditions as a result of the …

Child Welfare And Covid-19: An Unexpected Opportunity For Systemic Change, Jane M. Spinak

Faculty Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic has already wrecked greater havoc in poor neighborhoods of color, where pre-existing conditions exacerbate the disease’s spread. Crowded housing and homelessness, less access to health care and insurance, and underlying health conditions are all factors that worsen the chances of remaining healthy.Workers desperate for income continue to work without sufficient protective measures, moving in and out of these neighborhoods, putting themselves and their families at risk. During periods of greater disruption, tensions are heightened and violence more prevalent. Already some experts are warning of an onslaught of child maltreatment cases, citing earlier examples of spikes in foster …

The Birth Of Fertility Fraud: How To Protect Washingtonians, Sarah Chicoine

Washington Law Review Online

Doctors in multiple states have been accused of using their own sperm to impregnate patients without the patient’s consent. Because most states do not have laws prohibiting fertility doctors from using their own sperm to impregnate their patients, families have not been able to seek meaningful legal remedies. State legislatures enacted new fertility fraud laws to deter, criminalize, and provide a legal civil cause of action to those harmed by these actions—but only after these allegations came to light. If the Washington State Legislature creates a law before any similar allegations come to light in Washington, those patients harmed in …

Let She Who Has The Womb Speak: Regulating The Use Of Human Oocyte Cryopreservation To The Detriment Of Older Women, Browne C. Lewis

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article is divided into three parts. Part I examines the arguments in favor of banning human oocyte cryopreservation. Part II explores the reasons some opponents of human oocyte cryopreservation might give to support restrictions on the use of frozen oocytes. Part III analyzes the possible ethical and legal challenges that may arise in the event that the government seeks to ban the use of frozen oocytes or restrict the use of frozen oocytes based solely on the age of the potential mother.

In Memory Of Professor James E. Bond, Janet Ainsworth

Seattle University Law Review

Janet Ainsworth, Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law: In Memory of Professor James E. Bond.

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

The Invisible Prison: Pathways And Prevention, Margaret F. Brinig, Marsha Garrison

Journal Articles

In this paper, we propose a new strategy for curbing crime and delinquency and demonstrate the inadequacy of current reform efforts. Our analysis relies on our own, original research involving a large, multi-generational sample of unmarried fathers from a rust-belt region of the United States as well as the conclusions of earlier researchers.

Our own research data are unusual in that they are holistic and multigenerational: The Court-based record system we utilized for data collection provided detailed information on child maltreatment, juvenile status and delinquency charges, child support, parenting time, orders of protection, and residential mobility for focal children (the …