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Full-Text Articles in Family Law

The Child Protection Pretense: States' Continued Consignment Of Newborn Babies To Unfit Parents, James G. Dwyer Sep 2019

The Child Protection Pretense: States' Continued Consignment Of Newborn Babies To Unfit Parents, James G. Dwyer

James G. Dwyer

No abstract provided.


The Children We Abandon: Religious Exemptions To Child Welfare And Education Law As Denials Of Equal Protection To Children Of Religious Objectors, James G. Dwyer Sep 2019

The Children We Abandon: Religious Exemptions To Child Welfare And Education Law As Denials Of Equal Protection To Children Of Religious Objectors, James G. Dwyer

James G. Dwyer

The story of children who die because their parents, in observance of their own religious principles, withhold conventional medical treatment from them is a familiar one. In this Article, James G. Dwyer shows that the phenomenon of parents denying secular benefits to their children for religious reasons goes far beyond these few highly publicized cases, extending into the realm of education as well as medical care. Moreover, Dr. Dwyer shows that the federal and state governments endorse this practice by statutorily exempting 'religious objector' parents from otherwise generally applicable compulsory child care and education laws. He argues that courts addressing …


Parents' Self-Determination And Children's Custody: A New Analytical Framework For State Structuring Of Children's Family Life, James G. Dwyer Sep 2019

Parents' Self-Determination And Children's Custody: A New Analytical Framework For State Structuring Of Children's Family Life, James G. Dwyer

James G. Dwyer

No abstract provided.


Parents' Religion And Children's Welfare: Debunking The Doctrine Of Parents' Rights, James G. Dwyer Sep 2019

Parents' Religion And Children's Welfare: Debunking The Doctrine Of Parents' Rights, James G. Dwyer

James G. Dwyer

The scope, weight, and assignment of parental rights have been the focus of much debate among legal commentators. These commentators generally have assumed that parents should have some rights in connection with the raising of their children. Rarely have commentators offered justifications for attributing rights to persons as parents, and when they have done so they have failed to subject those justifications to close scrutiny. This Article takes the novel approach of challenging parental rights in their entirety. The author explores the fundamental questions of what it means to say that individuals have rights as parents, and whether it is …


Misused Concepts And Misguided Questions: Fundamental Confusions In Family Law Debates, James G. Dwyer Sep 2019

Misused Concepts And Misguided Questions: Fundamental Confusions In Family Law Debates, James G. Dwyer

James G. Dwyer

No abstract provided.


Diagnosing Liberal Resistance To Needed Child Welfare Reforms, James G. Dwyer Sep 2019

Diagnosing Liberal Resistance To Needed Child Welfare Reforms, James G. Dwyer

James G. Dwyer

No abstract provided.


Constitutional Birthright: The State, Parentage, And The Rights Of Newborn Persons, James G. Dwyer Sep 2019

Constitutional Birthright: The State, Parentage, And The Rights Of Newborn Persons, James G. Dwyer

James G. Dwyer

State parentage laws, dictating who a newborn child's first legal parents will be, have been the subject of constitutional challenges in several U.S. Supreme Court and many lower court decisions. All of those decisions, however, have focused on constitutional rights of adults (especially unwed biological fathers) who wish to become, or to avoid becoming, legal parents. Neither courts nor legal scholars have considered whether the children have any constitutional rights that constrain legislatures and courts in deciding which adults will be their legal parents. If a state enacted a parentage law that said, for example, that any child born to …


Book Review Of The Child Cases: How America's Religious Exemption Laws Harm Children, James G. Dwyer Sep 2019

Book Review Of The Child Cases: How America's Religious Exemption Laws Harm Children, James G. Dwyer

James G. Dwyer

No abstract provided.


A Child-Centered Approach To Parentage Law, James G. Dwyer Sep 2019

A Child-Centered Approach To Parentage Law, James G. Dwyer

James G. Dwyer

No abstract provided.


A Taxonomy Of Children's Existing Rights In State Decision Making About Their Relationships, James G. Dwyer Sep 2019

A Taxonomy Of Children's Existing Rights In State Decision Making About Their Relationships, James G. Dwyer

James G. Dwyer

No abstract provided.


Family Structure, Children, And Law, Vivian E. Hamilton Sep 2019

Family Structure, Children, And Law, Vivian E. Hamilton

Vivian E. Hamilton

No abstract provided.


A Constitutional Right To Home Instruction?, Neal Devins Sep 2019

A Constitutional Right To Home Instruction?, Neal Devins

Neal E. Devins

No abstract provided.


Biology, Genetics, Nurture, And The Law: The Expansion Of The Legal Definition Of Family To Include Three Or More Legal Parents, Myrisha S. Lewis Apr 2016

Biology, Genetics, Nurture, And The Law: The Expansion Of The Legal Definition Of Family To Include Three Or More Legal Parents, Myrisha S. Lewis

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Why The American Child Welfare System Is Not Child Centered, Richard J. Gelles Mar 2016

Why The American Child Welfare System Is Not Child Centered, Richard J. Gelles

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.


The Impact Of Liberal Ideology On Child Protection Reform, Cassie Statuto Bevan Mar 2016

The Impact Of Liberal Ideology On Child Protection Reform, Cassie Statuto Bevan

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.


Diagnosing Liberal Resistance To Needed Child Welfare Reforms, James G. Dwyer Mar 2016

Diagnosing Liberal Resistance To Needed Child Welfare Reforms, James G. Dwyer

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.


Thoughts On The Liberal Dilemma In Child Welfare Reform, Elizabeth Bartholet Mar 2016

Thoughts On The Liberal Dilemma In Child Welfare Reform, Elizabeth Bartholet

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.


Child Protection’S Parental Preference, Daniel Heimpel Mar 2016

Child Protection’S Parental Preference, Daniel Heimpel

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.


Stanley V. Illinois’S Untold Story, Josh Gupta-Kagan Mar 2016

Stanley V. Illinois’S Untold Story, Josh Gupta-Kagan

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Stanley v. Illinois is one of the Supreme Court’s more curious landmark cases. The holding is well known: the Due Process Clause both prohibits states from removing children from the care of unwed fathers simply because they are not married and requires states to provide all parents with a hearing on their fitness. By recognizing strong due process protections for parents’ rights, Stanley reaffirmed Lochner-era cases that had been in doubt and formed the foundation of modern constitutional family law. But Peter Stanley never raised due process arguments, so it has long been unclear how the Court reached this decision. …


Book Review Of The Child Cases: How America's Religious Exemption Laws Harm Children, James G. Dwyer Apr 2015

Book Review Of The Child Cases: How America's Religious Exemption Laws Harm Children, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Who's Your Daddy? Defining Paternity Rights In The Context Of Free, Private Sperm Donation, Lauren Gill Apr 2013

Who's Your Daddy? Defining Paternity Rights In The Context Of Free, Private Sperm Donation, Lauren Gill

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Misused Concepts And Misguided Questions: Fundamental Confusions In Family Law Debates, James G. Dwyer Jan 2013

Misused Concepts And Misguided Questions: Fundamental Confusions In Family Law Debates, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


A Parent Is A Parent, No Matter How Small, Kendra Huard Fershee Apr 2012

A Parent Is A Parent, No Matter How Small, Kendra Huard Fershee

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Every parent in America has constitutional rights to parent his or her children. If a parent is under the age of eighteen, however, those rights are tenuous. There is no question that adolescent parents face difficulties while trying to juggle school, parental responsibilities, work, their social lives, and more. Add to that long list of challenges the legal infirmities all minors share, and a picture of impending disaster begins to appear for the adolescent parent and his or her child. Furthermore, once a minor parent enters the family court system— instead of getting the services, training, and supervision that may …


Parents' Self-Determination And Children's Custody: A New Analytical Framework For State Structuring Of Children's Family Life, James G. Dwyer Jan 2012

Parents' Self-Determination And Children's Custody: A New Analytical Framework For State Structuring Of Children's Family Life, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Constitutional Birthright: The State, Parentage, And The Rights Of Newborn Persons, James G. Dwyer Jan 2009

Constitutional Birthright: The State, Parentage, And The Rights Of Newborn Persons, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

State parentage laws, dictating who a newborn child's first legal parents will be, have been the subject of constitutional challenges in several U.S. Supreme Court and many lower court decisions. All of those decisions, however, have focused on constitutional rights of adults (especially unwed biological fathers) who wish to become, or to avoid becoming, legal parents. Neither courts nor legal scholars have considered whether the children have any constitutional rights that constrain legislatures and courts in deciding which adults will be their legal parents. If a state enacted a parentage law that said, for example, that any child born to …


The Parent Trap: Differential Familial Power In Same-Sex Families, Deirdre M. Bowen Oct 2008

The Parent Trap: Differential Familial Power In Same-Sex Families, Deirdre M. Bowen

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Do intact same-sex couples where one member of the couple became pregnant with assisted reproduction or was the primary adopter, and the other member became a parent through second parent adoption, understand the legal protections afforded them? In short the answer is no. An interesting family dynamic arises around those who can claim the true status as parent based on their legal understandings of parenthood and their interactions with the dominant culture. While high profile custody cases on this issue have been decided in the United States with varying results, no research has examined the impact of uneven legal protections …


The Child Protection Pretense: States' Continued Consignment Of Newborn Babies To Unfit Parents, James G. Dwyer Jan 2008

The Child Protection Pretense: States' Continued Consignment Of Newborn Babies To Unfit Parents, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Family Structure, Children, And Law, Vivian E. Hamilton Apr 2007

Family Structure, Children, And Law, Vivian E. Hamilton

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Form And Substance In Parentage Law, Lynn D. Wardle Oct 2006

Form And Substance In Parentage Law, Lynn D. Wardle

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.


Parentage At Birth: Birthfathers And Social Fatherhood, Nancy E. Dowd Feb 2006

Parentage At Birth: Birthfathers And Social Fatherhood, Nancy E. Dowd

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.