Jurisprudence Commons^™

In The Shadow Of A Myth: Bargaining For Same-Sex Divorce, Noa Ben-Asher

Faculty Publications

This Article explores a relatively new phenomenon in family law: same-sex divorce. The Article’s central claim is that parties to the first wave of same-sex divorces are not effectively bargaining against the backdrop of legal dissolution rules that would govern in the absence of an agreement. In other words, to use Robert Mnookin and Lewis Kornhauser’s terminology, they are not “bargaining in the shadow of the law.” Instead, the Article argues, many same-sex couples today bargain in the shadow of a myth that same-sex couples are egalitarian—that there are no vulnerable parties or power differentials in same-sex divorce.

The Article …

Traditional Marriage: Still Worth Defending, George W. Dent

Faculty Publications

A few years ago, I wrote an article entitled The Defense of Traditional Marriage.1 I began with the topic of same-sex marriage but soon saw that all the arguments for gay marriage were also arguments for polygamy, endogamy (or incestuous marriage), etc., so the article became a defense of traditional marriage against all these other types. The pertinent law and jurisprudence are constantly changing, so this conference offers an excellent opportunity to reconsider my views in light of new learning and thinking. A review shows the case for traditional marriage is even stronger now than it was before. As evidence …

The Defense Of Traditional Marriage, George W. Dent

Faculty Publications

This article reviews the possible justifications for legal recognition of marriage and finds some, such as encouraging stable, loving relationships, unpersuasive. However, other rationales-including protecting children, socializing adults, and promoting individual happiness-are valid, and these rationales apply only to traditional marriages. Accordingly, society has strong reasons to favor traditional marriage and to deny such treatment to the unmarried and to homosexual, endogamous and bestial relationships.

Crime Or Punishment: The Parental Corporal Punishment Defense - Reasonable And Necessary, Or Excused Abuse, Kandice Johnson

Faculty Publications

The parental right to use physical force to discipline and restrain children is a privilege firmly rooted in the American system of jurisprudence. This privilege is often asserted as a defense when parents are charged with a crime of aggression against their child. While the privilege to use disciplinary force is universally recognized as a defense in criminal actions, it is equally acknowledged that child abuse is a pervasive reality of American life. This article postulates that current laws, addressing assertion of the parental privilege defense in criminal actions, fail either to provide adequate guidance to parents or to sufficiently …