Digital Commons Network^™

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor (Unless They Are From “One Of Three Mexican Countries”): Unaccompanied Children And The Humanitarian Crisis At The U.S. Southern Border, Samantha R. Bentley

University of Richmond Law Review

This Comment argues that the United States’s response to the humanitarian crisis at its border is wholly inadequate. It argues that the government chose to advance two policies, Zero Tolerance and Family Separation, that exacerbated the humanitarian crisis at the border. These policies facilitated practices that violated domestic and international law. Most importantly, this Comment argues that the United States government traumatized one of the most vulnerable groups of people in the world: children.

Producing Justice In Poor People’S Courts: Four Models Of State Legal Actors, Tonya L. Brito

Lewis & Clark Law Review

This Article examines how judges and government attorneys produce justice in poor people’s courts, which are characterized by a substantial volume of cases, socioeconomically disadvantaged litigants, and an absence or asymmetry of representation. The Article’s findings are drawn from an extensive qualitative empirical study of one type of poor people’s court, specifically family court proceedings where the state is pursuing child support from low- and no-income noncustodial fathers. Focusing on the judges and government lawyers who handle these cases, and drawing from their own accounts as well as on ethnographic in-court observations, I identify four distinct models of state legal …

Florida’S Domestic Violence Injunction: How Our Past Shapes Our Future, Bryan M. Truyol Esq.

Child and Family Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Separation Of Migrant Families At The Border Under The Trump Administration’S Zero-Tolerance Policy: A Critical Analysis Of The Mistreatment Of Immigrant Children Held In U.S. Custody, Dhillon Ramkhelawan

Child and Family Law Journal

This article provides a critical analysis of the Trump Administration’s zero-tolerance policy that separated migrant families at the Southwest United States border from April to June 2018. It will provide a statistical analysis regarding the number of migrant children that were separated from their parents during this time period, and it will describe the poor living conditions that many of these children were subjected to as they waited for their parent’s immigration cases to be decided. Additionally, this article will also critically analyze the United States’ history of mistreating migrant children who started to flee their war-torn countries in Central …

Lawyers Weekly Newsmaker Reception : November 20, 2019, Roger Williams University School Of Law, Michael M. Bowden

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Expanding Third-Party Standing In Custody Actions: How The Opioid Crisis Has Impacted Lgbtq Parental Rights In Pennsylvania, Jill C. Gorman

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Declared a public health emergency by the federal government, the opioid crisis often places children in foster care when parents fatally succumb to their addictions. To unburden the foster care system and to accommodate family members who want to care for these children, Pennsylvania enacted Act No. 21 on July 3, 2018, to expand custody standing to include certain third parties. However, because the legislature has not expanded the legal definition of “parent,” Act No. 21 poses a threat to the legal rights of nonbiological LGBTQ parents.

This Comment begins by explaining how the opioid crisis motivated the Pennsylvania legislature …

Searching The Legacy Of The Reformation For Lutheran Responses To Modern Family Law, Marie A. Failinger

Concordia Law Review

This article builds upon historical work on changes in the law of marriage, divorce and the family after the Reformation, and describes how modern Lutheran theology, formed during the Reformation, evaluates modern trends in American family law. From the key Lutheran theological insight that God is creatively ordering human activity as a partner with human beings, the Lutheran tradition approaches issues such as no-fault divorce and same-sex marriage with both trust and challenge.

No Right To Counsel, No Access Without: The Poor Child's Unconstitutional Catch-22, Lisa V. Martin

Faculty Publications

In the midst of the push for universal access to counsel in civil cases and the increasing proportion of litigants who represent themselves, a critical barrier to access to justice for children has been overlooked. Federal courts have created a catch-22 for child litigants. Children cannot bring claims themselves, so parents must bring the claims on their behalf. Federal courts refuse to allow parents to pursue these claims pro se, stating that parents cannot provide adequate legal representation. Yet, there is no right to counsel in civil cases, and these same courts typically conclude the children’s cases do not warrant …

Leveling The Playing Field: Advancing Free Legal Aid For The Family Law Claims Of Ethiopian Women, Maereg Tewoldebirhan Alemayehu

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

No abstract provided.

Drinking From A Firehose: Conversation Analysis Of Consultations In A Brief Advice Clinic, Linda F. Smith

Ohio Northern University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law School News: A Spring Break That Teaches - And Gives Back 03/11/2019, Edward Fitzpatrick

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Champions For Justice & Public Interest Auction 2019, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Public Interest Auction

No abstract provided.

From Paternalism To Process: Reflections From The Bench On 40 Years Of American Child Advocacy, Erik S. Pitchal

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Legislative Update: Massachusetts Raises Minimum Age Of Criminal Responsibility, Brianna Hill

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Interview With: Illinois' Juvenile Sex Offender Registry And The Process For Removal, Alison Brooks

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Right To Legal Assistance For Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Under The Inter-American System Of Human Rights, Adriana Domingo Cabrera

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Spotlight On: The Tahirih Justice Center, Patricia Martin

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: The Canadian Research Institute For Law And The Family, 1987–2018, John-Paul E. Boyd

Canadian Journal of Family Law

No abstract provided.

All Families Are Equal, But Do Some Matter More Than Others? How Gender, Poverty, And Domestic Violence Put Quebec's Family Law Reform To The Test, Suzanne Zaccour

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Who needs family law? While it is tempting to answer “everyone”, the stakes are not the same for all. I propose to evaluate family law rules in terms of how they address high-stakes situations—that is, the condition of vulnerable women. Thus, the test of good family law should be how well it deals with poverty and domestic violence, factors that directly constrain women’s ability to negotiate fair outcomes.

To explore this method, I take the example of a recent proposal, developed by Alain Roy’s reform committee (the “Comité consultatif sur le droit de la famille”), and regarding which the Quebec …

Hong Kong's Children Proceedings (Parental Responsibility) Bill: Comparative Family Law Reform And Multidisciplinary Collaboration, Katherine Lynch

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Many comprehensive reviews of family justice systems have been undertaken in common law jurisdictions over the past 20 years, all seeking to provide more meaningful affordable access to justice for families and children. Hong Kong is also under pressure to enact legislative reforms originally proposed in 2002-2005 which deal with children’s matters and more broadly, with family and matrimonial issues. Legislative reform was anticipated when the Government announced the long awaited Children’s Proceedings (Parental Responsibility) Bill (“Children’s Bill”) in 2015. After significant public consultation, however, the Government announced in 2018 that it would delay implementation of this draft legislation. Unfortunately, …

Searching The Legacy Of The Reformation For Lutheran Responses To Modern Family Law, Marie Failinger

Faculty Scholarship

This article builds upon historical work on changes in the law of marriage, divorce and the family after the Reformation, and describes how modern Lutheran theology, formed during the Reformation, evaluates modern trends in American family law. From the key Lutheran theological insight that God is creatively ordering human activity as a partner with human beings, the Lutheran tradition approaches issues such as no-fault divorce and same-sex marriage with both trust and challenge.

Pennsylvania’S Need For Permanency: An Argument In Support Of Workable Standards For Representing Children In Involuntary Termination Of Parental Rights Proceedings, Anne M. Bingaman

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In cases of child abuse and neglect, Pennsylvania’s dependency laws both empower courts to act to protect the child and offer opportunities to bolster the parent-child relationship. However, when courts determine that maintenance of the parent-child relationship is not in the child’s best interest, termination of parental rights proceedings play an essential role in freeing the child for adoption.

Pennsylvania’s General Assembly has recognized that termination proceedings are both a necessary mechanism for permanency and a significant intrusion in the life of a child. As a result, the General Assembly enacted 23 PA. CONST. STAT. § 2313(a), a provision in …

Family Law: Above And Beyond The Call Of Duty, Marianne Cristina Gonzalez

Intercultural Human Rights Law Review

Family law practitioners play a delicate and important role in the lives of clients and their families. As lawyers, we have a duty and an obligation to listen to and understand the client's legal needs, while competently advocating to meet their goals and expectations. But how often do we really pay attention to the mental and spiritual needs of our clients to achieve their goal? Chances are we generally do not, since our own emotional baggage has been left unchecked. We have mastered the skill of tuning out the "red herrings" by trimming the excess, non-essential emotional noise that not …

Hb 159 - Domestic Relations, Kitan A. Grey, A. Celia Howard

Georgia State University Law Review

This bill provides a major overhaul for Georgia adoption laws, which were last updated in 1990. The most notable changes include shortening the period for revocation of surrender of parental rights; granting temporary power of attorney for the care of a child; allowing adoptive parents to pay a birth mother’s expenses; lowering the age for adoptive relatives; and simplifying the process to adopt foreign-born children.

Law By Non-Lawyers: The Limit To Limited License Legal Technicians Increasing Access To Justice, Rebecca M. Donaldson

Seattle University Law Review

For the first time in the American legal profession, non-lawyers can openly, independently, ethically, and legally engage in activities recognized by bar associations as the practice of law. In 2012, the Washington Supreme Court passed Admission and Practice Rule 28 (APR 28), establishing the profession’s first paraprofessional licensing scheme that allows non-lawyers to give legal advice. The process authorizes qualified non-lawyers to provide legal advice without the supervision of a lawyer. Washington’s Supreme Court intends for Limited License Legal Technicians, or “LLLTs” as they are known, to increase access to justice by responding to the unmet civil legal needs of …

Voila! Taking The Judge Out Of Divorce, Margaret Ryznar, Angélique Devaux

Seattle University Law Review

This Article examines the possibility of non-judicial divorce in the United States based on the French model. Part I begins by examining the recognition of divorce by agreement of the parties in France. Part II analyzes the judicial role in American divorces, and whether it bars either domestic non-judicial divorce or recognition of foreign non-judicial divorce. Part III undertakes a comparative analysis, concluding that the United States may be amenable to non-judicial divorces that occur not only abroad but, eventually, within its own borders.

The Pro Bono Collaborative Project Spotlight: Rwu Law Alums Providing Pro Bono Through The Pbc (September 20, 2018), Roger Williams University School Of Law

Pro Bono Collaborative Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Domestic Violence On Immigrant Women, Shawna C. Quast

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

No abstract provided.

“Who Will Judge The Many When The Game Isthrough?”: Considering The Profound Differencesbetween Mental Health Courts And “Traditional”Involuntary Civil Commitment Courts, Michael L. Perlin

Seattle University Law Review

For forty years, we have known that involuntary civil commitment hearings are—in most jurisdictions—“charades.” When the Supreme Court noted, in Parham v. J.R., that the average length of a civil commitment hearing ranged from 3.8 to 9.2 minutes, the reaction of many who had done these cases was, “What? So long?!” The characterization of such hearings as being a “greased runway” to a state institution has never been disputed. Lawyers representing these individuals were bored or contemptuous; judges simply wanted to get cases moving; opposing counsel looked at their wrist watches to see when the cases would be done. This …

Domestic Asset Tracing And Recovery Of Hidden Assets And The Spoils Of Financial Crime, Nathan Wadlinger, Carl Pacini, Nicole Stowell, William Hopwood, Debra Sinclair

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming