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Navigating A Post-Windsor World: The Promise And Limits Of Marriage Equality, Nancy J. Knauer
Navigating A Post-Windsor World: The Promise And Limits Of Marriage Equality, Nancy J. Knauer
Nancy J. Knauer
When the 2013 landmark decision in U.S. v. Windsor invalidated part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), it was hailed as a landmark civil rights victory, but its implementation has been far from seamless. The federal government has not applied a uniform rule for marriage recognition, applying a state-of-domicile rule for some purposes (Social Security) and a broader state-of-celebration rule for others (e.g., federal tax matters). Moreover, Windsor did not directly address the state-level marriage prohibitions that remain in place in the majority of states. As a result, the United States continues to be a patchwork of marriage laws …
Revisiting The Meaning Of Marriage: Immigration For Same-Sex Spouses In A Post-Windsor World, Scott Titshaw
Revisiting The Meaning Of Marriage: Immigration For Same-Sex Spouses In A Post-Windsor World, Scott Titshaw
Scott Titshaw
When the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of DOMA in United States v. Windsor, it eliminated a categorical barrier to immigration for thousands of LGBT families. Yet Windsor was not an immigration case, and the Court’s opinion did not address at least three resulting immigration questions: What if a same-sex couple legally marries in one jurisdiction but resides in a state that does not recognize the marriage? What if the couple is in a legally-recognized “civil union” or “registered partnership”? Will children born to spouses or registered partners in same-sex couples be recognized as “born in wedlock” for immigration …
The Meaning Of Marriage: Immigration Rules And Their Implications For Same-Sex Spouses In A World Without Doma, Scott Titshaw
The Meaning Of Marriage: Immigration Rules And Their Implications For Same-Sex Spouses In A World Without Doma, Scott Titshaw
Scott Titshaw
An estimated 35,000 U.S. Citizens are living in our country with same-sex foreign partners, but with no right to stay here together on the basis of their relationship. Many are faced with a choice between their partners and the country they love. This is true, even if the couple is legally married in one of the growing number of states and foreign countries that recognize same-sex marriage. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines “marriage” under all federal law as an exclusively heterosexual institution, now stands squarely in their way. Reform options that would help these couples to stay …
Sorry Ma'am, Your Baby Is An Alien: Outdated Immigration Rules And Assisted Reproductive Technology, Scott Titshaw
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’ …
International Human Rights Law And Co-Parent Adoption, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson
International Human Rights Law And Co-Parent Adoption, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson
Prof. Elizabeth Burleson
Children would benefit substantially if governments legally recognized same sex marriages and parenting. This article analyzes international human rights law, co-parent adoption, and the recognition of gay and lesbian families. It addresses civil marriage and adoption challenges for same sex families and assesses European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence relating to same-sex adoption. This article considers the international community's efforts to implement the best interest of the child standard concluding that recognition of same sex families is in the best interest of the child and should be facilitated in a timely manner by jurisdictions at all levels.
Same-Sex Marriage And Federalism, Nancy J. Knauer
Same-Sex Marriage And Federalism, Nancy J. Knauer
Nancy J. Knauer
The increasing willingness of states to recognize same-sex relationships illustrates the central theme of this Symposium: federalism provides states the freedom to experiment with novel solutions to pressing social issues. The development of progressive policies seems to bear out Justice Brandeis' optimistic vision of federalism where "a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." With respect to same-sex relationships, however, state level reform efforts have not been uniformly progressive. To the contrary, the vast majority of these efforts prohibit the …
The Recognition Of Same-Sex Relationships: Comparative Institutional Analysis, Contested Social Goals, And Strategic Institutional Choice, Nancy J. Knauer
The Recognition Of Same-Sex Relationships: Comparative Institutional Analysis, Contested Social Goals, And Strategic Institutional Choice, Nancy J. Knauer
Nancy J. Knauer
The emerging field of comparative institutional analysis (CIA) has much to offer public policy analysts. However, the failure of CIA to address the dynamic process through which social goals are articulated limits the scope of its application to the largely prescriptive pronouncements of legal scholars. By examining the movement for equal recognition of same-sex relationships, this Essay builds on the basic observations of CIA and introduces a new dimension, namely the dynamic process through which social goals are articulated and social change is pursued. The acknowledgment that the production of social goals involves institutional behavior, as well as multiple sites …
September 11 Relief Efforts And Surviving Same-Sex Partners: Reflections On Relationships In The Absence Of Legal Recognition, Nancy J. Knauer
September 11 Relief Efforts And Surviving Same-Sex Partners: Reflections On Relationships In The Absence Of Legal Recognition, Nancy J. Knauer
Nancy J. Knauer
The criteria established by federal, state, and private relief efforts to assist the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks present a unique opportunity to examine the status of same-sex relationships in the United States. In the absence of uniform relationship recognition, surviving same-sex partners continue to struggle with a loss that legally is not cognizable. The stories from the September 11 survivors illustrate that a surviving partner is a legal stranger, who often must reconfigure her relationship with her partner to fit within the various legal categories where relief or compensation might be forthcoming. These legal categories …