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Full-Text Articles in Law

Deinstitutionalization, Family Reunification, And The "Best Interests Of The Child": An Examination Of Armenia's Child Protection Obligations Under Conventional International Law, George S. Yacoubian Jr., Esq. May 2021

Deinstitutionalization, Family Reunification, And The "Best Interests Of The Child": An Examination Of Armenia's Child Protection Obligations Under Conventional International Law, George S. Yacoubian Jr., Esq.

Pace International Law Review

For nearly a century, the global community has sought to afford children legal protections, abandoning widely held views that children were pecuniary assets. In the United States and globally, a nascent children’s rights movement culminated in broad child welfare reform. Whether adoption, armed conflict, child labor, education, human trafficking, or deinstitutionalization, the post-war 20th century witnessed an evolution of international child protections. The prevailing standard of “best interests of the child” (BIC) has been incorporated into domestic and international law doctrine and, not surprisingly, has been operationalized in a variety of ways. In recent years, the standard has been explored …


Tribes And Race: The Court’S Missed Opportunity In Adoptive Couple V. Baby Girl, Christopher Deluzio Sep 2014

Tribes And Race: The Court’S Missed Opportunity In Adoptive Couple V. Baby Girl, Christopher Deluzio

Pace Law Review

Part I of this article will provide an overview of the legal doctrines implicated in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl. First, Part I will discuss both Indian Child Welfare Act’s text and purpose and scholarly attention given to the law. Second, Part I will examine the law of putative fathers insofar as relevant to understanding ICWA’s application in Adoptive Couple. Part II provides insight into the Court’s equal protection jurisprudence with a particular emphasis on considerations of race in adoption and laws implicating Indian tribes. This Part introduces the limited scholarly treatment afforded to the equal protection issues implicated by …


Nature And Nurture: Revisiting The Infant Adoption Process, Barbara L. Atwell Jan 2012

Nature And Nurture: Revisiting The Infant Adoption Process, Barbara L. Atwell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Adopted children constitute approximately two percent of the United States' childhood population, but are disproportionately represented in mental health settings, where they make up an estimated four to fifteen percent of the population. Science suggests that for those adopted at birth, this discrepancy may be due in part to their abrupt removal from the biological parents. We are now beginning to understand the importance of the bonding that takes place in utero and the infant's awareness at birth. This article suggests three changes to the infant adoption process to align it with scientific knowledge. First, all adults involved in the …


A Suggested Solution To The Problem Of Intestate Succession In Nontraditional Family Arrangements: Taking The "Adoption" (And The Inequity) Out Of The Doctrine Of "Equitable Adoption", Irene D. Johnson Jan 2009

A Suggested Solution To The Problem Of Intestate Succession In Nontraditional Family Arrangements: Taking The "Adoption" (And The Inequity) Out Of The Doctrine Of "Equitable Adoption", Irene D. Johnson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Part I of this Article examines the doctrine of equitable adoption, focusing on its deficiencies in addressing some of the issues of the modern family. Part II considers the specific issue of intestate succession, the way that the equitable adoption doctrine falls short in providing a consistent rational result of heirship in the modern family, and the reasons for expanding inheritance rights to “family members” claiming an intestate share despite the fact that they were not born into or legally adopted into the family arrangement. Part III proposes answers to these difficult problems, suggesting a statutory provision defining “child,” for …


"A Lost Generation": The Battle For Private Enforcement Of The Adoption Assistance And Child Welfare Act Of 1980, Barbara L. Atwell Jan 1991

"A Lost Generation": The Battle For Private Enforcement Of The Adoption Assistance And Child Welfare Act Of 1980, Barbara L. Atwell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article suggests that the scope of enforceable section 1983 rights is broader than most courts have recognized. The Act creates comprehensive rights to 1) preplacement preventive services, 2) proper care while children are in state custody, and 3) permanency planning services. Courts must be more willing to recognize these rights and to take a more creative role in structuring injunctive relief when these rights have been violated. Part I is an overview of the Act. Part II analyzes the appropriateness of section 1983 claims under the Act. Finally, Part III analyzes the proper scope of section 1983 claims. The …


Surrogacy And Adoption: A Case Of Incompatibility, Barbara L. Atwell Jan 1988

Surrogacy And Adoption: A Case Of Incompatibility, Barbara L. Atwell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article explores the public policy doctrine relating to contracts generally and examines specific public policies set forth in state adoption statutes. The Article concludes that surrogate parenting agreements are 1) incompatible with consent provisions of state adoption statutes, 2) inconsistent with state laws prohibiting baby-selling, and 3) inconsistent with state adoption provisions that provide for a thorough investigation of the adoptive parents in order to ensure that the adoption serves the child's best interests. Accordingly, this Article suggests that as state legislatures debate the best means of addressing the issue of surrogate parenting, they should recognize that surrogate parenting …