Law Commons^™

The Harmful Effects Of Expansive Immunity Protections For Child Abuse Reporters And The Lack Of Justice For Those Who Are Falsely Accused, Kristina Joslin

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

Confronting Indeterminacy And Bias In Child Protection Law, Joshua Gupta-Kagan

Faculty Scholarship

The child protection legal system faces strong and growing demands for change following at least two critiques. First, child protection law is substantively indeterminate; it does not precisely prescribe when state agencies can intervene in family life and what that intervention should entail, thus granting wide discretion to child protection agencies and family courts. Second, by granting such discretion, the law permits race, class, sex, and other forms of bias to infect decisions and regulate low-income families and families of color.

This Article extends these critiques through a granular analysis of how indeterminacy at multiple decision points builds on itself. …

Feigned Consensus: Usurping The Law In Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma Prosecutions, Keith A. Findley, D. Michael Risinger, Patrick D. Barnes, Julie A. Mack, David A. Moran, Barry C. Scheck, Thomas L. Bohan

Articles

Few medico-legal matters have generated as much controversy--both in the medical literature and in the courtroom--as Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), now known more broadly as Abusive Head Trauma (AHT). The controversies are of enormous significance in the law because child abuse pediatricians claim, on the basis of a few non-specific medical findings supported by a weak and methodologically flawed research base, to be able to “diagnose” child abuse, and thereby to provide all of the evidence necessary to satisfy all of the legal elements for criminal prosecution (or removal of children from their parents). It is a matter, therefore, in …

Rethinking Foster Care: Why Our Current Approach To Child Welfare Has Failed, Vivek Sankaran, Christopher Church

Articles

Over the past decade, the child welfare system has expanded, with vast public and private resources being spent on the system. Despite this investment, there is scant evidence suggesting a meaningful return on investment. This Article argues that without a change in the values held by the system, increased funding will not address the public health problems of child abuse and neglect.

Conceptualizing Legal Childhood In The Twenty-First Century, Clare Huntington, Elizabeth S. Scott

Faculty Scholarship

The law governing children is complex, sometimes appearing almost incoherent. The relatively simple framework established in the Progressive Era, in which parents had primary authority over children, subject to limited state oversight, has broken down over the past few decades. Lawmakers started granting children some adult rights and privileges, raising questions about their traditional status as vulnerable, dependent, and legally incompetent beings. As children emerged as legal persons, children’s rights advocates challenged the rationale for parental authority, contending that robust parental rights often harm children. And a wave of punitive reforms in response to juvenile crime in the 1990s undermined …

The Law And Policy Of Child Maltreatment, Frank Vandervort

Book Chapters

Each year in the United States some four million children are reported to child protective services and hundreds of thousands of children are confirmed victims of maltreatment. This chapter provides a brief overview of the civil and criminal law’s response to child abuse and neglect. It summarizes the major federal statutes that provide funding to the states to support both civil and criminal law responses to maltreatment. It discusses the division of responsible for responding to child maltreatment between the federal and state governments (federalism). It also provides a summary of the constitutional framework for handling both civil and criminal …

Prenatal Drug Exposure As Aggravated Circumstances, Frank E. Vandervort

Articles

In Michigan, "a child has a legal right to begin life with sound mind and body." Yet the family court may not assert Juvenile Code jurisdiction until after birth. In re Baby X addressed the question of whether a parent's prenatal conduct may form the basis for jurisdiction upon birth. It held that a mother's drug use during pregnancy is neglect, allowing the court to assert jurisdiction immediately upon the child's birth. In deciding Baby X, the Court specifically reserved the question of whether parental drug use during pregnancy might be sufficient to permanently deprive a parent of custody. …

Advocating For Children With Disabilities In Child Protection Cases, Joshua B. Kay

Articles

Children with disabilities are maltreated at a higher rate than other children and overrepresented in child protection matters, yet most social service caseworkers, judges, child advocates, and other professionals involved in these cases receive little to no training about evaluating and addressing their needs. Child protection case outcomes for children with disabilities tend to differ from those of nondisabled children, with more disabled children experiencing a termination of their parents' rights and fewer being reunified with their parents or placed with kin. They also tend to experience longer waits for adoption. Furthermore, the poor outcomes that plague youth who age …

Representing The Child In Child Protective Proceedings: Toward A New Paradigm, Merril Sobie

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article will attempt a new approach, one based on an analysis of the child's interests in a child protective proceeding. As will be discussed in Part 1, most interests are surprisingly overlooked or barely articulated in the representation debate. Part 2 will summarize the statutes and case law governing the role of the child's counsel in the child protective litigation continuum. The frequently lengthy process may range from initiation by a child protective agency to the achievement of family reunification or other permanency goal. For children, the continuum of sequential proceeding may span years or decades. Finally, Part 3 …

Wounded Souls: The Need For Child Protection Professionals And Faith Leaders To Recognize And Respond To The Spiritual Impact Of Child Abuse, Victor I. Vieth, Pete Singer

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legal Representation For Abused And Neglected Youth, Anne Tyler Gueinzius, Eikoku Ikeno

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Child Advocacy Studies (Cast): A National Movement To Improve The Undergraduate And Graduate Training Of Child Protection Professionals, Victor I. Vieth, Betsy Goulet, Michele Knox, Jennifer Parker, Lisa B. Johnson, Karla Steckler Tye, Theodore P. Cross

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Short Fall Arguments In Court: A Probabilistic Analysis, Maria Cuellar

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A discussion about how statistical arguments are used in court, specifically in cases of Abusive Head Trauma in which the defendant has claimed that an accidental short fall, and not shaking or child abuse, has caused the child’s injuries.

Evidence Of Child Abuse: Inferring The Causes Of Effects, Stephen E. Fienberg

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A statistician's take on evidence of child abuse.

Police Interrogations, False Confessions, And Alleged Child Abuse Cases, Richard Leo

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A discussion on false confession cases in the United States.

Child Abuse--Nonaccidental Injury (Nai) And Abusive Head Trauma (Aht)--Medical Imaging: Issues And Controversies In The Era Of Evidence-Based Medicine, Patrick Barnes

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A look at nonaccidental injury and abusive head trauma in children with a focus on Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Reviewer's Note, Vincent J. Palusci, Frank E. Vandervort

Reviews

Review of Child Abuse & the Law by Jennifer N Fishe and Frederick L. Moffat III.

Child Abuse Evidence: New Perspectives From Law, Medicine, Psychology & Statistics: Introduction, Anna Kirkland, David Moran, Angela K. Perone

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Introduction to the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Symposium, Child Abuse Evidence: New Perspectives from Law, Medicine, Psychology & Statistics.

Child Abuse Evidence: New Perspectives From Law, Medicine, Psychology & Statistics: Question And Answer Session, Kimberly Thomas, Keith B. Maddox, Samuel R. Sommers, Patrick Barnes, Richard Leo

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A transcript of the Question and Answer session during the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Symposium, Child Abuse Evidence: New Perspectives from Law, Medicine, Psychology & Statistics.

Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones, But Words Will Always Hurt Me: Why California Should Expand The Admissibility Of Prior Acts Of Child Abuse, Lindsay Gochnour

Pepperdine Law Review

This Comment seeks to explore the effect that the admissibility of prior bad acts evidence would have on child maltreatment cases and the benefits that would be afforded to child abuse victims if they were provided the same legal protections as victims of other crimes. This Comment argues that expanding the California Evidence Code to allow the admission of prior acts of psychological and emotional child maltreatment would make great progress for the protection of child abuse victims and the prosecution of their (often losing) cases.

Easy Come, Easy Go: The Plight Of Children Who Spend Less Than 30 Days In Foster Care, Vivek Sankaran, Christopher Church

Articles

This article explores the plight of “short stayers” and argues that juvenile courts are failing to use two tools—the federal reasonable efforts requirement and the early appointment of parents’ counsel—to prevent the unnecessary entry of children into foster care. The article also argues that states should give parents and children the right to an expedited appeal of removal decisions to ensure removal standards are properly applied. Finally, this article argues that the federal government must acknowledge the problem of short stayers by utilizing data related to children who may unnecessarily enter foster care in the Child and Family Services Review, …

In Re Barzak: Access To Children Services Board Files, David Hazelkorn

Akron Law Review

In the recent court decision, In re Barzak, the Trumbull County Court of Appeals ruled that parents in child abuse, neglect, or dependency proceedings have a right of reasonable access to Children Services Board investigation files. While this was a case of first impression in Ohio, it puts state law in line with that of other jurisdictions.

Holding On To What Is Most Precious: Ohio Juvenile Law After In Re C.R., Rose Semple, Esq.

Akron Law Review

This article will endeavor to show that the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling in In re C.R. makes it too difficult for parents to retain custody of their own children. By exploring United States Supreme Court precedent, it will be shown that the rule emerging from In re C.R. does not pass procedural due process muster. It will also be shown that the Ohio Supreme Court disregarded its own precedent and in doing so, created a rule that undermines the policies of its own juvenile law system. By providing the rudiments of juvenile jurisprudence, the facts and decision of In re …

The Science And Statistics Behind Spanking Suggest That Laws Allowing Corporal Punishment Are In The Best Interests Of The Child, Jason M. Fuller

Akron Law Review

Were such a killing to occur in the U.S., the popular reaction would have been, “How can we prevent this from happening again?” In Sweden, however, youth violence and aggression has gotten so out-of control that the reaction was, “Shoot another [one].” Sadly, many policymakers fail to realize how Swedish laws have contributed to growing youth violence, and consequently, to public resentment of Swedish youths.

In 1979, Sweden started an international trend by becoming the first country to ban spanking. Since then, twenty-three more countries have outlawed it. The European Committee of Social Rights currently is urging all forty-five of …

Sex Slavery In The Lone Star State: Does The Texas Human Trafficking Legislation Of 2011 Protect Minors?, Cheryl Nelson Butler

Akron Law Review

This Article argues that, while Texas has made great strides in its movement to combat child trafficking, there are three major areas in which further reform is needed. First, Texas should provide stronger protections for not only minors trafficked for sex, but also those trafficked for labor. Second, Texas law must shift its emphasis from prosecution of traffickers to a more balanced approach that also prioritizes the protection of minors and the prevention of future trafficking crimes against them. Third, Texas should adopt safe harbor provisions that reflect a child welfare response toward prostituted minors

The Use Of Coercion In The Child Maltreatment Investigation Field: A Comparison Of American And Scottish Perspectives, Daniel Pollack, Kirsteen Mackay, Katie Shipp

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Seen But Not Recognized: Black Caregivers, Childhood Cruelties, And Social Dislocations In An Increasingly Colored America, Reginald Leamon Robinson

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Abolish Anonymous Reporting To Child Abuse Hotlines, Dale Margolin Cecka

Catholic University Law Review

All states allow the public to anonymously report suspicions of child abuse or neglect to a toll free central phone number. An extensive examination of the policy and practices behind anonymous reporting hotlines indicates that they are widely unregulated and susceptible to abuse. The possible repercussions of an anonymous phone call create costs to the family and society which do not outweigh the potential benefit of allowing anonymous public reports. Under the guise of protecting children, the law has developed in such a way that it infringes on the fundamental rights of parents and children. At the same time, anonymous …

Protecting Students From Abuse: Public School District Liability For Student Sexual Abuse Under State Child Abuse Reporting Laws, Jason P. Nance, Philip T.K. Daniel

Jason P. Nance

Virtually all courts recognize that a child abuse reporting statute creates a duty to children, the breach of which is the basis of a civil suit for damages. Normally, courts recognize a duty only to the minor child about whom school officials have received the abuse reports. In 2004, the Supreme Court of Ohio extended this duty to third party student victims. Thus, causes of action may now be brought against school districts when a school employee abuses one student, school officials fail to report the abuse, and the same employee abuses a different student. Public school students who are …

5. American Professional Society On The Abuse Of Children In Support Of Petitioner, Ohio V. Clark (Merits), Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

No abstract provided.