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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Changing Tides Of Adoption: Why Marriage, Race, And Family Identity Still Matter, Jessica Dixon Weaver
The Changing Tides Of Adoption: Why Marriage, Race, And Family Identity Still Matter, Jessica Dixon Weaver
SMU Law Review
This essay expounds on the shifting motivation for adoption in the United States using a critical race feminist theory lens to explore how adoption remains wedded to marriage, the control of wealth, and family identity. These three elements have been historically and legally tied to race in that the law was intentionally written to exclude certain persons of color from being able to access marriage or wealth, thereby diminishing their ability to establish family identity.
This essay proceeds in three parts. Part II sets forth an overview of the evolution of adoption by exploring the breakdown of formal adoption and …
Further Thoughts On Race, American Law, And The State Of Nature: Advancing The Multiracial Paradigm Shift And Seeking Patterns In The Area Of Race And Law, George A. Martinez
Further Thoughts On Race, American Law, And The State Of Nature: Advancing The Multiracial Paradigm Shift And Seeking Patterns In The Area Of Race And Law, George A. Martinez
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
In his article, the author seeks to use philosophical theory - state of nature theory - as a way to understand American law and issues of race. This project, consistent with a recent trend in legal scholarship, seeks to uncover hidden meanings in law through historical analysis, cultural critique, or philosophical contemplation.
The author argues that there is a tendency for the dominant group to relate to racial minorities as if they were in the state of nature - i.e., a tendency to act as if they were in a situation without legal or moral constraints. The article examines this …
Grandma In The White House: Legal Support For Intergenerational Caregiving, Jessica Dixon Weaver
Grandma In The White House: Legal Support For Intergenerational Caregiving, Jessica Dixon Weaver
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Marian Robinson’s status as the live-in First Grandmother is an example of a growing trend in the United States - the multigenerational family. The 2010 United States Census Data reflects that the number of households with multiple generations living under one roof has increased by 25% this decade. Mrs. Robinson also reflects another new development in American families: grandparents helping their adult children with caregiving. More than 70% of grandparents are taking care of their grandkids on a regular basis, and 13% are primary caretakers. Many grandparents treat their role as caregiver like a profession, and they sacrifice jobs, residences, …
Arizona, Immigration, And Latinos: The Epistemology Of Whiteness, The Geography Of Race, Interest Convergence, And The View From The Perspective Of Critical Theory, George A. Martinez
Arizona, Immigration, And Latinos: The Epistemology Of Whiteness, The Geography Of Race, Interest Convergence, And The View From The Perspective Of Critical Theory, George A. Martinez
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
In this article, the author analyzes a scheme of laws in Arizona regarding immigration and Latinos by using the powerful tools of contemporary critical theory, which have been especially developed to analyze issues of race such as those presented in the laws at issue. As discussed below, critical theory, as applied to Arizona, reveals (1) that the newly enacted scheme of laws reflects an epistemology of whiteness and operates to transform Arizona into a white geographical landscape; (2) that the outlawing of ethnic studies in Arizona is a corollary to the establishment of a white geographical space in Arizona; (3) …
Bobbitt, The Rise Of The Market State, And Race, George A. Martinez
Bobbitt, The Rise Of The Market State, And Race, George A. Martinez
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
The importance of Philip Bobbitt’s seminal works is already being recognized as on par with such classics as Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan. In these books, Bobbitt argues that the nature of the state is changing in a fundamental way in that our country is shifting from a nation-state into a market-state. Bobbitt's theories have profound significance for many areas of law which scholars are just beginning to explore. This article is seeking to fill a gap in the literature by considering the implications of his views in the area of race and immigration law. Specifically, the article contends that Bobbitt's theories …
Race, American Law And The State Of Nature, George A. Martinez
Race, American Law And The State Of Nature, George A. Martinez
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
This article advances a new theoretical framework to help explain and understand race and American law. In particular, the article argues that we can employ a philosophical model to attempt to understand what often occurs when the dominant group deals with persons of color. The article contends that when the dominant group acts with great power or lack of constraint, it often acts as though it were in what political philosophers have called the state of nature. Thus, this article argues that there is a tendency for the dominant group to act as though it were in the state of …
Race Discrimination And Human Rights Class Actions: The Virtual Exclusion Of Racial Minorities From The Class Action Device, George A. Martinez
Race Discrimination And Human Rights Class Actions: The Virtual Exclusion Of Racial Minorities From The Class Action Device, George A. Martinez
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
In the era of Jim Crow, racial minorities were segregated and excluded from participating in white society. Minorities were segregated in public schools, excluded from public accommodations, excluded from participation on juries, and excluded from living in certain areas. Harkening back to that earlier time, racial minorities now are often excluded from using the class action device to bring civil rights claims.
This paper argues that courts are very tough in how they handle class certification decisions in race discrimination class actions. On the other hand, the courts are quite lenient in how they handle class certification decisions in human …
A Domestic Right Of Return: Race, Rights, And Residency In New Orleans In The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina, Lolita Buckner Inniss
A Domestic Right Of Return: Race, Rights, And Residency In New Orleans In The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina, Lolita Buckner Inniss
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
This article begins with a critical account of what occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This critique serves as the backdrop for a discussion of whether there are international laws or norms that give poor, black Katrina victims the right to return to and resettle in New Orleans. In framing this discussion, this article first briefly explores some of the housing deprivations suffered by Katrina survivors that have led to widespread displacement and dispossession. The article then discusses two of the chief barriers to the return of poor blacks to New Orleans: the broad perception of a race-crime nexus …
Delgado, Hegel And The Rodrigo Chronicles, George A. Martinez
Delgado, Hegel And The Rodrigo Chronicles, George A. Martinez
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Richard Delgado has made path-breaking contributions to the literature on race and American law. His Rodrigo Chronicles are already classics of the Critical Race Theory genre. It is, therefore, wholly appropriate that the Harvard Latino Law Review dedicated a symposium issue to an examination of the Rodrigo Chronicles and Delgado's other work. In this symposium essay, the author attempts to illuminate Delgado's project in the Chronicles through an examination of various aspects of Hegel's philosophy. Hegel's philosophy allows us to better understand Delgado's work in the Chronicles and elsewhere.
African-Americans, Latinos, And The Construction Of Race: Toward An Epistemic Coalition, George A. Martinez
African-Americans, Latinos, And The Construction Of Race: Toward An Epistemic Coalition, George A. Martinez
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Latinos will soon become the largest minority group in the United States. African-Americans may therefore be about to give up political clout to Latinos. This prospect has generated tension between African-Americans and Latinos. Given this background, it is important for Critical Race Theory and Latino Critical Theory to consider the matter of the African-American/Latino relationship. With this in mind, the author discusses two important questions posed by the organizers of this panel: (1) How is the relationship between African-Americans and Latinos affected by the construction of race? and (2) Can Critical Race Theory benefit by a consideration of the race …
Legal Indeterminacy, Judicial Discretion And The Mexican-American Litigation Experience: 1930-1980, George A. Martinez
Legal Indeterminacy, Judicial Discretion And The Mexican-American Litigation Experience: 1930-1980, George A. Martinez
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
This article explores a jurisprudential point: legal indeterminacy in the context of Mexican-American civil rights litigation. The article argues that because of legal uncertainty or indeterminacy the resolution of key issues was not inevitable. Judges often had discretion to reach their conclusions. In this regard, the article concludes that the courts generally exercised their discretion by taking a position on key issues against Mexican-Americans. The article points out that exposing the exercise of judicial discretion and the lack of inevitability in civil rights cases is important for two major reasons. At one level, exposing the exercise of judicial discretion is …