Law Commons^™

Adultery: Trust And Children, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

Deborah Rhode writes that while adultery is admittedly not good, it should not be criminal. She argues that it should not generate a tort action either, because the original purposes for which the torts of alienation of affections and criminal conversation come from a time with quite different views about marriage and gender, while no-fault and speedy divorce today give adequate remedies to the wronged spouse. Further, adultery should not affect employment (as a politician or in the military) unless it directly impacts job performance.

My own reluctance to disengage adultery and law stems from the seriousness of adultery. First, …

Religion And Child Custody, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

This piece draws upon divorce pleadings and other records to show how indications of religion (or disaffiliation) that appear in custody agreements and orders (called “parenting plans” in both states studied) affect the course of the proceedings and legal activities over the five years following divorce filing. Some of the apparent findings are normative, but most are merely descriptive and some may be correlative rather than caused by the indicated concern about religion. While parenting plans are accepted by courts only when they are in the best interests of the child (at least in theory), the child’s independent religious needs …

Result Inequality In Family Law, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

To the extent that family law is governed by statute, all families are treated as though they are the same. This is of course consistent with the equal protection guarantees of the US Constitution as well as those of the states. However, in our pluralistic society, all families are not alike. At birth, some children are born to wealthy, married parents who will always put the children’s interests first and will never engage in domestic violence. Many laws benefit these children, while, according to some academics, they either further disadvantage other children or at best ignore their needs.

This presentation …

Joint Custody: Bonding And Monitoring Theories, Margaret F. Brinig, F. H. Buckley

Margaret F Brinig

Symposium: Law and the New American Family Held at Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington Apr. 4, 1997

Does Parental Autonomy Require Equal Custody At Divorce?, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

This paper considers the affect of amendments to state divorce laws that strengthen their joint custody preference. It does so in the context of suits by noncustodial parents challenging substantive custody standards not requiring equal custody at divorce. The complaint is that most custody laws, by using a best interests standard rather than equally dividing custodial time, violate substantive due process. Further, two states, Iowa and Maine, have recently amended their custody legislation to strongly presume joint physical custody.

After setting out the constitutional problem and describing the legislation in some detail, this paper tests the effects of the change …

Marry Me, Bill: Should Cohabitation Be The (Legal) Default Option?, Margaret F. Brinig, Steven L. Nock

Margaret F Brinig

No abstract provided.

The One-Size-Fits-All Family, Margaret F. Brinig, Steven L. Nock

Margaret F Brinig

Family policy and the law based on it assume universals. That is, if marriage improves the welfare of the majority of couples and their children, it is worth pushing as a policy initiative. Further, laws will be written (or kept on the books) that privilege marriage over other family forms. Similarly, research that tells us that divorce harms children except following the relatively small number of highly conflicted marriages, spawns efforts to preserve troubled marriages or even to roll back liberal or relatively inexpensive divorce laws. With yet another example, since adopted children mostly do better than children left either …

Catholic Schools, Urban Neighborhoods, And Education Reform, Margaret F. Brinig, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Margaret F Brinig

More than 1,600 Catholic elementary and secondary schools have closed or been consolidated during the last two decades. The Archdiocese of Chicago alone (the subject of our study) has closed 148 schools since 1984. Primarily because urban Catholic schools have a strong track record of educating disadvantaged children who do not, generally, fare well in public schools, these school closures have prompted concern in education policy circles. While we are inclined to agree that Catholic school closures contribute to a broader educational crisis, this paper shies away from debates about educational outcomes. Rather than focusing on the work done inside …

The Influence Of Marvin V. Marvin On Housework During Marriage, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

No abstract provided.

Does Mediation Systematically Disadvantage Women?, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

No abstract provided.

Result Inequality In Family Law, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

To the extent that family law is governed by statute, all families are treated as though they are the same. This is of course consistent with the equal protection guarantees of the U.S. Constitution as well as those of the states. However, in our pluralistic society, all families are not alike. At birth, some children are born to wealthy, married parents who will always put the children’s interests first and will never engage in domestic violence. Many laws benefit these children, while, according to some academics, they either further disadvantage other children or at best ignore their needs. This Article …

Substantive Parenting Arrangements In The Usa: Unpacking The Policy Choices, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

Policy makers in the US currently debate whether to keep discretionary child custody standards, that is, “best interests of the child” clarified by some factors, or to move to a more rule-based system, such as a presumptive shared parenting regime. This article briefly sets out the problem, theoretical and evidence-based ways of approaching it, and some new results from a study of court documents from one US state indicating that a strong presumption of shared custody is associated with an increase in post-decree domestic violence. While presumptions or de facto rules should facilitate bargaining, these results may tip the balance …

Economics Of Family Law, 2 V., Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

Economists have studied numerous fields of law for many years, but family law was virtually neglected until the early 1970s. It was only relatively recently that economic insights about the family crept into the consciousness of those involved in legal research. The articles within this book explore a range of family law issues and include discussions on a variety of topics including cohabitation, births outside marriage, courtship, premarital contracting, marriage and parenting. The volume includes papers on the division of responsibilities between family and state, the effects of no-fault divorce, alimony, property division and child custody. There are also works …

Lost Classroom, Lost Community: Catholic Schools' Importance In Urban America, Nicole Garnett, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

In the past two decades in the United States, more than 1,600 Catholic elementary and secondary schools have closed, and more than 4,500 charter schools—public schools that are often privately operated and freed from certain regulations—have opened, many in urban areas. With a particular emphasis on Catholic school closures, Lost Classroom, Lost Community examines the implications of these dramatic shifts in the urban educational landscape.

More than just educational institutions, Catholic schools promote the development of social capital—the social networks and mutual trust that form the foundation of safe and cohesive communities. Drawing on data from the Project on Human …

An Invitation To Family Law: Principles, Process, And Perspectives. 3rd Edition., Margaret Brining, Carl Schneider

Margaret F Brinig

Invitation to Family Law contains such materials as briefs, literary treatments of marriage, divorce, and parenting, and simulated case files from families involved in the social service system. This work reflects the contrasting backgrounds and interests of the authors including constitutional theory, moral philosophy, and the literary tradition of law, community and family. It also presents law and economics, feminist theory and application of legal theory to many practical family law problems. You’ll see the authors’ common fascination with history, concern with fairness (and fair treatment of the issues), and genuine love of the subject that motivated this work

Quantitative Methods For Lawyers, Margaret Brinig, Steven Crafton,

Margaret F Brinig

No abstract provided.

Family, Law, And Community: Supporting The Covenant, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

In the wake of vast social and economic changes, the nuclear family has lost its dominance, both as an ideal and in practice. Some welcome this shift, while others see civilization itself in peril—but few move beyond ideology to develop a nuanced understanding of how families function in society. In this provocative book, Margaret F. Brinig draws on research from a variety of disciplines to offer a distinctive study of family dynamics and social policy. Concentrating on legal reform, Brinig examines a range of subjects, including cohabitation, custody, grandparent visitation, and domestic violence. She concludes that conventional legal reforms and …

Nicole Garnett And Peg Brinig’S Book Lost Classroom, Lost Community Was Reviewed In Fare Forward On March 25, 2015, Nicole Garnett, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

Nicole Garnett and Peg Brinig’s book Lost Classroom, Lost Community was reviewed in Fare Forward on March 25.

From Contract To Covenant: Beyond The Law And Economics Of The Family, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

This book is the first systematic account of the law and economics of the family. It explores the implications of economics for family law--divorce, adoption, breach of promise, surrogacy, prenuptial agreements, custody arrangements--and its limitations. Before a family forms, prospective partners engage in a kind of market activity that involves searching and bargaining, for which the economic analysis of contract law provides useful insights. Once a couple marries, the individuals become a family and their decisions have important consequences for other parties, especially children. As a result, the state and community have vital interests in the family. Although it may …

Do Joint Parenting Laws Make Any Difference?, Margaret Brinig, Douglas W. Allen

Margaret F Brinig

Using a unique data set on divorcing couples, we analyze the effects of a change in legal entitlement on the outcomes for divorcing couples. In particular, we analyze the 1997 change to custody provisions in the State of Oregon. Prior to 1997, Oregon assigned custody, based on the discretion of the court, in the best interests of the child. This was changed to a presumption- of joint parenting, which manifests in the courts encouraging and imposing joint (or shared) custody in cases that otherwise would have had sole custody arrangements. We find that the law had several implications for divorce …

A Crisis Of Community: Catholic School Closures And Urban Neighborhoods, Margaret Brinig, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Margaret F Brinig

A Crisis of Community: Catholic School Closures and Urban Neighborhoods A discussion with the authors of Lost Classroom, Lost Community: Catholic Schools' Importance in Urban America Thursday, September 18, 2014 Margaret Brinig, Nicole Stelle Garnett, Fr. Tim Scully, Moderator Sponsored by: Robert A Fox Leadership Program - Faith and Service Partners,Collegium Institute for Catholic Thought & Culture,Penn Newman Chapter,Archdiocese of Philadelphia,Alliance for Catholic Education,Notre Dame Law School,Penn's Program for Research on Religion & Urban Civil Society.

Shared Parenting Laws: Mistakes Of Pooling?, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

In their recent paper “Anti-Herding Regulation,” forthcoming in the Harvard Business Review, Ian Ayres and Joshua Mitts argue that many well-intentioned public policy regulations potentially harm rather than help situations. That is, because they seek to pool — or herd — groups of people, treating them as equal, they miss or mask important differences among the regulated, thus magnifying systematic risk. Anti-herding regulation, on the other hand, can produce socially beneficial information, in their words steering “both private and public actors toward better evidence-based outcomes.” Left to their own, or with various carrot-and-stick incentives, some groups, anyway, would instead fare …

Status Contract And Covenant , Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

No abstract provided.

Two Treatments Of Pluralism: Canada And The United States, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

This paper explores differences between the Canadian and US treatment of pluralism in the context of family status and minority groups. Very rudimentary empirical analysis explores the different outcomes for African-American and Quebecois youth.

Revisiting Mary Ann Glendon: Abortion, Divorce, Dependency, And Rights Talk In Western Law, Margaret Brinig, Linda Mcclain

Margaret F Brinig

This essay revisits Mary Ann Glendon’s comparative law study, Abortion and Divorce in Western Law and her subsequent book, Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse. Glendon’s comparative study actually included a third topic: “forms of dependency which are connected with pregnancy, marriage, and child raising.” The topic of dependency has obvious relevance to consideration of intergenerational obligations and the interplay between family responsibility and societal responsibility for addressing dependency needs. A central claim Glendon made in both books is that the U.S. legal tradition is “libertarian,” views individuals as “lone rights bearers,” and exalts the “right to be …

Daniel Kelly And Peg Brinig Were Featured In A Productive Partnership: Notre Dame’S New Law And Economics Program Is Much In Demand – Notre Dame Lawyer (Spring 2011), Daniel Kelly, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

Daniel Kelly and Peg Brinig were featured in A Productive Partnership: Notre Dame’s new Law and Economics Program is much in demand – Notre Dame Lawyer (spring 2011), page 12.

A PRODUCTIVE PARTNERSHIP

Notre Dame’s new Law and Economics Program is much in demand

by Mark A. Cohen

Chicago Catholic Schools -- Stake A Claim To Neighborhoods (Quotes: Margaret "Peg" Brinig) Huffington Post Chicago -- September 4, 2012, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

Chicago Catholic Schools -- Stake a Claim to Neighborhoods (Quotes: Margaret "Peg" Brinig) Huffington Post Chicago -- September 4, 2012 Article by Joshua Hale A series of research articles by University of Notre Dame Professors Margaret Brinig and Nicole Garnet have laid out the case. In a paper summarizing their findings, "Catholic Schools, Urban Neighborhoods, and Education Reform" Brinig and Garnet used three decades of data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods to evaluate the effect of a Catholic school closure on its neighborhood. They found -- even after controlling for other demographic variables that might predict …

Explaining Abuse Of The Disabled Child, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

This article discusses abuse of disabled children in terms of two competing theories for why it may occur. The evolutionary biology theory has been discussed in the legal literature as well as in biological and social science pieces. The author contrasts this theory with a novel one, mimetic desire, which may be less familiar in legal circles, but which, he believes, better explains the abuse of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder children and offers more hope for preventing abuse without disrupting intact families. While the evolutionary biology explanations for child abuse may be helpful and important, more territory can be covered …

Comment On Jana Singer's Alimony And Efficiency, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

No abstract provided.

Empirical Work In Family Law, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

Until fairly recently, researchers have not done much theoretical work on the subject of family law. Although the move towards theoretical work is a positive one, unfortunately, most of the latest reforms in family law have been uninformed by empirical studies. Furthermore, the few empirical studies that have been conducted are replete with intractable problems.

In this essay, Margaret Brinig discusses some of the problems researchers have encountered in their attempts to conduct empirical work in the area of family law. For example, most researchers have used state cross-sectional data for their experiments. Reliance on this type of data can …