Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
- Publication
Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Law
Establishing Legal Permanence For The Child, Donald N. Duquette
Establishing Legal Permanence For The Child, Donald N. Duquette
Book Chapters
This chapter is intended to identify options for legal permanency that state law and the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) commonly recognize to better serve children in foster care. Ideally, the child will ultimately return safely to his or her home of origin. But when a return home is not possible, the child welfare legal process should result in a safe and legally secure alternative permanent placement for the child. The emphasis on legally secure permanent placement is meant to provide the child with psychological stability and a sense of belonging and to limit the likelihood …
The Road Goes On Forever And The Party Never Ends': A Response To Judge Tacoma's Prescription For A Return To Foster Care 'Limbo' And 'Drift', Frank E. Vandervort
The Road Goes On Forever And The Party Never Ends': A Response To Judge Tacoma's Prescription For A Return To Foster Care 'Limbo' And 'Drift', Frank E. Vandervort
Articles
This article responds to Judge Tacoma’s suggested changes in Michigan law. It begins with a very brief history of child welfare legislation at the federal and state levels. Next, it points out a number of errors in Judge Tacoma’s understanding of the current state of Michigan’s child welfare law.2 It is necessary to point out these errors because it seems that his misstatements of the law form the foundation for his recommended reforms. Then it will respond point-by-point to many of Judge Tacoma’s recommendations. Finally, I will off er several suggestions for addressing the problem of legal orphans that do …
Strangers And Brothers: A Homily On Transracial Adoption, Carl E. Schneider
Strangers And Brothers: A Homily On Transracial Adoption, Carl E. Schneider
Articles
The common law speaks to us in parables. Ours is Drummond v. Fulton County Department of Family and Children's Services. Just before Christmas 1973, a boy named Timmy was born to a white mother and a black father. A month later, his mother was declared unfit, and the Department of Family and Children Services placed Timmy with white foster parents - Robert and Mildred Drummond. The Drummonds were "excellent" and "loving" parents, and Timmy grew into "an extremely bright, highly verbal, outgoing 15-month baby boy." Then the Drummonds asked to adopt Timmy. The Department's reviews of the Drummonds' devotion …
A Child's Right To Protection From Transfer Trauma In A Contested Adoption Case, Suellyn Scarnecchia
A Child's Right To Protection From Transfer Trauma In A Contested Adoption Case, Suellyn Scarnecchia
Articles
On August 2, 1993, I arrived at the home of Jan, Robby, and Jessica DeBoer' a few hours before the transfer. At 2:00 P.M. I would carry Jessica out of her home and deliver her to the parents who had won the case,2 her biological mother and father. This task probably would have been easier had I not spent eight days in the trial court listening to the experts explain that this transfer from one set of parents to another would harm Jessica.3 It would have been easier had I not recently obtained affidavits from other experts to persuade the …
Imagining Children's Rights, Suellyn Scarnecchia
Imagining Children's Rights, Suellyn Scarnecchia
Articles
Today, I will tell you some stories about real, live children, whose futures have been determined by our legal system. To speak of children's rights hypothetically, raises images of children suing to go live with their rich uncle or suing to demand a Nintendo system from their parents. I hope that by bringing you stories of the legal system's treatment of real children, you will have a better understanding of what I mean by children's rights and why they must be recognized. Although children's rights have been recognized in limited ways in the areas of free speech, criminal law and …
Who Is Jessica's Mother? Defining Motherhood Through Reality, Suellyn Scarnecchia
Who Is Jessica's Mother? Defining Motherhood Through Reality, Suellyn Scarnecchia
Other Publications
The recent Baby Jessica case and others like it have renewed the nature versus nurture debate in family law. Baby Jessica's biological parents, the Schmidts, sought to obtain permanent custody of their daughter after giving her up for adoption to the DeBoer family. Their argument was one that found its basis in biology and the idea of a traditional family. On the other hand, with the assistance of Professor Scarnecchia, the DeBoers argued that it was more important forJessica's overall health to remain with her primary caretakers of two years. Courts, however, have taken a more traditional view of this …
In Re Lattouf's Will And The Presumption Of Lifetime Fertility In Perpetuity Law, Lawrence W. Waggoner
In Re Lattouf's Will And The Presumption Of Lifetime Fertility In Perpetuity Law, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
Adoption of children is an ever-present complication of class gifts and the Rule Against Perpetuities. Given this fac any effort to find the presumption of lifetime fertility rebuttable is largely illusory. The author demonstrates that the gift in In Re Lattouf's Will could have been sustained even in face of an irrebuttable presumption.
Contract Of Infant--Evidence, Competency Of Witness Under Survivorship Statute, Victor H. Lane
Contract Of Infant--Evidence, Competency Of Witness Under Survivorship Statute, Victor H. Lane
Articles
Two questions are presented by the case of Sigiaigo v. Signaigo, (Mo. 1918), 205 S. W. Rep. 23: First, the enforcibility of the contract of an infant, fully performed by her, to live with a man and his wife as their adopted child so long as they should live, in consideration that the infant should have all the property of the foster parents upon their death; and Second, the competency of the consenting mother of the infant to testify in support of the infant's claim.