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Is The Family A Federal Question?, Meredith Johnson Harbach

Washington and Lee Law Review

There has long been conflict over the relationship between the states and the federal system vis-i-vis the family. The traditional account of domestic relations describes family Law as the exclusive domain of the states, andfederal courts have credited this account in the "domestic relations exception." Although scholars have analyzed and critiqued the exception's applicability to diversity jurisdiction, the intersection offederal question jurisdiction and this exception remains largely unexplored. This Article describes and critiques, on both instrumental and deeper normative terms, federal courts' willingness to expand the "domestic relations exception" to include federal question cases. The Article proceeds in three parts. …