Law Commons^™

From Equitable To Equal, And Then More Equal: How Nevada Divorce Law Can Help Domestic Violence Survivors, David Ernesto Chavez

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Equitable Relief For Erisa Benefit Plan Designation Mistakes, Raymond C. O'Brien

Catholic University Law Review

Since its enactment in 1974, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and related insurance and disability programs provided retirement security for employees and employers, amassing more than $9 trillion in protected assets. Congress preempted conflicting state laws so as to promote certainty of distribution and ease of administration, two hallmarks of ERISA-governed plans. Nonetheless, since 1974, American society embraced spousal equality, an increased number of marriages end in divorce, and wealth most often passes through nonprobate transfers such as insurance contracts and pension policy plans. To accommodate these societal and wealth changes, states enacted statutes to provide elective share …

Cohabitation In Illinois: The Need For Legislative Intervention, Stefanie L. Ferrari

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

הורות משפטית מן הדין ומן הצדק - Legal Parenthood - Law And Justice, Yehezkel Margalit

Hezi Margalit

In Re Parental Rights As To S.L., 134 Nev. Adv. Op. 59 (Aug. 2, 2018), Maliq Kendricks

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined that termination of parental rights is valid when parents fail to take necessary remedial action for reunification with their children and the termination is in the best interest of the children pursuant to NRS 128.105(1)(a).

From Marriage To Households: Towards Equal Treatment Of Intimate Forms Of Life, Deborah Zalesne, Adam Dexter

Buffalo Law Review

Law and attitudes around marriage have changed drastically in our own history and are widely different across cultures. Same-sex marriage is now legal, polyamorous relationships are on the rise, and, as an empirical matter, marriage serves a different purpose than it did as little as forty years ago -- marriage is no longer a prerequisite for sexual intimacy, cohabitation, or parenthood. There are no essential elements to a definition of marriage to which the state can appeal without arbitrarily restricting citizens’ possibilities with respect to their most intimate relationships. Therefore, because any state-sanctioned version of marriage will be arbitrary, the …

Something To (Lex Loci) Celebrationis?, Meg Penrose

Meg Penrose

This essay is the first in a series exploring the implications of the recent landmark Supreme Court case, United States v. Windsor. This discussion was inspired by Meg Penrose’s article, UNBREAKABLE VOWS: SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AND THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO DIVORCE, published in Volume 58:1. The series is meant to serve as an open forum for scholars and practitioners to weigh in on one of the most significant Supreme Court decisions of the 21st century.

Denying Tax-Exempt Status To Discriminatory Private Adoption Agencies, Allison M. Whelan

UC Irvine Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Immodest Proposal For Birth Registration In Donor-Assisted Reproduction, In The Interest Of Science And Human Rights, Elizabeth Samuels

Articles

Increasingly, an individual or a couple raising a newborn child may not be biologically related to the child. The child may be conceived with donated gametes -- a donated egg or sperm or both. A surrogate may gestate the child. The couple may be same-sex. Although we are aware of these developments, we are failing to collect information about them that is vital for medical, public health, and social science research as well as for protecting human rights. Information drawn from birth records is crucial for research, but it is becoming less accurate and less useful as parents who are …

The Impact Of Domestic Violence On Immigrant Women, Shawna C. Quast

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

No abstract provided.

The Story Of Parenthood, Courtney Cahill

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

“Who Will Judge The Many When The Game Isthrough?”: Considering The Profound Differencesbetween Mental Health Courts And “Traditional”Involuntary Civil Commitment Courts, Michael L. Perlin

Seattle University Law Review

For forty years, we have known that involuntary civil commitment hearings are—in most jurisdictions—“charades.” When the Supreme Court noted, in Parham v. J.R., that the average length of a civil commitment hearing ranged from 3.8 to 9.2 minutes, the reaction of many who had done these cases was, “What? So long?!” The characterization of such hearings as being a “greased runway” to a state institution has never been disputed. Lawyers representing these individuals were bored or contemptuous; judges simply wanted to get cases moving; opposing counsel looked at their wrist watches to see when the cases would be done. This …

Collaborative Divorce: What Louis Brandeis Might Say About The Promise And Problems?, Susan Saab Fortney

Susan S. Fortney

If you ask legal ethics scholars what they remember about Louis D. Brandeis's judicial confirmation hearings, most would point to the manner in which he responded to questions about his representation of persons with perceived conflicts of interest. Louis Brandeis responded to challenges by stating that he was "counsel for the situation. Some use this comment when examining problems associated with a single lawyer representing multiple clients in the same transaction. Others believe that Brandeis may have been referring to a type of intermediary role in which lawyers attempt to adjust the rights and interests of multiple clients with potentially …

My Name Is Not 'Respondent Mother': The Need For Procedural Justice In Child Welfare Cases, Vivek S. Sankaran

Articles

You are a parent whose children are in foster care. Your court hearing is today, after which you hope your children will return home. Upon leaving the bus, you wait in line to enter the court. At the metal detectors you’re told you can’t bring your cell phone inside. With no storage options, you hide your phone in the bushes, hoping it will be there when you return.

Free-Range Parenting Gets Legal Protection In Utah - But Should The State Dictate How To Parent?, David Pimentel

Articles

No abstract provided.

A (Re)Adoption Story: What Is Driving Adoptive Parents To Rehome Their Children And What Can Texas Do About It, Emma Martin

Texas A&M Law Review

Ava was adopted from Africa when she was four years old. She became the baby sister to two older brothers and the daughter to two loving, experienced parents. A year or two after Ava moved to America, she and her “forever family” attended a Colorado summer camp. All was seemingly well until the camp staff and the other families at camp started to notice something strange about the way Ava’s parents treated her compared to her brothers. After an activity, the parents greeted the brothers with an excited “did you have fun?” or “what did you learn?,” while the parents …

Habitual Residence V. Domicile: A Challenge Facing American Conflicts Of Laws, Mo Zhang

Maine Law Review

Habitual residence has now become an internationally accepted connecting factor in conflict of laws and is widely being used as an alternative to, or replacement of, domicile. This concept, however, remains remote to American conflict of laws. Although the use of habitual residence in the U.S. courts is mandated by the codification of the Hague Child Abduction Convention, there is still a lack of general acceptance in American conflict of law literature. The Article argues that habitual residence should be adopted as a conflict of law connecting factor in American conflict of laws, and it would be unwise for the …

Domestic Asset Tracing And Recovery Of Hidden Assets And The Spoils Of Financial Crime, Nathan Wadlinger, Carl Pacini, Nicole Stowell, William Hopwood, Debra Sinclair

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming

Criminalizing Battered Mothers, Courtney Cross

Utah Law Review

How a domestic violence survivor responds to the abuse she is experiencing depends on many factors. Some critical considerations include her access to resources, desire to stay in her relationship, and assessment of her own safety. Criminal and civil court systems place enormous pressure on survivors to separate from their abusive partners. Not only are survivors with children pressured to leave, they are punished when they stay. That punishment can come in any combination of diminished custody rights, limited parental rights, and incarceration. Yet a survivor who flees with her children is not immune to these same consequences: if she …

Paternity Un(Certainty): How The Law Surrounding Paternity Challenges Negatively Impacts Family Relationships And Women's Sexuality, Susan Ayres

Susan Ayres

It is popularly believed that false paternity rates are 10-30%, and that thousands of unsuspecting men are supporting children who are not theirs. These reported rates of false paternity have become urban legend, demonizing women as over-sexualized partners who shouldn’t be trusted. This in turn has influenced laws regarding paternity, which have evolved to allow men to dis-establish paternity years after a child’s birth, even when there has been an adjudication or acknowledgment of paternity. This article argues that society should be cautious about elevating science as the highest consideration in truth claims about paternity. It examines the incoherent and …

Two & A Half Parents: Three-Parent Ivf And Medical Malpractice In The United States, Jay M. Fulk

Concordia Law Review

Fertility medicine is seeing a rapid advancement with the emergence of a new procedure called three-parent in vitro fertilization (IVF). This novel procedure provides an opportunity for women who have defective mitochondria to bear their own healthy genetic children. As women encounter fertility issues, they will often turn to regular IVF by receiving an egg from a donor—ultimately resulting in a child with no genetic relation to the mother. Women with defective mitochondria will likely pass down a mitochondrial disease to their children, therefore, bearing a child without the assistance from a donor does not present a viable option. Mitochondrial …

Placentophagy: A Women's Right To Her Placenta, Amber Goeden

Concordia Law Review

Placentophagy is the consumption of the placenta after childbirth. While not every woman participates in placentophagy, there has been a notable increase of the practice. Many reasons exist in why woman partake in placentophagy. The most notable reasons for the growth, is the claimed increased breast milk production and the potential for reducing the effects of post-partum depression. Even though a woman might choose to partake in placentophagy, she might be met with law, or the lack thereof, that restricts her access to her placenta. Due to the increased requests for the placenta it has highlighted that a woman’s right …

“Indian” As A Political Classification: Reading The Tribe Back Into The Indian Child Welfare Act, Allison Krause Elder

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

In the summer of 2018, the Ninth Circuit will consider an appeal from the dismissal of a constitutional challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Brought by a conservative think-tank, this case frames the ICWA as race-based legislation, violating equal protection by depriving Indian children of the same procedures as non-Indian children in child custody cases. In reality, the ICWA seeks to protect the interests of tribes, Indian families, and Indian children by establishing special procedures and obligations in Indian child custody cases. On its face, the ICWA is concerned not with the race of children, but with the …

Litigating Trauma As Disability In American Schools, Taylor N. Mullaney

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

An Illiberal Union, Sonu Bedi

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Article breaks new ground by applying the philosophical framework of liberal neutrality (most famously articulated by John Rawls) to the United States Supreme Court’s jurisprudence on marriage. At first blush, the Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges—the culmination of marriage rights—seems to affirm a central principle of liberalism, namely equal access to marriage regardless of sexual orientation. Gays and lesbians can finally take part in an institution that celebrates the union of two committed individuals. But perversely, in its attempt to expand access to marriage, the Court has simultaneously entrenched values that are antithetical to the basic tenants …

The Devil You Don’T Know: Implicit Bias Keeps Women In Their Place, Michele N. Struffolino

Pace Law Review

While men’s claims of gender bias in the family law system are acknowledged, this article focuses on how bias, whether implicit or explicit under the guise of unconscious attitudes or behavior, continues to place women at a systemic disadvantage. Although implicit bias also impacts outcomes in child abuse and neglect actions involving the state, the focus of this article is the impact of implicit bias in actions between women and men in the family courts, in particular those issues involved in the dissolution of the relationship and the family unit. First, the emergence of implicit social cognition theory will be …

Custody Rights Of Same-Sex Couples In The United States V. Chile: More Progress Needed, Isabel Jolicoeur

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Her Belly, Their Baby: A Contract Solution For Surrogacy Agreements, Devon Quinn

Journal of Law and Policy

The 1986 Baby M case was the first American court ruling regarding the validity of surrogacy. The contentious custody battle between the intended parents and their surrogate highlighted the issues and fears associated with the practice, impacted legislation throughout the United States, and captured national media attention. Since 1986, however, the landscape of the American family has changed -- gay marriage has been legalized in the United States, one in eight American heterosexual couples struggle with fertility issues, women are more likely to wait longer to have children, and developments in technology such as in-vitro fertilization offer new fertility options …

Unregulated Custody Transfers: Why The Practice Of Rehoming Should Be Considered A Form Of Illegal Adoption And Human Trafficking, Michael D. Aune

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Honoring Professor Bruce Kogan (05-07-2018), Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.