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Full-Text Articles in Law
Stories Told And Untold: Confidentiality Laws And The Master Narrative Of Child Welfare, Matthew I. Fraidin
Stories Told And Untold: Confidentiality Laws And The Master Narrative Of Child Welfare, Matthew I. Fraidin
Journal Articles
In most states, child welfare hearings and records are sealed or confidential. This means that by law, court hearings and records may not be observed. The same laws and court rules also preclude those who are authorized to enter and watch from discussing anything learned or observed in a closed courtroom or from a sealed court record with anyone not involved in the case. It is the restriction on speech—on telling stories about child welfare—with which this Article is concerned. I will argue in this Article that the insights of narrative theory and agenda-setting studies help us understand the damaging …
The Adoptee's Right To Know: In Re Adoption Of A Female Infant, Zvi Greismann
The Adoptee's Right To Know: In Re Adoption Of A Female Infant, Zvi Greismann
Antioch Law Journal
Among the most difficult questions arising out of an adoption is whether a record should be reopened at the request of an adult adoptee seeking information about his or her biological parents. In most jurisdictions an adoptee seeking this information must obtain a court order.'Adoption proceedings are statutory and, therefore, proceedings to unseal records are governed by state adoption laws. However,existing statutory standards are vague. Ultimately the decision to grant or deny access is a discretionary one lying with the courts.Further, in exercising their discretion, courts are faced with the difficult problem of resolving potentially conflicting interests of the adoptee, …