Family Law Commons^™

Black Kinship Circles In The 21st Century: Survey Of Recent Child Welfare Reforms And How It Impacts Black Kinship Care Families, Sonia M. Gipson Rankin

Faculty Scholarship

The Black American community has been celebrated for the historical success of kinship care. With an eye on the long legal history of attempts to address kinship care families, the federal government created an exploratory program to concentrate on solving the three goals of child welfare. Title IV-E Flexible Waiver program of the Social Security Act implemented in 2005 was designed to address the permanency, wellbeing, and safety of children with the goal of decreasing the number of children in out-of-home care.

• This paper argues Title IV-E Flexible Waivers should be used to address the continued health and economic needs …

From Romer V. Evans To United States V. Windsor: Law As A Vehicle For Moral Disapproval In Amendment 2 And The Defense Of Marriage Act, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

This article considers the intertwined fates of Romer v. Evans and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which both date back to 1996. In United States v. Windsor, Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority, struck down Section 3 of DOMA, using Romer as a template. This article reflects on Romer as it bears on the use of law as a vehicle to express morality, in particular, “moral disapproval of homosexuality” and moral approval -- and the defense and nurture -- of “traditional, heterosexual marriage.” Proponents of Amendment 2 (struck down in Romer, in an opinion written by Justice Kennedy) and …

Adoptive Couple V. Baby Girl: Two-And-A-Half Ways To Destroy Indian Law, Marcia A. Yablon-Zug

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

In December 2011, Judge Malphrus of the South Carolina family court ordered Matt and Melanie Capobianco to relinquish custody of Veronica, their two-year-old, adopted daughter, to her biological father, Dusten Brown. A federal statute known as the Indian Child Welfare Act ("ICWA") mandated Veronica's return. However, the court's decision to return Veronica pursuant to this law incited national outrage and strident calls for the Act's repeal. While this outrage was misplaced, it may nonetheless have influenced the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear the appeal. The case of Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl is emotionally complicated, but it is not …

"Rethinking" Embryo Disposition Upon Divorce, Michael T. Flannery

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Black Marriage, White People, Red Herrings, Melissa Murray

Michigan Law Review

Ralph Richard Banks's Is Marriage for White People? is worlds away from Agatha Christie's novels. Decidedly a work of nonfiction, Banks's book considers the plight of middle-class African Americans who, according to statistics, are the least likely of any demographic group to get and stay married. Despite these obvious differences, Is Marriage for White People? shares some important commonalities with Agatha Christie's mysteries. Banks seeks to solve a mystery, but red herrings draw attention away from the true issue that should be the subject of Banks's concern. The mystery, of course, is the black marriage decline. In 1950, 78 percent …

Family History: Inside And Out, Kerry Abrams

Michigan Law Review

The twenty-first century has seen the dawn of a new era of the family, an era that has its roots in the twentieth. Many of the social and scientific phenomena of our time - same-sex couples, in vitro fertilization, single-parent families, international adoption - have inspired changes in the law. Legal change has encompassed both constitutional doctrine and statutory innovations, from landmark Supreme Court decisions articulating a right to procreate (or not), a liberty interest in the care, custody, and control of one's children, and even a right to marry, to state no-fault divorce statutes that have fundamentally changed the …

Who's Your Daddy? Defining Paternity Rights In The Context Of Free, Private Sperm Donation, Lauren Gill

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Dilemma Of Doctrinal Design: Rights, Identity And The Work-Family Conflict, Lauren Sudeall

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This symposium article suggests that with regard to the work-family conflict, we may have exhausted doctrine’s potential in setting a constitutional foundation for women to be treated as equals in the workplace and requiring that they not be discriminated against in the event that they decide to start a family. For purposes of this piece, those accomplishments constitute the first phase or “first generation” of progress. This article is concerned with how doctrine relates to “second generation” issues arising from the work-family conflict: how to balance work and family once some initial level of equality has been achieved; how to …

2013 Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar: Youth At Risk, Part 2, Denise A. Hines, Fern L. Johnson, Donna Haig Friedman, Deborah A. Frank

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

The youth of Massachusetts are of primary concern to legislators and citizens. This briefing report features three essays by experts — Fern Johnson, Deborah Frank, and Donna Haig Friedman — who focus on three aspects of children in need: children in foster care who need adoption, children who are hungry, and children who are homeless. Each report has further and more detailed suggestions for helping these children in need; below is a summary of the problems we face.

Marriageable Age In Islam: A Study On Marriageable Age Laws And Reforms In Islamic Law, Jeremiah J. Bowden

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

One area of Islamic law that has been subject to much criticism as of late is the practice of child-marriage. Some, preferring to view Islam suspiciously, tend to create a caricature of Muslims as morally depraved individuals who force young daughters into marriages to old men for financial gain. Several polemicists commenting on this practice have hurled virulent epithets toward the Prophet Muhammad, whom they believe to be the originator of this abhorrent practice. After exploring instances where child-marriage still occurs, I will examine how this practice is currently being reformed in a way consistent with Islamic law. Ultimately, I …

Assimilation, Acculturation, And The Law: Solving A “Problem” Like Shar’Ia, Kristina E. Benson

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

An unexpected development in the English legal system involves Muslim women’s use of legally binding Shar’ia councils to protect their autonomy, marital security, and property rights. Although scholars and political commentators alike have voiced concerns that Muslim women will be treated unfairly in these councils, there is some indication that women have become adept at navigating this plural legal landscape and that they have often managed to secure better outcomes from Shar’ia family law than from English courts. Over 80 Shar’ia tribunals have been established to issue legally binding decisions on divorce, child custody, inheritance, and other areas of family …

Proposition 8 Is Unconstitutional, But Not Because The Ninth Circuit Said So: The Equal Protection Clause Does Not Support A Legal Distinction Between Denying The Right To Same-Sex Marriage And Not Providing It In The First Place, Nathan Rouse

Seattle University Law Review

In Perry v. Brown, the Ninth Circuit held that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. But in doing so, the court stepped back from the breadth of the district court’s decision. The Ninth Circuit did not address whether same-sex marriage is a fundamental constitutional right. Nor did the Ninth Circuit address whether the Equal Protection Clause categorically prevents states from limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. Instead, the Ninth Circuit reached the narrow conclusion that Proposition 8 violates the Equal Protection Clause because it withdrew a preexisting legal right from a marginalized group without any legitimate purpose. The Ninth Circuit should have held …

Let Me Count The Ways: The Unconstitutionality Of Same-Sex-Marriage Bans, Mark Strasser

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

“You Have The Right To Remain Silent”: Does The U.S. Constitution Require Public Affirmation Of Same-Sex Marriage?, Robert A. Destro

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

The Spanish Law On Same-Sex Marriage: Constitutional Arguments, Carmen Garcimartin

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Equality Principles As Asserted Justifications For Mandating The Legalization Of Same-Sex Marriage In American And Intercountry-Comparative Constitutional Law, Lynn D. Wardle

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

How The Battle To Redefine Marriage Affected Family Law In Argentina, Ursula C. Basset

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

“The Pursuit Of Happiness” Comes Home To Roost? Same-Sex Union, The Summum Bonum, And Equality, Patrick Mckinley Brennan

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

The Constitutionality Of Same-Sex Marriage In Australia (And Other Related Issues), Augusto Zimmermann

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

The Forgotten Founding Document: Considering The Ends Of The Law, A. Scott Loveless

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

On the difficult moral issues confronting the judiciary today, a long overlooked bit of guidance is provided in the Declaration of Independence, natural law. This paper discusses the moral foundations of the Constitution and their relation to positive law, primarily addressing "same-sex marriage" in the context of Proposition 8 in California, but broadly applicable to other moral/legal conflicts such as abortion and the display of religious texts on public grounds, such as the Ten Commandments. It also challenges the judicial activism evident in many such cases as a judicial violation of the requirements of substantive due process.

To Prevent And To Protect: The Reporting Of Child Abuse By Educators, Jon M. Hogelin

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Pulling Back The Curtains: Undetected Child Abuse And The Need For Increased Regulation Of Home Schools In Missouri, Tyler Barnett

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Summary Of In The Matter Of Parental Rights As To A.G., 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 13, David H. Rigdon

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal from a district court order denying a petition for termination of parental rights.

Whatever Your Thoughts On Marriage, Gay Divorce Is A Concern, Nathan B. Oman

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

So You're Going To Represent A Juvenile!, John R. Heilman

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Changing American Family: Can The Courts Catch Up?, George Thomas

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Where For Art Thou Danforth: Bellotti V. Baird , David C. Boatwright

Pepperdine Law Review

The author's focus is upon a Supreme Court opinion dealing with the constitutional parameters of a minor's right to make an independent decision with respect to abortion. The majority, in an attempt to balance the often conflicting interests of the minor, the minor's parents, and the state, sets forth the minimum requirements with which parental consent statutes must comply. The author emphasizes the significance of the high court's plurality split regarding this issue, and cautions the practitioner as to the possibility of inconsistent rulings on such statutes in the future.

Half Faith And Credit?: The Fifth Circuit Upholds Louisiana's Refusal To Issue A Revised Birth Certificate, Thomas M. Joraanstad

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Expatriate Domestic Relations Law In Mexican California , David J. Langum

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Joint Custody As A Parenting Alternative, Billy G. Mills, Steven P. Belzer

Pepperdine Law Review

Joint custody of children has been a recently accepted alternative to the traditional child custody/visitation orders that usually follow dissolution proceedings. In 1980, California became one of the first states to provide, by statute, a presumption in favor of an award of joint custody to the parents. The authors present the legislative history of this joint custody statute and synthesize the various views that have been expressed on the subject of joint custody. Also presented is a discussion of the legislative intent behind the statute and whether the current law is the most effective means of protecting the best interests …