Family Law Commons^™

The House Of Windsor: Accentuating The Heteronormativity In The Tax Incentives For Procreation, Anthony C. Infanti

Washington Law Review

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor, many seem to believe that the fight for marriage equality at the federal level is over and that any remaining work in this area is at the state level. Belying this conventional wisdom, this Article plumbs the gap between the promise of Windsor and the reality that heteronormativity has been one of the core building blocks of the federal tax system. Eradicating embedded heteronormativity will take far more than a single court decision (or even revenue ruling); it will take years of work uncovering the subtle ways in which …

Domestic Relations, Barry B. Mcgough, Elinor H. Hitt, Katherine S. Cornwell

Mercer Law Review

This Article addresses significant case law that arose during the survey period. There were no extensive statutory changes specific to domestic relations during this period, though legislation was passed by the Georgia General Assembly providing limitations on personal information allowed in court filings.

Windsor, Surrogacy, And Race, Khiara M. Bridges

Washington Law Review

Scholars and activists interested in racial justice have long been opposed to surrogacy arrangements, wherein a couple commissions a woman to become pregnant, give birth to a baby, and surrender the baby to the couple to raise as its own. Their fear has been that surrogacy arrangements will magnify racial inequalities inasmuch as wealthy white people will look to poor women of color to carry and give birth to the white babies that the couples covet. However, perhaps critical thinkers about race should reconsider their contempt for surrogacy following the Supreme Court’s recent decision in United States v. Windsor. …

Foreword: Compensated Surrogacy In The Age Of Windsor, Kellye Y. Testy

Washington Law Review

The authors in this timely symposium tackle the many and varied issues related to compensated surrogacy with sophisticated, diverse, and careful analysis. Moreover, they do so in the context of fast-paced legal and sociological change on issues of marriage and parenting, some of which was crystalized in the recent United States v. Windsor decision that spurred growing recognition of gay marriage and families across the nation.

Compensated Surrogacy, Martha A. Field

Washington Law Review

The question that was put to us is whether the widespread legalization of gay marriage, supported by the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor, means that compensated surrogacy should be more broadly legalized. This essay takes the position that Windsor has little relevance to surrogacy, which will continue to be governed by state rather than federal law. States do, and will, follow a wide spectrum of policies on surrogacy, ranging from banning it and making it illegal to promoting it by enforcing surrogacy contracts as ordinary commercial transactions. The legalization of gay marriage need not affect states’ …

The Future Of Compensated Surrogacy In Washington State: Anytime Soon?, Terry J. Price

Washington Law Review

Americans in the mid-1980s were shocked by the facts of the Baby M case. That case, a compensated surrogacy arrangement that publicly went very wrong, raised complicated issues that the country had not considered: whether a woman could contract to carry a pregnancy for another person without becoming the legal mother; whether she could be separated from the child at birth, even though it was her genetic offspring; and whether the contract could take precedence over a mother’s regret over giving up the child. As a result of that case, a number of states, including Washington, prohibited compensated surrogacy arrangements. …

Bearing Children, Bearing Risks: Feminist Leadership For Progressive Regulation Of Compensated Surrogacy In The United States, Sara L. Ainsworth

Washington Law Review

Compensated surrogacy—an arrangement in which a woman carries and gives birth to a child for someone else in exchange for money—intimately affects women. Yet, feminist law reformers have not led efforts to regulate this practice in the United States. Their absence is notable given the significant influence of feminist lawmaking in a host of other areas where women’s interests are at stake. This lack of feminist law reform leadership can be understood, however, in light of the complex issues that surrogacy raises—complexity that has long divided feminists. In response to efforts to pass surrogacy legislation in Washington State in 2010, …

For A Feminist Considering Surrogacy, Is Compensation Really The Key Question?, Julie Shapiro

Washington Law Review

Feminists have long been engaged in the debates over surrogacy. During the past thirty years, thousands of women throughout the world have served as surrogate mothers. The experience of these women has been studied by academics in law and in the social sciences. It is apparent that if properly conducted, surrogacy can be a rewarding experience for women and hence should not be objectionable to feminists. Improperly conducted, however, surrogacy can be a form of exploitation. Compensation is not the distinguishing factor. In this essay I offer two changes to law that would improve the surrogate’s experience of surrogacy. First, …

Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Support For Juvenile Sex Offender Registry Laws: Prototypes, Moral Outrage, And Perceived Threat, Margaret C. Stevenson, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Jessica M. Salerno, Tisha R.A. Wiley, Bette L. Bottoms, Katlyn S. Farum

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

We investigated whether and how a juvenile’s history of experiencing sexual abuse affects public perceptions of juvenile sex offenders in a series of 5 studies. When asked about juvenile sex offenders in an abstract manner (Studies 1 and 2), the more participants (community members and undergraduates) believed that a history of being sexually abused as a child causes later sexually abusive behavior, the less likely they were to support sex offender registration for juveniles. Yet when participants considered specific sexual offenses, a juvenile’s history of sexual abuse was not considered to be a mitigating factor. This was true when participants …

Summary Of In Re Parental Rights As To A.L., 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 91, Stephanie Bedker

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined that (1) when seeking to maintain parental rights, parents have a right to bring material evidence rebutting a NRS 432B.450 presumption that a child is in need of protection; and (2) that district courts cannot rely on juvenile court findings of intentional abuse to terminate parental rights where such evidence has been improperly excluded.

Murder, Suicide, And The Fight Over An Inheritance, Joanna L. Grossman

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

The seven-year marriage between Brandy and Joshua Matthews ended in tragedy. He shot and killed her before turning the gun on himself. There were no criminal charges arising out of this tragedy since the murderer died alongside the victim. But there was a civil fight over inheritance, raising the question whether Brandy’s family should inherit from Joshua’s estate. In a unanimous opinion, the Alabama Supreme Court said no -

Appellate Division, Second Department, Langan V. St. Vincent's Hospital Of New York, Christin Harris

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court, Tompkins County, Seymour V. Holcomb, Jessica Goodwin

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Informal Property Rights Of Boomerang Children In The Home, Shelly Kreiczer-Levy

Maryland Law Review

Adult children living with their parents represent an increasingly common social phenomenon in the United States that challenges the boundaries of both the family and formal property rights. What is the legal status of adult children living with their parents? Do parents have any additional duties when they rescind permission for their child to live with them? Property and family scholars have not addressed this important issue. This Article fills the void. Instead of treating people who live together as strangers, owing no legal obligations to one another, I argue that under certain conditions living with others creates a property …

In Re Sanders And The Resurrection Of Stanley V. Illinois, Josh Gupta-Kagan

Faculty Publications

In 1972, the Supreme Court in Stanley v. Illinois declared that parents are entitled to a hearing on their fitness before the state places their children in foster care. Somewhat oddly, Stanley went on to be cited as a leading case regarding the rights of unwed fathers to object to private adoptions favored by mothers -- an issue not present in Stanley. Odder still, most states routinely violated Stanley in child welfare cases -- the context in which the Stanley rule arose. Most states apply the "one parent doctrine," which holds that finding one parent unfit justifies taking the child …

Federal Visions Of Private Family Support, Laura A. Rosenbury

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article offers a new perspective on the relationship between family and federalism by analyzing why the government — whether state or federal — recognizes family at all. The Article examines the current balance between state and federal authority over family by reviewing the Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Astrue v. Capato, upholding the Social Security Administration’s deference to states’ intestacy laws when distributing benefits to posthumously conceived children, and United States v. Windsor, in which the Court struck down a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Although each decision affirmed the states’ primary role in defining family …

Federal Visions Of Private Family Support, Laura A. Rosenbury

Vanderbilt Law Review

The individual states have long played a primary role in defining the legal family in the United States, with states often determining who does and does not enjoy the legal status of spouse, parent, and child. Two recent U.S. Supreme Court cases, Astrue v. Capatol and United States v. Windsor,2 acknowledged and affirmed the diverse definitions of family that flow from this federalist approach. Yet these cases do not solidify the states' place in defining family for purposes of marriage, parentage, divorce, and death. Instead, they foreshadow an increasingly federal conception of family status-a conception that values private family support …

Brief Of Scholars Of The Constitutional Rights Of Children Susannah W. Pollvogt, Catherine E. Smith, And Tanya Washington As Amici Curiae In Support Of Plaintiffs-Appellants And Reversal: Robicheaux V. Caldwell, Catherine E. Smith, Tanya Washington, Susannah W. Pollvogt

Scholarly Articles

Amici are scholars and professors of family law and the law of equal protection. Amici submit this brief to respond directly to arguments advanced by the State of Louisiana that its laws prohibiting same-sex marriage2 are justified because they advance child welfare. Specifically, the State asserts that its laws advance child welfare by promoting Louisiana’s interest in: (1) linking children with their biological parents to prevent the social stigma associated with being “illegitimate” and (2) establishing the child as a member of an intact family resulting from the marriage of the mother and alleged father. These purported justifications express and …

Saving Face: Acid Attack Laws After The U.N. Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women, Lisa M. Taylor

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

What God Has United Man Will Now Divide: Divorce Referendum Changes Law Of 60 Years, Laura A. Marshall

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

There's No Place Like Home. Determining Habitual Residence: Feder V. Evans-Feder, Katherine V. Hung

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Law In Ancient Egyptian Fiction, Russ Versteeg

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Safe Havens Or Dangerous Waters? A Phenomenological Study Of Abused Women's Experiences In The Family Courts Of Ontario, Lois Shereen Winstock

PhD Dissertations

This qualitative, interdisciplinary research study explores the experiences of women abused by their intimate partners who appear as litigants in family court proceedings in Ontario, and the responses of judges presiding over those proceedings.

Domestic violence and abuse affects families from all social, economic and cultural groups. Women have been overwhelmingly identified as the victims of domestic violence and abuse. Children exposed to domestic violence and abuse, either directly or indirectly, are also negatively impacted. The term woman abuse has been employed to denote the gendered nature of the phenomena.

Studies of abused womens interactions with the legal system across …

Access For Access: Ensuring Access To Federal Courts For Parents Seeking To Exercise Rights Of Access Under The Hague Convention On The Civil Aspects Of International Child Abduction, Katherine L. Olson

Catholic University Law Review

Each year, thousands of children are abducted across international borders, often by one of their parents. The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention) and its implementing legislation, the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA), provide recourse to the non-abducting parent. However, recent cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Fourth and Second Circuits have created a circuit split on the issue of whether rights of access, in contrast to rights of custody, convey a private right of action in U.S. federal courts under the Hague Convention. This Comment examines this circuit split …

Voided Vows: Annulment As A Full Faith And Credit Solution To The Same-Sex Divorce Conundrum, Katharine J. Westfall

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Traditional Surrogacy In Tennessee: Strange Statute Begets Strange Judicial Ruling, Joanna L. Grossman

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

According to a recent article in the New York Times by Tamar Lewin, the United States has become – or is in the process of becoming – a mecca for foreign couples seeking the services of a surrogate to gestate a child for them. Theories differ as to the draw, but the lack of national policy or strict regulation is among the most likely suspects.

Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around: The Supreme Court Is Harming People With Its Inscrutable Gay Marriage Actions, Sonja R. West, Dahlia Lithwick

Popular Media

The Supreme Court’s decision Monday (Oct. 5, 2014) to decline the appeals of decisions striking down same-sex marriage bans in five states was, to most court-watchers, a huge surprise. It was also a deeply strange move given the magnitude of the constitutional issue and the general confusion about what a non-decision actually means. While Monday’s denial of certiorari was not technically a decision on the merits, most supporters of same-sex marriage celebrated the move as part of the justices’ inexorable crawl toward marriage equality. And in Virginia, Oklahoma, Colorado, and other affected states, gay couples who have waited—in many cases …

Ironic Simplicity: Why Shaken Baby Syndrome Misdiagnoses Should Result In Automatic Reimbursement For The Wrongly Accused, Jay Simmons

Seattle University Law Review

Shaken baby syndrome (SBS)’s shortcomings include the debatable science behind SBS theory and diagnosis—the questioning of which has grown more vociferous—and the arguably biased, discriminatory treatment of the accused. Professor Deborah Tuerkheimer notes that the evolving SBS skepticism and contentious debate has resulted in "chaos" in many SBS adjudications and within the medical and biomechanical fields, with the same SBS proponents and opponents continually crusading for and clashing over their beliefs. The issues surrounding the medical and biomechanical components of SBS diagnoses have been repeatedly examined and discussed, and are not the focus of this Note. This Note recounts those …

A Matter Of Compliance: How Do U.S. Multinational Corporations Deal With The Discrepancies In The Family And Medical Leave Act Of 1993 And The European Union Directive On Parental Leave; Is An International Standard Practical Or Appropriate In This Area Of Law?, Kathryn L. Morris

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Lawful Wife, Unlawful Sex - Examining The Effect Of The Criminalization Of Marital Rape In England And The Republic Of Ireland, Melisa J. Anderson

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.