Family Law Commons^™

Greed, Envy, And The Criminalization Of Insider Trading, John P. Anderson

Utah Law Review

In October 2011, a U.S. district court sentenced Raj Rajaratnam to eleven years in federal prison for insider trading. This is the longest sentence for insider trading in U.S. history, but it is significantly less than the nineteen to twenty-four-year term requested by the government. Such harsh prison terms (equal in some cases to those meted out for murder or rape) require sound justification in a liberal society. Yet jurists, politicians, and scholars have failed to offer a clear articulation of either the economic harm or the moral wrong committed by the insider trader.

This Article looks to fill this …

Using Preventive Legal Advocacy To Keep Children From Entering Foster Care, Vivek Sankaran

Articles

Children may unnecessarily enter foster care because their parents are unable to resolve legal issues that affect their safety and well-being in their home.[...] Yet these kinds of legal needs for poor families are rarely met. On average, poor families experience at least one civil legal need per year, but only a small portion of those needs are satisfied. For about every six thousand people in poverty, there exists only one legal aid lawyer. So legal aid programs are forced to reject close to a million cases each year. This lack of legal services threatens the well-being of children[...] who …

Two Dads Are Better Than One: The Supreme Court Of Virginia's Decision In L.F. V. Breit And Why Virginia's Assisted Conception Statute Should Allow Gay Couples To Legally Parent A Child Together, Lauren Maxey

Law Student Publications

This comment examines whether gay men can have a child through a surrogacy arrangement in Virginia and whether gay men can retain parental rights through surrogacy contracts under the Virginia Assisted Conception Act. The Virginia laws affect gay males and gay females equally, but this comment addresses the issues arising with same-sex couples in the context of gay dads. Part II provides a background of surrogacy and specifically discusses surrogacy in relation to same-sex couples. Part III provides a general background of adoption and the establishment of parentage rights. Part IV describes the Assisted Conception Act, the legislative history of …

Virginia's Gap Between Punishment And Culpability: Re-Examining Self-Defense Law And Battered Woman's Syndrome, Kendall Hamilton

Law Student Publications

This comment argues that in order for Virginia's criminal justice system to properly punish women who kill their abusers, effectively restoring their right to self-defend when necessary, Virginia must make two fundamental changes to its self-defense laws. First, Virginia's criminal justice system must advocate for the admission of expert testimony relating to battered woman's syndrome ("BWS"). This reform must be uniformly applied throughout our court system. Second, as Virginia's self-defense laws require both a reasonable fear and an overt act, the subjective standard for reasonable fear must also extend to the overt act requirement. This comment explains the significance of …

Civil Rights 3.0, Nan D. Hunter

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

It is now commonplace to hear the LGBT rights movement being described as the last, or the next, or today’s, pre-eminent civil rights issue. This chapter will explore what that means from several perspectives: What does the label tell us about the civil rights paradigm itself? If the achievement of marriage equality is the great civil rights achievement of this generation, what does that suggest about a future for equality more generally? How have new forms of, and technologies for, movement building affected the idea and practice of civil rights? Does the civil rights paradigm have a future? I focus …

Same-Sex Marriage, Federalism, And Judicial Supremacy, Robert F. Nagel

Publications

Justice Kennedy's opinion in United States v. Windsor is characterized by a number of strained and wavering constitutional claims. Prominent among these is the argument that the principle of federalism calls into question the congressional decision to adopt the traditional definition of marriage, which the state of New York rejected. An examination of earlier federalism cases demonstrates that Kennedy's appreciation for federalism is in fact severely limited and suggests and that his lax use of legal authority is directly if perversely related to this limited appreciation.

Federalism cases prior to Windsor show that Justice Kennedy supports state authority only when …

Regulating Sexual Harm: Strangers, Intimates, And Social Institutional Reform, Allegra M. Mcleod

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The criminal regulation of sexual harm in the United States is afflicted by deep pathology. Although sexual harm appears before the law in a variety of forms—from violent rape, to indecent exposure, to the sexual touching by an older child of a younger child—the prevailing U.S. criminal regulatory framework responds to this wide range of conduct with remarkable uniformity. All persons so convicted are labeled “sex offenders,” and most are subjected to registration, community notification, and residential restrictions, among other sanctions. These measures purport to prevent the perpetration of further criminal sexual harm by publicizing the identities and restricting the …

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

Articles

No abstract provided.

Conferring Dignity: The Metamorphosis Of The Legal Homosexual, Noa Ben-Asher

Faculty Publications

The legal homosexual has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past three decades, culminating in United States v. Windsor, which struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In 1986, the homosexual was a sexual outlaw beyond the protection of the Constitution. By 2013, the homosexual had become part of a married couple that is “deemed by the State worthy of dignity.” This Article tells the story of this metamorphosis in four phases. In the first, the “Homosexual Sodomite Phase,” the United States Supreme Court famously declared in Bowers v. Hardwick that there was no right …

Dislocation And Relocation: Women In The Federal Prison System And Repurposing Fci Danbury For Men, Anna Arons, Katherine Culver, Emma Kaufman, Jennifer Yun, Hope Metcalf, Megan Quattlebaum, Judith Resnik

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

This Report tracks the lack of progress in keeping federal prison space in the Northeast available for women and the impact of the absence of bed-spaces for women on the implementation of federal policies committed to reducing over-incarceration. The problems began in the summer of 2013, when the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announced plans to transform its only prison for women in the Northeast—FCI Danbury—into a facility for men. The BOP explained that this self-described “mission change” was a response to the need to provide more low-security beds for male prisoners.

Ready, Set, Go To Federal Court: The Hague Child Abduction Treaty, Demystified, Jennifer Baum

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction may sound intimidating, but is easily demystified. Since 1980, signatory nations have agreed that parents should not be permitted to forum shop among countries when it comes to custody of their children. The Hague Convention requires the prompt repatriation of children under 16 years of age who were wrongfully removed by a parent from the country in which they had been living, except in certain very limited circumstances (some of which are discussed in more detail, below). The Convention does not address or permit the alteration of custody …

20 Years Of Domestic Violence Advocacy, Collaborations, And Challenges: Reflections Of A Clinical Law Professor, Suzanne E. Tomkins

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

The Woman Question In Post-Socialist Legal Education, Isabel Marcus

Journal Articles

Sex equality—a significant contribution to the international human rights canon—was one of the legitimating principles of socialist states in Eastern Europe and, at least formally, of their post-socialist democratic successors. Why then has the subject been ignored or deeply marginalized in post-socialist legal education? Using socio-legal analysis to establish a legitimation or delegitimation dynamic regarding law in theory and practice in both eras, the author provides answers to this question and suggests various options for reforming post-socialist legal education to provide adequate training in the subject of women’s rights consistent with states’ international and regional human rights obligations.

Childhood Obesity As Child Abuse: Criminalizing Parents For Raising Obese Children, Lizet Dominguez

Child and Family Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Split Decisions In Child Pornography Restitution Cases Further Injure The Victims, Melisa Medina

Child and Family Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Intercountry Adoption As A Solution To The Problem Of The United States Foster Care Children Waiting To Be Adopted, Chelsie Morgan

Child and Family Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Transforming Family Law Through Same-Sex Marriage: Lessons From (And To) The Western World, Macarena Saez

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Same-sex marriage is a 21st century phenomenon. In less than 13 years more than 15 countries have amended their marriage laws to include same-sex couples. Some countries have made the change through political decisions but others have reached the change through adjudicative processes. A comparative analysis of decisions from the highest courts of countries or states granting marriage to same-sex couples demonstrates: 1. similar arguments are presented to these courts when making the case for and against same-sex marriage; 2. courts are using comparative law to justify their decisions on same-sex marriage; 3. the majority of courts in these countries …

Shared Parenting Laws: Mistakes Of Pooling?, Margaret F. Brinig

Journal Articles

In their recent paper “Anti-Herding Regulation,” forthcoming in the Harvard Business Review, Ian Ayres and Joshua Mitts argue that many well-intentioned public policy regulations potentially harm rather than help situations. That is, because they seek to pool — or herd — groups of people, treating them as equal, they miss or mask important differences among the regulated, thus magnifying systematic risk. Anti-herding regulation, on the other hand, can produce socially beneficial information, in their words steering “both private and public actors toward better evidence-based outcomes.” Left to their own, or with various carrot-and-stick incentives, some groups, anyway, would instead fare …

Tax Consequences Of Distributing Equity Compensation Rights In Divorce, Gregg Polsky, Jeffrey D. Fisher, Zachry R. Potter

Scholarly Works

This article discusses the federal tax issues arising from the equitable distribution of compensatory stock options and restricted stock in divorce. While the tax consequences of distributing vested options and shares are clear, the treatment of unvested rights is muddled. This article explains the state of the law and provides practical advice to divorce lawyers who confront these issues.

The Child-Welfare System And The Limits Of Determinacy, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

Robert Mnookin’s article, Child-Custody Adjudication: Judicial Functions in the Face of Indeterminacy, is a classic. His insights into the substance and process of family law have influenced scholars for nearly four decades. This essay, written for a symposium marking the upcoming anniversary of the article, demonstrates that Congress adopted many of Mnookin’s proposals to introduce greater determinacy into the child welfare system. And yet the problems he described nearly forty years ago sound all too familiar today. After engaging in a detailed analysis of the reforms, I argue that with the evidence on determinacy now in hand, it is time …

Development And Initial Findings Of An Implementation Process Measure For Child Welfare System Change, Mary I. Armstrong, Julie S. Mccrae, Michelle Graef, Tammy Richards, David Lambert, Charlotte Lyn Bright, Cathy Sowell

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

This article describes a new measure designed to examine the process of implementation of child welfare systems change. The measure was developed to document the status of the interventions and strategies that are being implemented and the drivers that are being installed to achieve sustainable changes in systems. The measure was used in a Children’s Bureau-supported national effort to assess the ongoing implementation of 24 systems-change projects in child welfare jurisdictions across the country. The article describes the process for measure development, method of administration and data collection, and quantitative and qualitative findings.

Sacred Trust Or Sacred Right?, Jeffrey Shulman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This is the first chapter from The Constitutional Parent: Rights, Responsibilities, and the Enfranchisement of the Child (Yale University Press, 2014.)

It is commonly assumed that parents have long enjoyed a fundamental legal right to control the upbringing of their children, but this reading of the law is sorely incomplete. What is deeply rooted in our legal traditions is the idea that the state entrusts parents with custody of the child, and the concomitant rule that the state does so only as long as parents meet their legal duty to take proper care of the child. This book looks at …

Uncovering The Reformation Roots Of American Marriage And Divorce Law, Judith C. Areen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In 1639, Massachusetts Bay colonists pressed Governor John Winthrop to adopt a “body of laws” that would restrict the considerable power that “rested in the discretion of magistrates.” Having survived both the transatlantic voyage and the rigors of the new world in their quest to establish a religious utopia away from the demands of church and state in England, the colonists were understandably loath to give their local officials unchecked power. Winthrop offered several reasons why the leaders of the colony opposed the request: the colonists did not yet have enough experience to develop laws appropriate for their new circumstances, …

“. . . Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace . . .” —The Influence Of Constitutional Argument On Same-Sex Marriage Legislation Debates In Australia, Neville Rochow

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Jailing Black Babies, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Caregiver Conundrum Redux: The Entrenchment Of Structural Norms, Nicole Buonocore Porter

Faculty Publications

Scholars and feminists (and feminist scholars) have been debating ways to ameliorate the work-family conflict for several decades. For some of us writing in this area, it seems as if the debate is endless and ineradicable. Unfortunately, this Article does not end the debate with some brilliant solution. Instead, I attempt to explain why the "caregiver conundrum" is so unwieldy and unyielding. The reason, I argue, is because of the entrenchment of structural norms in the workplace. By structural norms, I am referring to employers' rules and practices regarding hours, shifts, schedules, attendance, leaves of absence, etc.--basically, when and where …

Bridging The Justice Gap: Exploring Approaches For Improving Indigent Access To Civil Counsel, Kelsey Atkinson

Pomona Senior Theses

The United States is among one of the only democratic industrialized nations in the world that does not provide guaranteed access to civil representation in cases involving basic human need. This leaves indigent litigants who are at risk of losing their homes or their children left to seek counsel through insufficient pro-bono programs or limited scope legal self-help centers. This thesis provides a history of the struggle for the right to civil counsel, known as Civil Gideon, and explores a variety of proposed solutions to bridge the justice gap for indigent litigants. Despite considerable support for Civil Gideon among scholars …

The Freedom To Marry: Politics And Law In 2014 And Beyond, Ari Ezra Waldman

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

All That Heaven Will Allow: A Statistical Analysis Of The Co-Existence Of Same Sex Marriage And Gay Matrimonial Bans, Deirdre Bowen

Faculty Articles

This article offers the first analysis to date of national data evaluating whether defense of marriage acts (mini or super-DOMAs) preserve and stabilize the family. After finding that they do not—just as same sex marriage does not appear to destabilize families—the article analyzes what variables are, in fact, associated with family stability. Specifically, those variables are: families below the poverty line; men and women married three or more times; religiosity; percent conservative versus liberal in a state; disposable income; percent with bachelor’s degree; and median age of first marriage. Next, the article applies the sociological concepts of moral entrepreneurism and …

Advanced Property Issues In Family Law: An Annotated Bibliography, Travis Mcdonald, Nancy Levit

Faculty Works

This bibliography covers law review articles published, for the most part, after 2006 on property issues within the context of family law. Articles for which the title is self-explanatory or that concern only a single case, state, or statute are cited, but not annotated.