Family Law Commons^™

Forced Marriage And The Granting Of Asylum: A Reason To Hope After Gao V. Gonzales, Cara Goeller

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

This note addresses the significance of Gao v. Gonzales through the analysis of the development of asylum gender laws in the United States. The analysis includes a brief history of asylum law in the United States and the issues the courts have addressed concerning gender and asylum law. The note concludes with an analysis of the Gao decision and the potential consequences of the decision.

Persecution Based On Persecution: How Gao V. Gonzales Broadens The Interpretation Of Asylum, David Baxter

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Multiethnic Placement Act: Threat To Foster Child Safety And Well-Being?, David J. Herring

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Despite the efforts of public officials to reduce the time children spend in foster care, many children live in foster homes for a substantial portion of their childhoods. In fact, a child placed in a foster home may remain in that home for an extended period, with a significant possibility of remaining there permanently. In light of this situation, the decision to place a child in a particular foster home is extremely important.

The federal Multiethnic Placement Act ("MEPA ") significantly affects foster care placement decisions. This law expressly prohibits public child welfare agencies from delaying or denying a child's …

Child Well-Being: A Beneficial Advocacy Framework For Improving The Child Welfare System?, Sarah H. Ramsey

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article explores the advantages and disadvantages of child well-being as a child welfare system advocacy framework. It examines the use of the concept of child well-being as a social indicator and the importance of poverty rates to the child welfare system. It also examines the use of child well-being as an outcome measure for the child welfare system, in particular in Child and Family Service Reviews ("CFSRs") and court evaluations. The possible impact of the child wellbeing concept is considered in the context of several programs, including income supports and problem-solving courts. The Article concludes that, overall, well-being provides …

Neither Dyad Nor Triad: Children's Relationship Interests Within Kinship Caregiving Families, Sacha M. Coupet

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Utilizing a research design lens as a platform for exploring children's relationship rights, this Essay examines first, the limitations of a rights-based framework and second, insufficient participation by children in decision-making regarding their access to and interest in relationships with significant others. This Essay posits that neither the dyadic rights-based framework in domestic relations nor the, ostensibly, triadic one in child welfare serve the interests of children, since children's rights are invariably subordinated to those of adults and the state. In place of a rights-based approach, this Essay endorses an interests-based model more attuned to the holistic aim of child …

Advancing The Future Of Family Violence Law Pedagogy: The Founding Of A Law School Clinic, Melissa Breger, Theresa Hughes

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article advocates for law schools to integrate family violence law further into their curricula and proffers reasons why family violence training is critical in preparing students to practice law. The authors posit that although live-client specialty clinics are the most in-depth way to teach family violence law, the topic should also be offered through doctrinal courses, externships, or general subject matter clinics. The Article then describes the authors' own experiences in cofounding a child advocacy clinic in New York City, outlining the steps taken to transform a vision into the actual formation of a clinic. Finally, the authors conclude …

Looking Ahead: A Personal Vision Of The Future Of Child Welfare Law, Donald N. Duquette

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The participants in the Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration of the Child Advocacy Law Clinic were all challenged to envision the future of child welfare and to address these questions: What should the law and legal institutions governing children's rights and child and family welfare look like in thirty more years? What steps are necessary to achieve those goals? After setting out the historical and optimistic circumstance in which the Child Advocacy Law Clinic was founded, this Article responds to the organizing questions by presenting the author's vision of the future of child welfare law and practice. When families fail children, what …

Will Marriage Promotion Work?, Vivian E. Hamilton

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Adulterous Wife: A Cross-Historical And Interdisciplinary Approach, Meghan E.B. Norton

Buffalo Women's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

His, Hers Or Ours? – Who Has The Right To Determine The Disposition Of Frozen Embryos After Separation Or Divorce?, April J. Walker

Buffalo Women's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Domesticity And The Texas Community Property System, Lauren F. Redman

Buffalo Women's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Why Judy Norman Acted In Reasonable Self-Defense: An Abused Woman And A Sleeping Man, Marina Angel

Buffalo Women's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy: Treatment In The Courts, Kimberly L. Sweet

Buffalo Women's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

International Adoption: Thoughts On The Human Rights Issues, Elizabeth Bartholet

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Deep Purple: Religious Shades Of Family Law, Naomi Cahn, June Carbone

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Overlooked Costs Of Religious Deference, Robin Fretwell Wilson

Washington and Lee Law Review

Citing the Qur'an, a German divorce court judge this year denied a fast track divorce to a Muslim woman who had been the victim of domestic violence and death threats from her husband. The judge rejected her application because the husband's exercise of his "right to castigate does not fulfill the hardship criteria" for an expedited divorce. The decision, which sparked a firestorm of controversy, comes at an important time in the movement to embrace pluralistic understandings of family relationships. Scholars and policymakers around the world are advancing various schemes for sharing state control over domestic disputes with religious groups-ranging …

Marital Property In California And Indonesia: Community Property And Harta Bersama, Mark E. Cammack

Washington and Lee Law Review

One of the more notable features of Indonesian Islamic law is its recognition of the concept of jointly owned marital property. The Indonesian doctrine of joint marital property bears a striking similarity to the community property system in California. In both systems the marital estate consists of property acquired during the marriage through the efforts of either of the spouses. Both systems distinguish marital property from separate property and both define separate property as all property owned by either spouse prior to the marriage or acquired by gift or inheritance afterwards. Apart from their doctrinal similarity, Indonesian Islamic marital property …

"Big Love"'?* The Recognition Of Customary Marriages In South Africa, Penelope E. Andrews

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Comment contextualizes the issue of polygamous marriages within the South African constitutional paradigm, one committed unequivocally to the principle of equality. This Comment analyzes how South African law, European in origin, had to incorporate the laws and institutions of indigenous communities within the national legal framework, as part of the overall transformative legal project underway in the country since 1994. By focusing on the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, this Comment examines such incorporation, while questioning its effect on the overall project of constitutionalism, human rights, and equality

Lessons From Islamic Polygamy: A Case For Expanding The American Concept Of Surviving Spouse So As To Include De Facto Polygamous Spouses, Michele Alexandre

Washington and Lee Law Review

While polygamy is illegal in the United States, forms of it are still practiced either overtly, pursuant to religious traditions, or covertly, by the maintenance of two or more family units. As a result, any claims, disputes, or abuses that arise in the context of de facto polygamous unions remain irremediable. My focus, in this Article, is not to advocate that polygamy should be legally recognized. Nor is it my purpose to debate the viability or morality of polygamy. Instead, I am concerned with affording legal remedies for vulnerable individuals living and operating in de facto polygamous unions. In light …

Justice And Equality In Muslim Family Laws: Challenges, Possibilities, And Strategies For Reform', Zainah Anwar, Jana S. Rumminger

Washington and Lee Law Review

One of the subtle but most pervasive areas of discrimination against women in the Muslim world today is the inequality that occurs within the context of the family. Throughout Muslim countries and contexts, Muslim women are speaking out about such discrimination and are fighting for reform of family laws to promote justice and equality within the family. This Article outlines key discriminatory provisions within Malaysia's Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act of 1984 and the efforts being made by Muslim women in Malaysia to advocate for comprehensive reform of Malaysian Muslim family laws. This effort includes developing an understanding of …

Taxation Without Duplication: Misattributed Paternity And The Putative Father's Claim For Restitution Of Child Support, Shawn Seliber

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Religious V. Secular Ideologies And Sex Education: A Response To Professors Cahn And Carbone, Vivian E. Hamilton

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Moroccan Women In Europe: Bargaining For Autonomy, Marie-Claire Foblets

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Article explores the path of possibilities offered in the case of Moroccans-in particular women-residing in (continental) Europe to determine, up to a point, the legal regime that will apply to their family life. The vast majority of Moroccans currently living in Europe have retained their original nationality, often combining it with that of the country of habitual residence. Adhesion to Islam often explains the attachment to the family law, which is a religious law, of the country of origin. Family reunifications in many cases mean enduring "rootedness" in the normative system of the country of origin. With mobility rendered …

How The Door Of Ijtihad Was Opened And Closed: A Comparative Analysis Of Recent Family Law Reforms In Iran And Morocco, Ziba Mir-Hosseini

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Comment compares the politics and dynamics of recent family law reforms in Iran and Morocco. In both countries, reforms have in effect crippled men's privileges in marriage under Islamic law by restricting their unilateral and extra-judicial rights to divorce and polygyny. In Morocco, the 2004 reforms are radical in that they admit the principle of equality in marriage and cast classical Maliki School of Sunni law in a new light; the result of prolonged efforts by the women's movement, these reforms were finally achieved by the intervention of the King who claimed the right of ijtihad as the Commander …

Investigating The Justice System Response To Domestic Violence In Missouri, Mary M. Beck, Brandi L. Byrd, M. Meghan Davidson, Niels C. Beck, Gregory F. Petroski

Faculty Publications

One in four women will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. Each year, 5.3 million domestic violence assaults occur in the United States alone and domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women. Yet, despite the prevalence of domestic violence, little empirical research on the justice system's response to it exists. This paper seeks to describe a state funded project that was created to assess and compare responses to domestic violence throughout the state of Missouri. The project lasted for three years and was conducted by an interdisciplinary team of University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) professors and students.

Palmore Comes Of Age: The Place Of Race In The Placement Of Children, David D. Meyer

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Caring Too Little, Caring Too Much: Competence And The Family Law Attorney, Barbara Glesner Fines

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

When Is A "Minor" Also An "Adult"?: An Adolescent's Liberty Interest In Accessing Contraceptives From Public School Distribution Programs, Joshua A. Douglas

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Imagine “Mary,” a sixteen-year-old junior in high school, who has been dating “John,” a seventeen-year-old senior, for three years in a serious relationship. Mary knows that she and John should practice safe sex, and she does not want to become pregnant or catch a sexually transmitted disease. However, she is concerned that her parents will not approve of her activities and will not help her in obtaining contraceptives. John also feels that he is mature enough to make the decision to have sex, yet he knows that his parents will want to consent before he can receive condoms from his …

Redefining Marriage: Where To Draw The Line?, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Redefining Marriage: Where To Draw The Line?, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.