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Juvenile Law Commons

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Adoption

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Institution
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Articles 31 - 54 of 54

Full-Text Articles in Juvenile Law

Recognizing The Expertise Of Children And Families, Ann M. Haralmbie Mar 2006

Recognizing The Expertise Of Children And Families, Ann M. Haralmbie

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Legal Representation Of Birth Parents And Adoptive Parents, Elizabeth Samuels Jan 2006

Legal Representation Of Birth Parents And Adoptive Parents, Elizabeth Samuels

All Faculty Scholarship

The Article examines the role that legal representation of birth and prospective parents may or may not play in independent domestic adoptions in furthering two primary goals that characterize ethically and humanely conducted adoptions, deliberate decision making and finality. Ideally, these two goals are complementary and can be balanced with one another. There is, however, a danger of the second goal eclipsing the first. Many state laws appear to value an increase in infant adoptions over the goal of encouraging careful deliberation. Most domestic infant adoptions involve powerful market forces as well as powerful emotional pressures, and they occur in …


Adoption Consents: Legal Incentives For Best Practices, Elizabeth Samuels Jan 2006

Adoption Consents: Legal Incentives For Best Practices, Elizabeth Samuels

All Faculty Scholarship

When a state places its legal imprimatur on the unmaking of one family and the making of another, the state should insure to the greatest extent possible that all the individuals involved have followed or have been afforded the best practices that ethics and humanity demand. The Uniform Adoption Act sets out commonly accepted goals of state adoption laws, among them the goals of protecting minor children against unnecessary separation from their birth parents and of ensuring that a decision by a birth parent to relinquish a minor child and consent to the childs adoption is informed and voluntary. With …


Adoption With Contact Law Awaits Governor's Signature, Elizabeth Samuels Apr 2005

Adoption With Contact Law Awaits Governor's Signature, Elizabeth Samuels

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Time To Decide? The Laws Governing Mothers' Consents To The Adoption Of Their Newborn Infants, Elizabeth Samuels Jan 2005

Time To Decide? The Laws Governing Mothers' Consents To The Adoption Of Their Newborn Infants, Elizabeth Samuels

All Faculty Scholarship

Adoption in the United States is a complex patchwork of law and practice that involves payments of nearly two billion dollars annually in fees and expenses. The adoptions that involve domestically born, voluntarily placed infants raise unique issues. In these as in all adoptions involving parental consent, two generally accepted goals of ethical and humane practice are first, avoiding unnecessary separation of families by ensuring that birth parents make informed and deliberate decisions and second, protecting the finality of placements. The two goals are ideally complementary, but in the case of domestic infant adoptions, there is a danger that pressure …


Family And Juvenile Law, Robert E. Shepherd Jr. Nov 2004

Family And Juvenile Law, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.


Power, Possibility And Choice: The Racial Identity Of Transracially Adopted Children, Twila L. Perry Jan 2003

Power, Possibility And Choice: The Racial Identity Of Transracially Adopted Children, Twila L. Perry

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Review of The Ethics of Transracial Adoption by Hawley Fogg-Davis


Strangers And Brothers: A Homily On Transracial Adoption, Carl E. Schneider Jan 2003

Strangers And Brothers: A Homily On Transracial Adoption, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

The common law speaks to us in parables. Ours is Drummond v. Fulton County Department of Family and Children's Services. Just before Christmas 1973, a boy named Timmy was born to a white mother and a black father. A month later, his mother was declared unfit, and the Department of Family and Children Services placed Timmy with white foster parents - Robert and Mildred Drummond. The Drummonds were "excellent" and "loving" parents, and Timmy grew into "an extremely bright, highly verbal, outgoing 15-month baby boy." Then the Drummonds asked to adopt Timmy. The Department's reviews of the Drummonds' devotion …


Florida's Foster Care System Fails Its Children, Timothy L. Arcaro Apr 2001

Florida's Foster Care System Fails Its Children, Timothy L. Arcaro

Faculty Scholarship

This article will attempt to draw attention to the pervasive problem of child sexual abuse in foster care by identifying circumstances that contribute to sexual victimization. Hopefully the discussion will illuminate the plight of child victims of sexual abuse and generate discourse on a new paradigm of protection initiatives for foster children. Part I of the article will explain child protection proceedings and how children enter the foster care system. Part II will describe common characteristics of state foster care systems. Part III will discuss traditional notions of child sexual abuse and their illusory application in the context of sexual …


The Impact Of Family Paradigms, Domestic Constitutions, And International Conventions On Disclosure Of An Adopted Person's Identities And Heritage: A Comparative Examination, D. Marianne Brower Blair Jan 2001

The Impact Of Family Paradigms, Domestic Constitutions, And International Conventions On Disclosure Of An Adopted Person's Identities And Heritage: A Comparative Examination, D. Marianne Brower Blair

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article examines the extent to which international law has and will potentially influence the direction of the reform and implementation of adoption disclosure norms. Though it does not yet appear that international law mandates recognition of an absolute right to identifying information when such disclosure is opposed by a birth parent or adoptee, examination of these conventions and the response of the international community underscores the critical importance of identifying information to many adoptees, and a growing movement to afford primacy to their interests.


The Idea Of Adoption: An Inquiry Into The History Of Adult Adoptee Access To Birth Records, Elizabeth Samuels Jan 2001

The Idea Of Adoption: An Inquiry Into The History Of Adult Adoptee Access To Birth Records, Elizabeth Samuels

All Faculty Scholarship

There has been in recent years and there continues to be intense debate around the country about whether to open original birth records to adult adoptees. Our understanding of the legal history relevant to the debate has been incomplete and inaccurate. According to this understanding, the state laws that closed court and birth records to the parties to adoptions generally closed these records for all time to all parties; the laws had a primary purpose of insuring lifelong anonymity for birth parents; and the laws became nearly universal by about the middle of the twentieth century. In fact, the history …


The Strange History Of Adult Adoptee Access To Original Birth Records, Elizabeth Samuels Jan 2001

The Strange History Of Adult Adoptee Access To Original Birth Records, Elizabeth Samuels

All Faculty Scholarship

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, contemporary accounts reported that most states had sealed adoption court records completely but, typically, had sealed original birth certificates from all persons except adult adoptees. Through the 1950s influential experts recommended that original birth certificates remain available to adult adoptees, while birth and court records otherwise be closed to all persons except upon court order. In 1960 the laws in some 40 percent of the states still permitted adult adoptees to inspect them, but between 1960 and 1990 all but a handful of the rest of the states closed the birth records to …


Second-Parent Adoption, Patricia J. Falk Jan 2000

Second-Parent Adoption, Patricia J. Falk

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The topic of this article is second-parent adoption. I hope to accomplish four things in my discussion. First, I will define second-parent adoption and give some reasons that it is desirable for both parents and children. Second, I will summarize the state of the law in terms of legislative enactments and case law in the United States. Third, I will discuss the role of social science in second-parent adoption cases. Finally, I will discuss some of the implications of recognizing second-parent adoptions.


Second-Parent Adoption: Overcoming Barriers To Lesbian Family Rights, Maxwell S. Peltz Jan 1996

Second-Parent Adoption: Overcoming Barriers To Lesbian Family Rights, Maxwell S. Peltz

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Part I of this Article will discuss some of the legal difficulties associated with co-parenting and why lesbian couples have sought second-parent adoptions. Part II will examine the particular statutory obstacles to second-parent adoptions and then analyze the various ways courts in several states have overcome these obstacles. Finally, Part III will discuss the implications of these decisions in terms of their creation of legal and social norms.


Imagining Children's Rights, Suellyn Scarnecchia Jan 1995

Imagining Children's Rights, Suellyn Scarnecchia

Articles

Today, I will tell you some stories about real, live children, whose futures have been determined by our legal system. To speak of children's rights hypothetically, raises images of children suing to go live with their rich uncle or suing to demand a Nintendo system from their parents. I hope that by bringing you stories of the legal system's treatment of real children, you will have a better understanding of what I mean by children's rights and why they must be recognized. Although children's rights have been recognized in limited ways in the areas of free speech, criminal law and …


A Child's Right To Protection From Transfer Trauma In A Contested Adoption Case, Suellyn Scarnecchia Jan 1995

A Child's Right To Protection From Transfer Trauma In A Contested Adoption Case, Suellyn Scarnecchia

Articles

On August 2, 1993, I arrived at the home of Jan, Robby, and Jessica DeBoer' a few hours before the transfer. At 2:00 P.M. I would carry Jessica out of her home and deliver her to the parents who had won the case,2 her biological mother and father. This task probably would have been easier had I not spent eight days in the trial court listening to the experts explain that this transfer from one set of parents to another would harm Jessica.3 It would have been easier had I not recently obtained affidavits from other experts to persuade the …


Black Identity And Child Placement: The Best Interests Of Black And Biracial Children, Kim Forde-Mazrui Feb 1994

Black Identity And Child Placement: The Best Interests Of Black And Biracial Children, Kim Forde-Mazrui

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this Note is to question whether racial matching by courts and child-placement agencies serves the best interests of Black children. The principle that guides this Note's analysis is that racial matching is justified only if such a policy better serves the interests of Black children than a policy in which race is not a factor in a child-placement determination. This Note also questions whether racial matching serves the interests of biracial children and those of Black people as a cultural group.


Who Is Jessica's Mother? Defining Motherhood Through Reality, Suellyn Scarnecchia Jan 1994

Who Is Jessica's Mother? Defining Motherhood Through Reality, Suellyn Scarnecchia

Other Publications

The recent Baby Jessica case and others like it have renewed the nature versus nurture debate in family law. Baby Jessica's biological parents, the Schmidts, sought to obtain permanent custody of their daughter after giving her up for adoption to the DeBoer family. Their argument was one that found its basis in biology and the idea of a traditional family. On the other hand, with the assistance of Professor Scarnecchia, the DeBoers argued that it was more important forJessica's overall health to remain with her primary caretakers of two years. Courts, however, have taken a more traditional view of this …


Surrogate Parenting After Baby M: The Ball Moves To The Legislature’S Court, John R. Dunne, Gregory V. Serio Jan 1988

Surrogate Parenting After Baby M: The Ball Moves To The Legislature’S Court, John R. Dunne, Gregory V. Serio

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.


The State's Interest In Adoption And Washington's Sealed Records Statute, Eileen M. Lawrence Jan 1981

The State's Interest In Adoption And Washington's Sealed Records Statute, Eileen M. Lawrence

Seattle University Law Review

After discussing the legal effect of the adoption decree and the purpose of Washington's adoption statute, this comment will analyze the competing interests of the adoptee, the biological parents, the adoptive parents, and the state. This article will also discuss the legislative proposal in Washington attempting to abolish the good cause requirement. Finally, this article concludes the sealed records requirement is constitutionally sound and despite the need for further legislative articulation, the good cause balancing approach is the most suitable method for protecting the conflicting rights and interests inherent in the adoption process.


Equal Protection For The Illegitimate, Harry D. Krause Jan 1967

Equal Protection For The Illegitimate, Harry D. Krause

Michigan Law Review

In our time the general constitutional phrase promising equal protection has become specific law. It has been used to invalidate many state statutes which discriminated on the basis of race or other arbitrary criteria. Definite rules have been developed for this process of invalidation. These rules will be applied below to state and federal legislation that favors the legitimate child and discriminates against the illegitimate in matters of inheritance rights, rights of support, rights of name and custody, and social welfare. The question that will be asked is whether state and federal legislation may constitutionally discriminate between children on the …


Foreword: Student Symposium On The Child And The Law, Dan Hopson Jr. Jan 1962

Foreword: Student Symposium On The Child And The Law, Dan Hopson Jr.

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.


Descent And Distribution - Intestate Succession From An Adopted Child - Who Aim His "Brothers And Sisters", Jack G. Armstrong Mar 1955

Descent And Distribution - Intestate Succession From An Adopted Child - Who Aim His "Brothers And Sisters", Jack G. Armstrong

Michigan Law Review

Decedent had never married and was predeceased by his natural and adopted parents. The California statute provided that in such a case his property would go to his brothers and sisters. Appellant, the natural daughter of decedent's adopted parents, contended that she was his sole heir under this statute, while respondent, decedent's natural brother, argued that the term ''brothers and sisters" meant blood relatives. The superior court applied the common meaning of the words brothers and sisters and held that appellant was not such a person. On appeal, held, reversed. Since the entire pattern of the California code indicates …


Contract Of Infant--Evidence, Competency Of Witness Under Survivorship Statute, Victor H. Lane Jan 1918

Contract Of Infant--Evidence, Competency Of Witness Under Survivorship Statute, Victor H. Lane

Articles

Two questions are presented by the case of Sigiaigo v. Signaigo, (Mo. 1918), 205 S. W. Rep. 23: First, the enforcibility of the contract of an infant, fully performed by her, to live with a man and his wife as their adopted child so long as they should live, in consideration that the infant should have all the property of the foster parents upon their death; and Second, the competency of the consenting mother of the infant to testify in support of the infant's claim.