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Articles 751 - 780 of 882

Full-Text Articles in Law and Society

Cognitive Dissonance Revisited: Roper V. Simmons And The Issue Of Adolescent Decision-Making Competence, 52 Wayne L. Rev. 1 (2006), Donald L. Beschle Jan 2006

Cognitive Dissonance Revisited: Roper V. Simmons And The Issue Of Adolescent Decision-Making Competence, 52 Wayne L. Rev. 1 (2006), Donald L. Beschle

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

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Infant Safe Haven Laws: Legislating In The Culture Of Life, Carol Sanger Jan 2006

Infant Safe Haven Laws: Legislating In The Culture Of Life, Carol Sanger

Faculty Scholarship

This Article analyzes the politics, implementation, and influence of Infant Safe Haven laws. These laws, enacted across the states in the early 2000s in response to much-publicized discoveries of dead and abandoned infants, provide for the legal abandonment of newborns. They offer new mothers immunity and anonymity in exchange for leaving their babies at designated Safe Havens. Yet despite widespread enactment, the laws have had relatively little impact on the phenomenon of infant abandonment. This Article explains why this is so, focusing particularly on a disconnect between the legislative scheme and the characteristics of neonaticidal mothers that makes the use …

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Re-Thinking Alimony: The Aaml's Considerations For Calculating Alimony, Spousal Support Or Maintenance, Mary Kay Kisthardt Jan 2006

Re-Thinking Alimony: The Aaml's Considerations For Calculating Alimony, Spousal Support Or Maintenance, Mary Kay Kisthardt

Faculty Works

The mission of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers is "to encourage the study, improve the practice, elevate the standards and advance the cause of matrimonial law, to the end that the welfare of the family and society be protected." The AAML Comission was charged to analyze, critically review and make recommendations consistent with the mission of the Academy. After considering all available sources of information the Commission concluded that there are two significant and related problems associated with the setting of spousal support. The first is a lack of consistency resulting in a perception of unfairness. From this flows …

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The Failure Of Innocent Spouse Reform, Richard C.E. Beck Jan 2006

The Failure Of Innocent Spouse Reform, Richard C.E. Beck

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Newfound Religion: Mothers, God, And Infanticide, Susan Ayres Jan 2006

Newfound Religion: Mothers, God, And Infanticide, Susan Ayres

Faculty Scholarship

This essay focuses on cultural constructions of infanticide and psychosis, especially cases in which the mother heard delusional commands to kill her children. Part I examines the background of the Yates, Laney, and Diaz cases. Part II explores whether these mothers can be seen paradoxically as feminist subjects of empowerment rather than as victims. This essay argues that psychotic mothers have been disempowered and silenced, so their acts cannot be seen as subversive feminist gestures. Part III, however, arguest that the legal trials of Laney and Diaz demonstrate a possible subversion through trial strategy. These two trials more fully told …

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Immigration Status And The Best Interests Of The Child Standard, Kerry Abrams Jan 2006

Immigration Status And The Best Interests Of The Child Standard, Kerry Abrams

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

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Removing Violent Parents From The Home: A Test Case For The Public Health Approach, Robin Fretwell Wilson Oct 2005

Removing Violent Parents From The Home: A Test Case For The Public Health Approach, Robin Fretwell Wilson

Faculty Scholarship

Few decisions are as determinative of a child’s well-being and long-term success as the decision to remove a child from his or her own home following an allegation of abuse by a parent. Using the public health lens Professor Marsha Garrison develops elsewhere in this Issue, this Comment examines one of the most critical questions Child Protective Services agencies face thousands of times a day: whether to remove a child who is a possible victim of abuse or neglect from his or her home. This evidence-based approach shows that the choice to remove the child rather than the alleged offender …

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Harry Potter & The Law: Family Life And Moral Character, James C. Smith Oct 2005

Harry Potter & The Law: Family Life And Moral Character, James C. Smith

Scholarly Works

Harry Potter's mistreatment by his Muggle family does not amount to a legal wrong. Notice that Dumbledore did not threaten the Dursleys with legal proceedings, either in Muggle or Wizard tribunals. The ethic of equitable treatment is societal and lacks a legal basis in Anglo-American family law. Family law has many facets; it is an amalgam of legal rules and principles. My focus is the lens of property law -- in particular, family property norms -- although it is also plain that the Dursleys have not violated non-property based family law norms.

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Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor Sep 2005

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

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Rhetorical Holy War: Polygamy, Homosexuality, And The Paradox Of Community And Autonomy, Gregory C. Pingree Aug 2005

Rhetorical Holy War: Polygamy, Homosexuality, And The Paradox Of Community And Autonomy, Gregory C. Pingree

ExpressO

The article explores the rhetorical strategies deployed in both legal and cultural narratives of Mormon polygamy in nineteenth-century America. It demonstrates how an understanding of that unique communal experience, and the narratives by which it was represented, informs the classic paradox of community and autonomy – the tension between the collective and the individual. The article concludes by using the Mormon polygamy analysis to illuminate a contemporary social situation that underscores the paradox of community and autonomy – homosexuality and the so-called culture wars over family values and the meaning of marriage.

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Home As A Legal Concept, Benjamin Barros Aug 2005

Home As A Legal Concept, Benjamin Barros

ExpressO

This article, which is the first comprehensive discussion of the American legal concept of home, makes two major contributions. First, the article systematically examines how homes are treated more favorably than other types of property in a wide range of legal contexts, including criminal law and procedure, torts, privacy, landlord-tenant, debtor-creditor, family law, and income taxation. Second, the article considers the normative issue of whether this favorable treatment is justified. The article draws from material on the psychological concept of home and the cultural history of home throughout this analysis, providing insight into the interests at stake in various legal …

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Federalism's Fallacy: The Early Tradition Of Federal Family Law And The Invention Of States' Rights, Kristin Collins Apr 2005

Federalism's Fallacy: The Early Tradition Of Federal Family Law And The Invention Of States' Rights, Kristin Collins

Faculty Scholarship

By examining the history of the federal government's role in the regulation of the family, this article joins the work of others who in recent years have begun to piece together the history of the federal government's role in crafting domestic relations law and policy.'8 Much of this attention has focused on federal involvement in domestic relations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with relatively less consideration given to the pre-Civil War period. Though recent contributions to this field have helped to cure this imbalance, 19 there remains a strong sense, especially among lawyers and judges, that …

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Same-Sex Marriage, Slippery Slope Rhetoric, And The Politics Of Disgust: A Critical Perspective On Contemporary Family Discourse And The Incest Taboo, Courtney Megan Cahill Jan 2005

Same-Sex Marriage, Slippery Slope Rhetoric, And The Politics Of Disgust: A Critical Perspective On Contemporary Family Discourse And The Incest Taboo, Courtney Megan Cahill

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

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Gay And Lesbian Adoption: Banishing The Pied Piper, Amy D. Ronner Jan 2005

Gay And Lesbian Adoption: Banishing The Pied Piper, Amy D. Ronner

St. Thomas Law Review

In my recent book, Homophobia and the Law, Robert Browning's Pied Piper, "the strangest figure" with a "queer long coat from heal to head, inducts a core chapter, the one on Children. After all, it is this notorious Pied Piper, who absconds with the town's children, leads them through a "wondrous portal" into the mountain-side cave, and renders their laughter inaudible forever. The Pied Piper has evolved into a menacing conceit that perpetuates discrimination against gay and lesbian couples. It is predicated on an irrational notion that homosexuals will, by coaxing children toward their own sexual orientation, seal them in …

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A Search For Reason In Fairy Tales, John F. Fernandez Jan 2005

A Search For Reason In Fairy Tales, John F. Fernandez

St. Thomas Law Review

A fairy1 tale: Once upon at time (not so very long ago), in a land (not so far away) lived a beautiful queen (well, actually a "runner up ") with a golden voice. The beautiful queen reined over her people and sang of sunshine. Some of the queen's subjects had felt that they were not treated fairly by the laws of the land and sought to have their unfair treatment prohibited. Apparently, this caused the queen to develop a fear and hatred for these subjects. These subjects had done nothing to the queen. Yet, the queen made it her mission …

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Opening Another Exit From Child Welfare For Special Needs Children - Why Some Gay Men And Lesbians Should Have The Privilege To Adopt Children In Florida, Cynthia R. Mabry Jan 2005

Opening Another Exit From Child Welfare For Special Needs Children - Why Some Gay Men And Lesbians Should Have The Privilege To Adopt Children In Florida, Cynthia R. Mabry

St. Thomas Law Review

This article addresses the question of whether some gay and lesbian adults should be permitted to adopt any children in the State of Florida, especially children with special needs. Part I more clearly describes children with special needs. Part II discusses who may adopt special needs children. Part III briefly covers gay and lesbian adoption statistics. Part IV sets forth general and specific factors that may be used in determining whether a particular gay man or lesbian is suitable for adopting children in Florida. This section also enumerates and discusses reasons that are offered to support bans on same-sex adoption. …

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Trends On (Inter-Country) Adoption By Gay And Lesbian Couples In Western Europe, Paul Vlaardingerbroek Jan 2005

Trends On (Inter-Country) Adoption By Gay And Lesbian Couples In Western Europe, Paul Vlaardingerbroek

St. Thomas Law Review

In this article I will analyze Western European developments in the field of (inter-country) adoption by homosexuals. Some countries have accepted the legal possibility of adoption by homosexual individuals and/or couples, although this does not mean that in all cases children can be adopted by lesbian and gay persons. There are several restrictions on intercountry adoption. The jurisprudence of the European Court on Human Rights with regard to adoption by homosexuals is still rather restrictive. In this article, I will analyze the following questions: whether it is a human right to adopt or to be adopted; and, if adoption should …

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The Inner Lives Of Children In Lesbigay Adoption: Narratives And Other Concerns, Lynn D. Wardle Jan 2005

The Inner Lives Of Children In Lesbigay Adoption: Narratives And Other Concerns, Lynn D. Wardle

St. Thomas Law Review

This article attempts to review some of the serious, non-stereotyped concerns that underlie some of the objections of thoughtful legal commentators to adoption of children by gay and lesbian couples or partners. These objections fall into four categories of significant concern: (1) the best interests of children, (2) the integrity of the legal institution of adoption, (3) inappropriate judicial behavior, including manifestation of bias and animus, and the exercise of (legislative) policy-making prerogatives, and (4) the failure to explore, much less carefully consider, alternative solutions (and the hasty abandonment of processes of careful, incremental change to embrace a radical, but …

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Family Norms In Adoption Law: Safeguarding The Best Interests Of The Adopted Child, Camille S. Williams Jan 2005

Family Norms In Adoption Law: Safeguarding The Best Interests Of The Adopted Child, Camille S. Williams

St. Thomas Law Review

Because a number of negative circumstances or outcomes correlate with non-conjugal couple household structures and alternative sexualities, 6 lowering the high standard for adoptive parents that has been the hallmark of best adoption practices in the U.S. may not be the best option for addressing the needs of children whose biological parents cannot care for them.

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Adult Sexual Desire And The Best Interest Of The Child, Richard G. Wilkins, Trent Christensen, Eric Selden Jan 2005

Adult Sexual Desire And The Best Interest Of The Child, Richard G. Wilkins, Trent Christensen, Eric Selden

St. Thomas Law Review

In Lofton v. Secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit sustained Florida's legislative decision to restrict adoption to heterosexual married couples or unmarried individuals not engaged in homosexual conduct. The court rejected claims by prospective homosexual parents that Florida had impermissibly intruded upon their familial privacy rights, unconstitutionally burdened their right to private sexual intimacy, and - by treating homosexual applicants for adoption differently than heterosexual applicants - transgressed the commands of the Equal Protection Clause. The court properly rejected these contentions. All of the plaintiffs' claims ultimately …

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Criminal Prosecution And Civil Remedies For Victims Of Sexual Offenses: Amendment Of The Rape Shield Law, Carol E. Jordan, Elizabeth S. Hughes, Mary Jo Gleason Jan 2005

Criminal Prosecution And Civil Remedies For Victims Of Sexual Offenses: Amendment Of The Rape Shield Law, Carol E. Jordan, Elizabeth S. Hughes, Mary Jo Gleason

Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women Publications

In 2003, the Kentucky Supreme Court adopted the amended KRS 412, effectively making the language of KRE 412 consistent with the analogous Federal Rule of Evidence 412. Now, as in federal court, the provisions of the Rape Shield Law apply in both criminal and civil cases to govern when and how evidence of a victim's alleged sexual behavior or sexual predisposition may be introduced. The article describes the intent of the original Rape Shield Law and the implications of its amended version in both civil and criminal cases.

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For The Well-Being Of Minnesota’S Foster Children: What Federal Legislation Requires, Gail Chang Bohr Jan 2005

For The Well-Being Of Minnesota’S Foster Children: What Federal Legislation Requires, Gail Chang Bohr

William Mitchell Law Review

This article will discuss the federal legislation and regulations—ASFA and CFSR—that hold the states accountable for the health and well-being of children and adolescents in foster care. This article will also discuss how the Early Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program, the comprehensive health care services that states are required to provide through Medicaid, is used to address the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents in foster care. Critical to a discussion on the well-being of foster youth is the Chafee Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 that emphasized the states’ responsibility to ensure that youth in foster …

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Empirical And Theoretical Perspectives From Social Science On Gay Marriage And Child Custody Issues, Walter R. Schumm Jan 2005

Empirical And Theoretical Perspectives From Social Science On Gay Marriage And Child Custody Issues, Walter R. Schumm

St. Thomas Law Review

Research on lesbigay parenting issues is reviewed with an in-depth focus on a few examples of past research and a review of the merits of social science research cited recently by the American Civil Liberties Union in support of gay parenting rights. Those who have reviewed the literature have come to startling different conclusions. Neither side has fully grasped some of the limitations of certain key research studies. Some errors are such that one might wonder if peer review procedures had somehow failed. An analysis of a recent paper on same-gender sexual abuse reveals mixed findings. It appears that a …

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Lawrence, Lofton, And Reasoned Judgment: On Who Can Adopt And Why, Mark Strasser Jan 2005

Lawrence, Lofton, And Reasoned Judgment: On Who Can Adopt And Why, Mark Strasser

St. Thomas Law Review

Recently, in Lofton v. Security of Department of Children & Family Services, the Eleventh Circuit upheld Florida's gay adoption ban. The opinion is important for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that it was issued after the United States Supreme Court had decided Lawrence v. Texas. The Lofton court's reading of Lawrence was so implausible that it would have been easy for the Supreme Court to have reversed Lofton, while nonetheless offering an analysis significantly narrower than Lawrence. Regrettably, the Supreme Court denied certiorari when the decision was appealed, so we will simply have to wait and …

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For The Sake Of All Children: Opponents And Supporters Of Same-Sex Marriage Both Miss The Mark, Nancy Polikoff Jan 2005

For The Sake Of All Children: Opponents And Supporters Of Same-Sex Marriage Both Miss The Mark, Nancy Polikoff

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

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Making Work Pay: Promoting Employment And Better Child Support Outcomes For Low-Income And Incarcerated Parents, Ann Cammett Jan 2005

Making Work Pay: Promoting Employment And Better Child Support Outcomes For Low-Income And Incarcerated Parents, Ann Cammett

Scholarly Works

The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice prepared this report in response to concerns about child support debt—in particular as it creates a barrier to employment for low-income parents and works at cross-purposes with the goals of the child support program. Drawing on examples from other states, this report identifies a range of policies that inform child support practice in New Jersey and offers administrative, legislative, and programmatic solutions to address child support arrears owed by low-income and incarcerated parents.

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The Aaml Model For A Parenting Plan, Mary Kay Kisthardt Jan 2005

The Aaml Model For A Parenting Plan, Mary Kay Kisthardt

Faculty Works

The American Law Institute's Principles on the Law of Family Dissolution were published in 2002. These principles, which were developed over nearly a decade, reflect the thinking of prominent family law scholars, practitioners and judges concerning the legal consequences of marital dissolution: child custody, child support, distribution of marital property and compensatory payments to former spouses. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers undertook the process of reviewing the ALI Principles concerning the Allocation of Custodial Decision-Making Responsibilities for Children and drafting a model parenting plan that would reflect the spirit of the ALI Principles relating to parenting plans without reference …

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Lesbian And Gay Parenting: The Last Thirty Years, Nancy Polikoff Jan 2005

Lesbian And Gay Parenting: The Last Thirty Years, Nancy Polikoff

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

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The Afterlife Of The Meretricious Relationship Doctrine: Applying The Doctrine Post Mortem, John E. Wallace Jan 2005

The Afterlife Of The Meretricious Relationship Doctrine: Applying The Doctrine Post Mortem, John E. Wallace

Seattle University Law Review

The meretricious relationship doctrine has received increased attention in recent years largely due to its application to same-sex couples' and the national debate on same-sex marriage. However, the importance of the doctrine, applicable also to heterosexual couples, extends beyond this recent focus. The number of unmarried, committed persons cohabitating has been increasing rapidly. Over eleven million people reported being unmarried but living with a partner in 2000, an increase of seventy-two percent since 1990. As the number of unmarried persons cohabitating increases, so will the importance of the doctrine. The meretricious relationship doctrine is a judicially-created equitable doctrine that allows …

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Polygamy, Prostitution, And The Federalization Of Immigration Law, Kerry Abrams Jan 2005

Polygamy, Prostitution, And The Federalization Of Immigration Law, Kerry Abrams

Faculty Scholarship

When Congress banned the immigration of Chinese prostitutes with the Page Law of 1875, it was the first restrictive federal immigration statute. Yet most scholarship treats the passage of the Page Law as a relatively unimportant event, viewing the later Chinese Exclusion Act as the crucial landmark in the federalization of immigration law. This Article argues that the Page Law was not a minor statute targeting a narrow class of criminals, but rather an attempt to prevent Chinese women in general from immigrating to the United States. Most Chinese women migrating to the United States in the early 1870s were …

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