Law and Society Commons^™

Quacking Like A Duck? Functional Parenthood Doctrine And Same-Sex Parents, Katharine K. Baker

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This Article unpacks the relationship between the functional parenthood doctrine, constitutionally protected parental autonomy rights and intent-to-parent tests as they are applied in same-sex parenting relationships. It argues that, with the advent of same-sex marriage and second parent adoption, the functional parent doctrine is unnecessary and ultimately counterproductive to anyone interested in expanding legal recognition of non-traditional family forms. The functional parent doctrine asks courts to employ traditional understandings of parenthood (“Who acted like a parent?”) in assigning parental status.

These traditional understandings are usually, if not inevitably, dyadic, heteronormative, genetic, and gendered. In practice, the functional parent doctrine undermines …

Romantic Discrimination And Children, Solangel Maldonado

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In recent years, social scientists have used online dating sites to study the role of race in the dating and marriage market. This research has revealed a racialized and gendered hierarchy that disproportionately excludes African-Americans and Asian-American men. For decades, other researchers have studied the risks and outcomes for children who are raised in single-parent homes as compared to children raised by married parents.

Drawing on these studies, this Essay explores how racial preferences in the dating and marriage market potentially disadvantage the children of middle-class African-American women who lack or reject opportunities to intermarry relative to children of married …

Assisted Reproduction Inequality And Marriage Equality, Seema Mohapatra J.D., Mph

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In Obergefell v. Hodges, Justice Kennedy declared that “marriage is fundamental under the Constitution and [should] apply with equal force to same-sex couples.” This Article examines how the advent of marriage equality may impact the rights of same-sex couples to have biological children via assisted reproduction and surrogacy. Specifically, this Article points out the ways that the Obergefell decision affects the law of infertility. By the law of infertility, I mean the laws that require insurance coverage of infertility treatments and other assisted reproductive technologies (“ART”). Because same-sex couples are not able to have biological children with each other …

Parents, Babies, And More Parents, June Carbone, Naomi Cahn

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This Article makes two basic points. First, the three-parent family is here. Once states accept that parenthood does not depend on either biology or marriage, then three parents are inevitable unless the states go out of their way to rule that adults who otherwise meet their definitions of parenthood will not be recognized. Second, as three-parent family recognition increases, there are difficult questions on how to manage the status of each parent. This difficulty arises because the two major trends in the family law—the recognition of a multiplicity of family forms and the insistence on parental equality—are on a collision …

Reforming The Processes For Challenging Voluntary Acknowledgments Of Paternity, Jeffrey A. Parness, David A. Saxe

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Voluntary acknowledgements of paternity (VAPs) significantly determine male legal parentage at birth for many children born of sex to unwed mothers in the United States. VAP processes are chiefly dictated by the federal Social Security Act, which places certain mandates on states participating in federally-subsidized welfare programs. These processes include norms on effective VAP establishments and on VAP disestablishments, either via early rescissions (within sixty days) by signatories or via later contests (after sixty days) by challengers, including signatories. The norms are driven by the Act’s desire to increase reimbursements of state child welfare payments from unwed fathers regardless of …

Epistemologies Of The South: Justice Against Epistemicide, Bonaventura De Sousa Santos (Boulder: Paradigm, 2014), Sara Gwendolyn Ross

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

As injustice and discrimination persist across the globe and the socioeconomic gaps of access and privilege continue to widen the binary divide — or what Boaventura de Sousa Santos describes as an abyssal line — between the valued and un(under)valued, the recognized and un(under)recognized, the visible and invisible, and the groups and individuals that occupy these sides of the line, Santos outlines the epistemological basis for a decolonial ascendance beyond the line in order to achieve a good life or buen vivir for all.1 Santos’ richly theoretical contribution and call to action through a postcolonial or decolonial approach and legal …

Unbefriended And Unrepresented: Better Medical Decision Making For Incapacitated Patients Without Healthcare Surrogates, Thaddeus Mason Pope

Georgia State University Law Review

The purpose of this Article is to help improve the quality of healthcare decision making for the unbefriended. I hope that this comprehensive and systematic explanation of both the problem and the available solutions will empower both public and clinical policymakers to develop more informed and more circumspect policies and procedures

2016-2017 Georgia State University Law Review Symposium: Exploring The Right To Die In The U.S., Margaret Pabst Battin

Georgia State University Law Review

This transcript is a reproduction of the Keynote Presentation at the 2016–2017 Georgia State University Law Review Symposium on November 11, 2016. Margaret Battin, is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Utah.

Distinctive Factors Affecting The Legal Context Of End-Of-Life Medical Care For Older Persons, Marshall B. Kapp

Georgia State University Law Review

Current legal regulation of medical care for individuals approaching the end of life in the United States is predicated essentially on a factual model emanating from a series of high-profile judicial opinions concerning the rights of adults who become either permanently unconscious or are clearly going to die soon with or without aggressive attempts of curative therapy.

The need for a flexible, adaptable approach to medically treating people approaching the end of their lives, and a similar openness to possible modification of the legal framework within which treatment choices are made and implemented, are particularly important when older individuals are …

The American Child Welfare System: The Inconspicuous Vehicle For Social Exclusion, Zachary Auspitz

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

No abstract provided.

#Betterrules: The Appropriate Use Of Social Media In Rulemaking, Stephen M. Johnson

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Polarization Of Reproductive And Parental Decision-Making, Jamie R. Abrams

Florida State University Law Review

Women’s abortion and parental decision-making in child rearing are constructed as polarized methods of decision-making in law, politics, and society. Women’s abortion decision-making is understood as myopic and individualistic. Parental decision-making is understood as sacrificial and selfless. This polarization leaves reproductive decision-making isolated, marginalized, and vulnerable while parental decision-making is essentialized, protected, and revered. Both framings are inaccurate and problematic. A unified family decision-making framework that aligns abortion decision-making and parental decision-making reveals that both forms of decision-making are more multi-dimensional, relational, and family-centered than currently understood. This Article exposes the ground to be gained by crossing longstanding boundaries in …

Today's Porn: Not A Constitutional Right; Not A Human Right, Patrick Trueman

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Inextricably Bound: Strip Clubs, Prostitution, And Sex Trafficking, Dan O'Bryant

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Amend The Communications Decency Act To Protect Victims Of Sexual Exploitation, Samantha Vardaman

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Freedom From Sexploitation Agenda: Policy And Legislative Recommendations To Curb Sexual Exploitation, Dawn Hawkins

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Putting Equality To A Vote: Individual Rights, Judicial Elections, And The Arkansas Supreme Court, Billy Corriher

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Human Dignity In Judicial Decisions: Principles Of Application And The Rule Of Law, Doron Shultziner

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

Human dignity has become a central legal concept worldwide and has been increasingly employed in judicial decisions in many jurisdictions, including in countries that do not incorporate it into their constitutions. However, due to the acknowledged vagueness of the concept, scholars and judges alike have identified many difficulties in its application and specific challenges that it poses to the rule of law. This Article addresses those challenges and proposes four formal principles for the use of human dignity in judicial decisions: using the concept strictly in relation to written law; defining the concept and its actual meaning in rulings; maintaining …

Do You Believe In Magic?: Self-Determination And Procedural Justice Meet Inequality In Court-Connected Mediation, Nancy A. Welsh

Faculty Scholarship

Proponents of the “contemporary mediation movement” promised that parties would be able to exercise self-determination as they participated in mediation. When courts began to mandate the use of mediation, commentators raised doubts about the vitality of self-determination. Though these commentators also suggested a wide variety of reforms, few of their proposals have gained widespread adoption in the courts.

Ensuring the procedural justice of mediation represents another means to ensure self-determination. If mediation provides parties with the opportunity to exercise voice, helps them demonstrate that they have considered what each other had to say, and treats them in an even-handed and …

Trigger Warnings: From Panic To Data, Francesca Laguardia, Venezia Michalsen

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Following a practice originated online, university faculty and staff have increasingly used “trigger warnings” to alert students to the possibility that they might be affected or even harmed by potentially traumatic material. This practice has led to a passionate debate about whether such warnings stifle or encourage student expression and academic freedom, and whether they are beneficial or detrimental to learning. In this article, we illustrate the history and current state of this debate, and examine the scientific support for the arguments for and against the use of such warnings. Specifically, we question the scientific basis for the suggestion that …

It Can't Wait: Exposing The Connections Between Forms Of Sexual Exploitation, Dawn Hawkins

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Dignity Special Issue: Freedom From Sexploitation, Lisa L. Thompson, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

G.G. Ex Rel. Grimm V. Gloucester County School Board: Broadening Title Ix’S Protections For Transgender Students, Sam Williamson

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Pro Bono Collaborative Project Spotlight, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Pro Bono Collaborative Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Networked Medical Devices: Finding A Legislative Solution To Guide Healthcare Into The Future, Louiza Dudin

Seattle University Law Review

This article discusses: (I) the current legal approaches to addressing cybersecurity in general, (II) the shortcomings of current legal approaches, (III) a proposal for legislation to narrow the scope of the Medical Device Amendments (MDA) preemption clause, and (IV) the benefits and shortcomings of the proposed legislation.

Yours, Mine, Or Ours: Resolving Frozen Embryo Disputes Through Genetics, Carinne Jaeger

Seattle University Law Review

Part I of this Note provides some background on the current frameworks being used by courts in dual-progenitor disputes, while Part II presents the only two cases to deal with sole-genetic progenitor disputes and details how the courts conducted their analyses. Part III explains how courts establish legal parentage and how these legal parentage standards apply to frozen embryo disputes, specifically ones that involve only one genetic progenitor. Part IV proposes a new genetic framework to assist in the resolution of these issues. This Note concludes with a recommendation for future legislative intervention to aid in the widespread and uniform …

Employed By An Algorithm: Labor Rights In The On-Demand Economy, Elizabeth J. Kennedy

Seattle University Law Review

This Article analyzes the viability of legislation extending labor rights to workers currently excluded from protection in the on-demand economy. Uber, perhaps the most well-known business operating in the on-demand economy, classifies its drivers as independent contractors, which strips them of federal rights to organize a union. Uber argues that its algorithm-based business model has essentially transformed the employment relationship, suggesting traditional labor laws are no longer necessary. This argument is belied by the economic realities of the workers who make those algorithms possible and profitable. While some prefer working multiple “gigs,” many on-demand workers struggle to piece together full-time …

Inconsistencies In Combatting The Sex Trafficking Of Minors: Backpage’S Deceptive Business Practices Should Not Be Immune From State Law Claims, Jacqueline Hackler

Seattle University Law Review

Under federal law, the CDA has created a loophole for pimps and johns to exploit minors through the Internet. This Note uses Backpage as an example of how interactive computer services consistently evade liability under the current language of the CDA, and examines the need for an amendment to the language of the CDA. This Note argues that an interactive computer service should be held responsible under state law if it helps create the content, thus becoming an “information content provider” under the CDA. Part I provides the groundwork for what sex trafficking is and its relationship to prostitution. Additionally, …

Volume 4 Issue 2 (Complete Spring 2017), David J.. Cook, Zachary Bolitho, Evan Wright, George Steven Swan, Cynthia Brown

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

A complete version of LMU Law Review Volume Issue 2 for Spring 2017.

Beyond The Money: Expected (And Unexpected) Consequences Of America's War On Drugs, Cynthia Brown

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

The purpose of this paper is to provide a high-level survey of our nation’s prohibition policies within the context of the costs of the law enforcement efforts upholding those policies. The discussion will offer a cursory review of the economic expense of the war on drugs with tangential coverage of the constitutional, institutional and intangible expenses that are inseparable from an assessment of the costs of America’s drug control efforts. Part I provides a historical review of illicit drug use in the United States, while Part II supplies the evolution of the country’s efforts to codify its drug control policies. …