From Matrimony To Autonomy: Divorce As A Fundamental Right,
2025
University of Haifa
From Matrimony To Autonomy: Divorce As A Fundamental Right, Karin Carmit Yefet
Cardozo Law Review
Liberal divorce is under assault. Yet this development—one that arguably may shape the everyday life of Americans more profoundly than nearly any other domain of state law—has elicited surprisingly little scholarly inquiry. Because divorce has long fallen within the province of states and hewed to the whim of state legislatures, restrictions on divorce have rarely inspired constitutional analysis. As a result, the constitutional architecture necessary to conceptualize—let alone resolve—the question of how divorce law intersects with fundamental rights remains strikingly wanting. Indeed, one of the enduring puzzles of constitutional scholarship is the diametrically opposed treatment of marriage and divorce. While …
Benchmarking Age-Gates,
2025
Boston University School of Law
Benchmarking Age-Gates, Katharine B. Silbaugh
Faculty Scholarship
This article examines how legal actors—particularly legislators, judges, and attorneys—invoke chronological age to justify the application of legal rules to adolescents. In doing so, they often rely on comparisons to existing “age-gates,” treating these thresholds (such as ages 18 or 21) as self-justifying reference points. Age 18, marking the legal transition from childhood to adulthood, and age 21, the former age of majority and current sales age for certain controlled substances, serve as especially powerful rhetorical anchors in age-based legal reasoning. These anchor points shape how legal actors advocate for or against particular age thresholds, often substituting analogy for substantive …
When Love Is Not Enough: The Muñoz Decision And The Erosion Of Family Unity In U.S. Immigration Law,
2025
University of Cincinnati College of Law
When Love Is Not Enough: The Muñoz Decision And The Erosion Of Family Unity In U.S. Immigration Law, Katerina Fernandez
Immigration and Human Rights Law Review
The Supreme Court’s decision in Department of State v. Muñoz marks a significant shift in U.S. immigration law, reinforcing the doctrine of consular non-reviewability and weakening long-standing protections for family unity. Historically, marriage and family have been recognized as fundamental rights; yet, Muñoz limits judicial oversight of visa denials, allowing for indefinite separations between U.S. citizens and their non-citizen spouses. This piece examines the ruling’s legal and human rights implications, its parallels to family separation policies, and its potential to justify future erosion of parental rights in immigration enforcement. It also examines possible legal avenues to challenge arbitrary family separations, …
Brief Of Amici Curiae Scholars For The Advancement Of Children’S Constitutional Rights In Support Of Defendants-Appellants: Roy V. Darren Patterson Christian Academy,
2025
Washington and Lee University School of Law
Brief Of Amici Curiae Scholars For The Advancement Of Children’S Constitutional Rights In Support Of Defendants-Appellants: Roy V. Darren Patterson Christian Academy, Catherine Smith, Tanya M. Washington, Robin Walker Sterling, Jeremiah Chin, Sara S. Hildebrand
Scholarly Articles
Amici are scholars of children and the law, education law, family law, and anti-discrimination law. Amici draw this Court’s attention to the harms that four-year-olds in the LGBT community – LGBT children and children with LGBT parents – would bear should state-funded religious schools be granted a license to discriminate against them. An exemption to the Colorado Universal Preschool Program’s equal opportunity requirement would allow plaintiffs to discriminate against these children and raise unfair barriers in their paths to a high-quality education. An exemption would also inflict dignitary, psychological, and familial harms upon an entire class of young people – …
Queer And Present Danger: Reconceiving Arkansas’S Artificial Insemination Laws To Protect Lgbtq Families,
2025
University of Arkansas Little Rock
Queer And Present Danger: Reconceiving Arkansas’S Artificial Insemination Laws To Protect Lgbtq Families, Chacey Schoeppel Wilcox
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review
No abstract provided.
Optimizing The Role Of Notaries In Digital Property Inheritance: A Comparative Legal Analysis,
2025
Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia
Optimizing The Role Of Notaries In Digital Property Inheritance: A Comparative Legal Analysis, Tjhong Sendrawan, Rosa Agustina, Edmon Makarim, Arman Nefi, Josephine Rus Indra Sapti Ipfelkofer
Indonesia Law Review
One of the provisions in inheritance laws regarding the transfer of digital property after someone's death is a relatively new and evolving area of legal consideration. Inheritance laws were developed long before the widespread adoption of digital property, such as cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), online accounts, and other forms of digital property. As a result, existing inheritance laws often lack clear guidance on how to control the legal transfer of these digital assets upon the owner's death. This article aims to analyze the legal concept of digital property to be inherited and to provide solutions for current digital property inheritance …
Triggering Change In Child Protection Law: A Case Study Of Firearms And Domestic Violence In Nova Scotia, Manitoba, And Ontario,
2025
Dalhousie University
Triggering Change In Child Protection Law: A Case Study Of Firearms And Domestic Violence In Nova Scotia, Manitoba, And Ontario, Ashley Thornton
Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies
The intertwining complexities of child protection, domestic violence, and firearms pose profound challenges for families and the legal system. This paper examines their interplay, focusing on how these issues can subject children to harm, with a specific focus on case law and relevant legislation from Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and Ontario. These three provinces have been selected due to: i) the locality and inherent relevance of Nova Scotia’s jurisdiction given the location of the Schulich School of Law, ii) the high number of reported court decisions in Ontario, and the unique protections created through amending the Child, Youth, and Family Services …
Volume 48 Masthead,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
Keynote Address: Community Over Constitution,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
Keynote Address: Community Over Constitution, Riddhi Mukhopadhyay
Seattle University Law Review
In this keynote address, Riddhi Mukhopadhyay challenges the veneration of the U.S. Constitution by highlighting its origins in exclusion and its continued failure to protect marginalized communities. Drawing from her experience in civil legal aid and gender justice, she argues that the Constitution was drafted to consolidate power among white, wealthy men and continues to reflect that legacy through racial, gender, and class-based inequities. While acknowledging the significance of constitutional amendments and landmark cases, Mukhopadhyay emphasizes that meaningful change has always come from community-led action, not top-down reform. Additionally, Mukhopadhyay calls on lawyers and legal advocates to center community, practice …
The Lost Child: A Critique On Transracial Adoption Rhetoric,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
The Lost Child: A Critique On Transracial Adoption Rhetoric, Hallie Conyers-Tucker
Seattle University Law Review
Transracial adoption in the United States reflects a deeply rooted history of colonialism, cultural assimilation, and racial hierarchy, masked by rhetoric focused on the “best interest of the child.” The author critiques that rhetoric and traces how adoption practices and policies, both domestic and international, have evolved to reinforce systemic inequities. Through historical analysis of the forced adoption of Native American, Black, and Asian children, it reveals how the best interest standard has been wielded not to protect children but to uphold political and racial ideologies. The author argues that the prevailing adoption framework relies on child-saving and color-blind narratives …
A Global Reconstruction: Black Internationalism And The Human Rights Regime,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
A Global Reconstruction: Black Internationalism And The Human Rights Regime, Britta Redwood
Seattle University Law Review
Black American advocates for civil, political, and economic rights have long taken an internationalist approach and fostered connections with international organizations and transnational movements. This engagement has also been a generative force and played role in shaping international law. Beginning in the early years of the twentieth century, Black intellectuals and leaders, spearheaded by the NAACP and the UNIA, focused on human rights as a means for addressing and repairing the harms wrought by slavery, Jim Crow, and racism. From the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Genocide Convention, and the drafting of …
The Gap: Addressing The Missing Piece In HawaiʻI’S Anti-Discrimination Laws On Credit And Lending,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
The Gap: Addressing The Missing Piece In HawaiʻI’S Anti-Discrimination Laws On Credit And Lending, Wendy Mun
Seattle University Law Review
This author addresses the significant gap in Hawaiʻi’s anti-discrimination laws, specifically the lack of explicit protections for LGBTQ+ individuals against credit and lending discrimination. Although federal laws like the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and recent interpretations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) extend some protections, they remain vulnerable to shifting federal priorities and interpretations. The author explores how other states, particularly California and Washington, have enacted robust statutory protections that clearly prohibit credit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. They argue that Hawaiʻi, despite its large LGBTQ+ population, must amend its credit protection laws to reflect …
The U.S. Drug Policy Hamster Wheel: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Seattle’S New Drug Ordinance,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
The U.S. Drug Policy Hamster Wheel: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Seattle’S New Drug Ordinance, Hallie Conyers-Tucker
Seattle University Law Review
The author critically examines Seattle’s new drug ordinance using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to reveal how legislative language influences the policy's actual effect. Although the ordinance claims to prioritize diversion and community health, the use of permissive language such as “may” and “shall” grants broad discretionary power to law enforcement and undermines the stated intent. The author situates the ordinance within a broader historical context, highlighting how drug policy in the United States has consistently been shaped by racialized and stigmatizing narratives. Additionally, the author argues that meaningful reform requires reframing the discourse around substance use to support public health …
Something Concrete: How Labor Advocates Can Best Respond To The Ambiguity Of Glacier Northwest,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
Something Concrete: How Labor Advocates Can Best Respond To The Ambiguity Of Glacier Northwest, Ateş Serifsoy
Seattle University Law Review
The Supreme Court’s much-anticipated decision in Glacier North-west, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local No. 174 (Glacier) marked a critical moment for workers’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the longstanding practice of Garmon preemption. Yet, initial fears of a significant rollback of workers’ rights, driven by sensational headlines, were met with an unexpectedly narrow Court opinion. This Comment examines Glacier’s implications for Gar-mon preemption and the right to strike. It offers the historical background of the doctrine of labor law preemption before Glacier; presents a detailed analysis of Glacier itself, including its …
A New Exclusionary Rule To Protect Bodily Integrity And Discourage Pretext Stops,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
A New Exclusionary Rule To Protect Bodily Integrity And Discourage Pretext Stops, Josephine Ross
Seattle University Law Review
The author proposes a novel state-level exclusionary rule to reduce racial profiling and protect bodily autonomy during police encounters. The current Fourth Amendment jurisprudence fails to deter pretextual stops and frisks because the exclusionary rule often turns on officer fault and "good faith," allowing racially motivated practices to go unchecked. As federal rollbacks on diversity and data collection hinder efforts to track racial bias, the author argues for a statutory evidentiary rule that automatically excludes drug evidence found during (1) traffic stops, (2) pat-downs for weapons, and (3) consent searches, regardless of an officer’s intent or the legality of the …
Navahine V. HawaiʻI Dept. Of Transportation: The Keiki Will Lead Us,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
Navahine V. HawaiʻI Dept. Of Transportation: The Keiki Will Lead Us, Catherine Smith
Seattle University Law Review
The author analyzes the landmark case Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, which culminated in the world’s first constitutional climate settlement. Catherine Smith, serving as an expert for the youth plaintiffs, situates the case within Hawaiʻi’s legal tradition of prioritizing children’s rights and intergenerational equity. She explores the evolution of children’s constitutional protections, contrasting Hawaiʻi’s progressive jurisprudence with the dominant adult-centric legal framework on the mainland. She critiques four recurring analytical missteps in U.S. courts that marginalize children’s interests and highlights Hawaiʻi’s public trust doctrine and cultural values, such as the Aloha Spirit, as models for addressing climate-related harms. …
Constitutional Futurism As Pedagogy,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
Constitutional Futurism As Pedagogy, Jeremiah Chin
Seattle University Law Review
Constitutional Law has transformed from a course on history to a discussion of current events. Cases like Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo reveal that the study of constitutional law is not a static, or even linear, discussion of constitutional text and history. Law is a shifting, changing enterprise that reflects social constructions of power, authority, and identity. How do we teach, learn, and understand constitutional law that is so laden with history, riddled with theories of consistency and adherence to precedent, but ultimately subject …
Table Of Contents,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
Can The Law Protect My Craft? How Gaps In Copyright Of Knitting Patterns Symbolize A Greater Struggle For Protecting Traditionally Feminine Forms Of Intellectual Property,
2025
Seattle University School of Law
Can The Law Protect My Craft? How Gaps In Copyright Of Knitting Patterns Symbolize A Greater Struggle For Protecting Traditionally Feminine Forms Of Intellectual Property, Kysa Walzer
Seattle University Law Review
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the application of intel-lectual property rights within the context of copyright protection of knit-ting patterns. The article will discuss the underutilization of copyright pro-tection for knitters and crafters and its larger impact upon craft and indus-try traditionally comprised of women. Part I introduces knitting patterns and a short history of copyright protections. Part II discusses the specific areas within knitting patterns and the knitting community which give rise to legal grey areas for copyright protection. Part III discusses the larger implications of copyright and intellectual property in spaces where women traditionally make …
Rethinking Ohio Mandated Reporting For Child Neglect,
2025
Cleveland State University
Rethinking Ohio Mandated Reporting For Child Neglect, Stephanie L. Ash
Et Cetera
This article briefly outlines the history and harm of family separation, reviews applicable federal and Ohio laws concerning child neglect and screening guidelines for investigation, and examines the social justice implications of rethinking mandated reporting requirements and implementing alternatives to protect children from systemic oppression and violence from the family policing system.
