Family Law Commons^™

Cheating With The Fifth Amendment: Weaponizing The Fifth Amendment Privilege To Undermine Equitable Dissolution Of Marriages, Elizabeth I. Boals

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

Despite widespread adoption of no-fault divorce, many U.S. states still consider adultery in the allocation of alimony and property. In sixteen of those states, adultery remains a criminal offense—enabling spouses accused of infidelity to invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination during divorce proceedings. This Article explores how such invocations obstruct discovery, delay litigation, and create strategic advantages for wealthier or culpable spouses, especially in fault-based or hybrid divorce regimes. After surveying the historical development of divorce law and the expansion of Fifth Amendment protections into civil contexts, the Article critiques current remedies—adverse inferences, implied waivers, and immunity—as ineffective or …

Foreword: Children And Constitutions In The Anthropocene Era, Catherine Smith

Washington and Lee Law Review

In Spring 2025, the Washington and Lee Law Review held its Lara D. Gass Symposium, Children and Constitutions in the Anthropocene Era. It consisted of a keynote address by Julia Olson, Co-Executive Director and Chief Legal Counsel of Our Children’s Trust, and three panels: “Children, Climate Change, and State Constitutions”; “The U.S. Constitutions and the Meaning of ‘We the [Young] People’”; and “Youth-Powered Litigation and Global Constitutionalism.” The heavily attended Symposium was a tour-de-force in the field of children’s rights.

As climate chaos mounts, young people around the world are pressing courts to reconceptualize the meaning of liberty, equality, and …

In The Matter Of H.B., Iii, 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 15 (Apr. 3, 2025), Racaiim Mckain

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

In a decisive decision, the Nevada Supreme Court held that convicted felons are not automatically disqualified from acting as a legal guardian.

In Re: Parental Rights As To R.A.S., 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 20 (Apr. 24, 2025), Sierra Bergquist

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

TERMINATION PETITIONS INITIATED BY PRIVATE PARTIES REQUIRE SPECIFIC CONSIDERATIONS THAT DIFFER FROM STATE-INITIATED PETITIONS

In Re: A.T., A Minor, 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 32 (Jun. 12, 2025), Kayla Snowden

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

A no-contest plea may serve as an admission in a child protection hearing over the objection of the district attorney in favor of avoiding delays in the absence of a denial of allegations.

The Right To Exit Religion, Zalman Rothschild

Articles

This Article argues that just over fifty years ago, in Wisconsin v. Yoder, the Supreme Court recognized what might be called a right to exit religion. In this decision, the Court expressed appreciation for preserving insular religious communities, while simultaneously articulating the principle that accommodations for such communities must not unduly restrict community members’ ability to exit should they wish to do so. Yet courts and scholars have largely overlooked Yoder’s recognition of a right to exit religion. To make this “right” more concrete, the Article examines impediments to it through a case study of one large insular religious community—the …

(De)Funding Family Separations, Joshua Gupta-Kagan

Faculty Scholarship

Federal foster care funding exists in tension with foundational family law principles. The law protects family integrity: the state may only separate parents and children in extreme cases, and, when it does, the state must work to reunify families. Yet the federal funding system directs billions of federal dollars to support CPS agencies and pay subsidies to foster parents, adoptive parents, and guardians. It does so via an open-ended entitlement, so that the more families a state separates, the more federal funds it receives. This system makes it relatively cheaper for CPS agencies to take custody of children, incentivizes states …

The Human Dimension Of "Home", Robert A. Destro

Catholic University Law Review

All societies provide a legal framework that protects the pivotal functions of home and family. None provide a clear legal definition of “home”. Nor, this article argues, can they. “Home” is a concept rooted in the lived experience of human persons. In this article, the second in a series, the author employs the “human dimension” [HDIM] concept, initially developed by the U.S. military and later adopted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as the lens through which one can examine the “human element” of human rights. The framework for this analysis is the “four clusters of value-types” …

A Stronger Future For Family Law Arbitration: Enhancing The Uniform Family Law Arbitration Act To Shield The Vulnerable, Jayden Solomon

Journal of Law and Policy

The rising popularity of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) methods, particularly arbitration, has transformed family law practices, offering more accessible and efficient means of resolving disputes. This Note explores the critical role of the Uniform Family Law Arbitration Act (“UFLAA”) in safeguarding vulnerable populations, specifically children and domestic violence survivors, within the arbitration process. While the UFLAA offers important protections, these measures should serve as a starting point rather than a benchmark for ensuring these safeguards. This Note advocates for the integration of more robust protections within the UFLAA to better protect these individuals throughout arbitration. It examines the history of …

Reaching Communities And Serving People: Assessing Utah's Legal Needs, Pamela Beatse J.D, Scotti Hill J.D, Keenan Carroll J.D., Hannah Kiely M.A

Utah Conference on Community Engagement

"Utah Legal Services (ULS) conducted a comprehensive legal needs assessment in 2024 to gather the necessary data and information to better meet its mission of providing high-quality civil legal aid without cost to people who are unable to afford legal representation or are facing disadvantages. Using the combination of an online survey, a series of focus groups throughout the Wasatch front, individual or group interviews, and several community soundboards, ULS conducted a broad, statewide survey. We connected with representatives, organizations, advocates, case managers, and leaders in the community as well as with client-eligible Utahns and ULS staff. This process allowed …

In Re Adoption Of E: First Amendment Rights And Religious Inquiry In Adoption Proceedings, Francis J. Scanlon

Maine Law Review

The New Jersey Supreme Court decision, In re Adoption of E, represents an effort to define what considerations are to be given the religious beliefs of prospective adoptive couples in the screening process of the adoption courts. The majority opinion is emphatic in spelling out what courts cannot do. In overruling the lower court's decision, it was held that the first amendment prohibits the denial of a couple’s adoption request solely because the court disapproves of their religious beliefs. Though holding that a couple's religion cannot be a controlling factor in an adoption denial, the court did not see religion …

Enforcement Of Money Judgments And Divorce Decrees In Maine, S. Peter Mills

Maine Law Review

Until recently divorce decrees in Maine were frequently enforced by capias execution, a remedy at law by which the wife or her attorney could jail the ex-husband for failure to pay money overdue in alimony, support or litigation costs. Most states use contempt proceedings whenever imprisonment is deemed an appropriate sanction in a divorce action, but in Maine a capias execution gave the aggrieved party advantages not available in a contempt petition. First, even though issuance of the capias was a matter for the court's discretion, there was no requirement either in statute or in common law that the court …

Rectifying Historical Wrongs: The Case For The Indigenous’ Inherent Right To Self–Govern Child Welfare In Canada, Ariana Kravetz

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

No Lawyer, No Jail: A Critical Case Study Of Pragmatism And The Flaws Of “Purposeful” Decision Making In Argersinger V. Hamlin, Alisa Smith, Sarah K. Stice

Seattle University Law Review

By releasing conference notes and internal communications, Supreme Court Justices provide insight into the otherwise private decisionmaking process, shedding light on how case outcomes and legal reasoning are framed and negotiated. The watershed case of Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972) extended the constitutional right to counsel to some, but not all, misdemeanor defendants. The case was argued twice, and the Court relied on empirical and authoritative sources to answer complex and practical questions about requiring counsel. This case study employs critical discourse analysis to uncover what influenced the Justices’ decisions and how they framed, shaped, and constructed social realities to foreground …

The Race To Erase: Destruction Of Government Documents Undermines Freedom-Of-Information Laws, Frank D. Lomonte

Seattle University Law Review

In August 2019, reporters with Chattanooga’s daily newspaper, the Times Free Press, filed what seemed to be a routine request for access to emails and other public records held by their local county government. The seemingly unremarkable request set the newspaper’s staff on a months-long journey of unpleasant surprises. The first was a demand to pay the county $717 in advance before being allowed to inspect the documents. The second was that—during prolonged haggling over the fee assessment— the county attorney’s office simply destroyed almost all of the disputed records. Third, and most glaringly, the journalists discovered that Tennessee law …

When You’Re Arrested For A Felony In Seattle, You’Ll Meet Me., Austin Field

Seattle University Law Review

In this Essay, Austin Field, a practicing public defender, uses a first-person perspective to describe what it is like to meet a criminal defendant for the first time. He explains the process from start to finish, detailing everything from the way he introduces himself to how bail works.

"I’ll ask you for your name. Most of the time, you tell me. I check your name against my list. On any given day I’m supposed to interview between five and fifteen people. I have a lot of questions for you. We only have about ten minutes."

The Public Square In A Private-Property Obsessed Country: What New York City’S Pops Regulations Get Right And Why Other Cities Should (Mostly) Copy Them, Carson Mcgregor

Seattle University Law Review

When New York City (NYC) was first becoming the metropolitan monolith it is today, it had a problem: the city streets were chock full of skyscrapers, and sunlight, air, and usable open space were at a premium. In response, the City promulgated its first Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) regulations, which allowed developers to build skyward in exchange for providing public space on the street level. Unfortunately, in July of 2023, the New York Times (NYT) discovered that New Yorkers received only a fraction of what they were promised. Building owners received billions of dollars’ worth of added floor space, …

Modern Day Colonialism Through HawaiʻI’S Quiet Title And Partition Laws, Cheyann Fujii

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will attempt to highlight important aspects of Hawaiian history to provide readers with a clear picture on how Native Hawaiians are still impacted by colonialism, specifically when plaintiffs bring a quiet title or partition action against Native Hawaiian owners of kuleana lands. Before colonization, the concept of private land ownership did not exist in Hawai‘i, and Native Hawaiians adopted a feudal system by dividing land into geographical areas. Missionaries and businessmen brought Western ideas to Hawai‘i and influenced legislation such as the Great Māhele and the Kuleana Land Act of 1850, which solidified the concept of private property. …

Data Advantage And Merger Review: Can Entrenchment Theory Reform Antitrust Enforcement?, Shin-Ru Cheng

Seattle University Law Review

A merger involving giant digital companies is likely to dampen competition, as it allows those companies to combine and control data access, enabling them to entrench their dominant positions in relevant markets and extend those positions into related markets. While competition law in many jurisdictions aims to prohibit mergers that may substantially lessen competition or create a monopoly, arguably the review of digital mergers is failing because antitrust agencies lack an effective approach to identify data-generated anticompetitive harms. This Article demonstrates that entrenchment theory, recently reintroduced in the 2023 U.S. Merger Guidelines, would help reform the process of antitrust enforcement. …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents