Family Law Commons^™

Strange Bedfellows: How Child Welfare Agencies Can Benefit From Investing In Multidisciplinary Parent Representation, Vivek S. Sankaran, Patricia L. Rideout, Martha L. Raimon

Other Publications

This is the second of a series of articles that examines the role that advocates for parents and families can play in furthering the wellbeing and safety of children. This article highlights emerging parent representation models that expedite the safe reunification of children already in foster care.

What’S Law Got To Do With It? Confronting Judicial Nullification Of Domestic Violence Remedies, 10 Nw. J. L. & Soc. Pol'y. 130 (2015), Debra Pogrund Stark

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

In 1982, the Illinois legislature passed the Illinois Domestic Violence Act (the Act) and most recently passed an updated version in 2012. This Article examines how the specialized domestic violence courthouse in Chicago implements these laws.

Where the courthouse falls short, this Article will explore why, what can be done, and consider implications for other jurisdictions seeking to implement similar resources for survivors of domestic violence. The results from this empirical study are mixed. On the positive side, the data reflect that judges are properly applying many important aspects of the new order of protection laws and granting a high …

Relational Theory And Choice Rhetoric In The Supreme Court Of Canada, Lucy-Ann Buckley

Canadian Journal of Family Law

The issue of personal choice has become central to Canadian family law. Much of the debate derives from the competing models of autonomy posited by neoliberal and feminist theorists. Neoliberalism, which currently dominates Canadian public discourse, views individuals as atomistic agents who can and should make "responsible" choices. However, feminists have highlighted the effects of structural barriers and social context on personal decision-making, particularly for women, and have advanced alternative relational autonomy models. These models are particularly appropriate to family law, but their application to family financial ordering has not been widely considered. This article discusses the practical significance of …

"Race Is Not A Determinative Factor": Mixed Race Children And Custody Cases In Canada, Susan B. Boyd, Krisha Dhaliwal

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Statistics suggest that an increase will occur in the number of custody disputes involving mixed race children in Canada. This article considers the extent to which the fact that a child is mixed race factors into child custody determinations, and how courts consider it. It also discusses whether considering a child's mixed race heritage is helpful in the child-custody context. The article first explains the use of "race" and "culture" in the Canadian context, then reviews the literature on mixed race children and the law, before examining legislation on the "best interests of the child." The focus of the paper …

Who Is Family: Cohabitation, Marriage, And The Redefinition Of Family, Andrew Morrison

Canadian Journal of Family Law

The emergence of cohabitation as an alternative to the traditional form of the family has left the need for legislative reform. Currently, cohabitants must resort to equitable claims as they do not have access to the property sharing regime designated for married spouses. The definition of "family" requires reformulation to include cohabitation. This reformulation must then be reflected in Ontario's Family Law Act through the adoption of an opt-out regime. This reform appropriately balances the values of autonomy and equality and creates certainty, predictability, and consistency in the law of Ontario. This paper addresses the possibility of reform through the …

Book Review: Petra Nordqvist And Carol Smart, Relative Strangers: Family Life, Genes And Donor Conception, Machteld Vonk

Canadian Journal of Family Law

No abstract provided.

Marriage Equality Comes To America, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Marriage equality is sweeping the nation. Four appeals courts recently affirmed district judges’ opinions which invalidated numerous state laws proscribing same-sex marriage. Yet, the Sixth Circuit reversed a number of district jurists, prompting a circuit split that provoked Supreme Court resolution. Because marriage equality’s status is unclear, this piece assesses disposition of the litigation and recommends how to clarify marriage equality.

Divorce Equality, Allison Anna Tait

Law Faculty Publications

The battle for marriage equality has been spectacularly successful, producing great optimism about the transformation of marriage. The struggle to revolutionize the institution of marriage is, however, far from over. Next is the battle for divorce equality. With the initial wave of same-sex divorces starting to appear on court dockets, this Article addresses the distinctive property division problems that have begun to arise with same-sex divorce and that threaten, in the absence of rule reform, to both amplify and reinscribe problems with the conventional marital framework. Courts have failed to realize the cornerstone concept of equitable distribution-marriage as an economic …

Children's Health In A Legal Framework, Elizabeth S. Scott, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

The interdisciplinary periodical Future of Children has dedicated an issue to children’s health policy. This contribution to the issue maps the legal landscape influencing policy choices. The authors demonstrate that in the U.S. legal system, parents have robust rights, grounded in the Constitution, to make decisions concerning their children’s health and medical treatment. Following from its commitment to parental rights, the system typically assumes the interests of parents and children are aligned, even when that assumption seems questionable. Thus, for example, parents who would limit their children’s access to health care on the basis of the parents’ religious belief have …

Obergefell'S Conservatism: Reifying Familial Fronts, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

I am delighted with the result in Obergefell v. Hodges, but I am unhappy with the Court’s reasoning. In lieu of a straightforward, and far more defensible, decision based purely on the Equal Protection Clause, Justice Kennedy’s reliance on the Due Process Clause is deeply problematic.

A substantive due process analysis required the Court to define marriage and explain its social importance. This meant the Court had to choose between competing images — social fronts — of marriage. If it had used an equal protection analysis, the Court would not have had to decide whether marriage is traditional or …

"I Now Pronounce You Husband And Wives": The Case For Polygamous Marriage After United States V. Windsor And Burwell V. Hobby Lobby Stores, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to question the continuing validity of Reynolds in light of subsequent United States Supreme Court deci- sions, including-most recently-UnitedStates v. Windsor and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. Based upon these subsequent Supreme Court decisions, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, proponents of polygamous marriage now have a very strong case for validating polygamous marriages on cultural, religious, and constitutional grounds.

Certiorari And The Marriage Equality Cases, Carl Tobias

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat

Marriage equality has come to much of the nation. Over 2014, many district court rulings invalidated state proscriptions on same- sex marriage, while four appeals courts upheld these decisions. However, the Sixth Circuit reversed district judgments which struck down bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. Because that appellate opinion created a patchwork of differing legal regimes across the country, this Paper urges the Supreme Court to clarify marriage equality by reviewing that determination this Term.

Protecting Victims Of Domestic Abuse From An Overly Rigid Interpretation Of The Implied Consent Law—Axelberg V. Commissioner Of Public Safety, Allira Sharma

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Oyez, Oyez: An Inside Look At Romer V. Evans, Mary A. Celeste

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Family Law Issues For Same-Sex Couples In The Aftermath Of Minnesota's Same-Sex Marriage Law: A Family Law Attorney's Perspective, Gary A. Debele

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.

In The Name Of The Child: Race, Gender, And Economics In Adoptive Couple V. Baby Girl, Bethany Berger

Faculty Articles and Papers

On June 25, 2013, the Supreme Court decided Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, holding that the Indian Child Welfare Act did not permit the Cherokee father in that case to object to termination of his parental rights. The case is ostensibly about a dispute between prospective adoptive parents and a biological father. This Article demonstrates that it is about a lot more than that. It is a microcosm of anxieties about Indianness, race, and the changing nature of parenthood. While made in the name of the child, moreover, the decision supports practices and policies that do not forward and may …

Legislating Labors Of Love: Revisiting Commercial Surrogacy In New York, Deborah Machalow

Indiana Law Journal

After over twenty years of status quo, the New York Legislature has an opportunity to liberalize its surrogacy laws whether during this legislative session or the next. By adopting the proposals with the suggested changes, the Legislature would simultaneously bring the law into conformity with the desires of many New Yorkers and recognize important technological developments. The proposals are marked improvements on the present prohibitory regime; however, they are not perfect. The legislature should consider further protections for the parties to surrogacy arrangements and amend the proposals accordingly. The legislature’s renewed interest in the topic is refreshing; this interest should …

For The Title Ix Civil Rights Movement: Congratulation And Cautions, Nancy Chy Cantalupo

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Principles Of Contract Law Applied To Entertainment And Sports Contracts: A Model For Balancing The Rights Of The Industry With Protecting The Interests Of Minors, John H. Shannon, Richard J. Hunter Jr.

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

This Article discusses the context of common law and statutory materials dealing with minors who participate in the entertainment and sports fields. The Article describes the changes undertaken as a result of several notorious cases involving prominent child actors, and how the California legislature dealt with issues ranging from set asides of income, approval of contracts by a competent court of jurisdiction, recognition of the legitimate interests of all parties to the contract, to principles under which a minor would be precluded from disaffirming a contract. The Article then applies and extends the principles developed in entertainment contracts to minors …

When Disciplines Collide: Polygamy And The Social Sciences On Trial, Jodi Lazare

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article draws on the Supreme Court of British Columbia's Reference re: Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada [the Polygamy Reference] as a concrete example of the benefits and limitations of intense judicial reliance on social science evidence in the adjudication of constitutional rights and freedoms at the trial level. By examining the evidence tendered, I suggest that the current adversarial model of adjudication is illsuited to combining the legal and the social scientific endeavours. The divergent values, methodologies and objectives of the legal and scientific enterprises severely limit the benefits that the former can yield, thus compromising …