Family Law Commons^™

Growing Pains: An Arkansas Case Study On Adolescent Autonomy And Access To Puberty Blockers For Gender-Affirming Care, Katherine T. Litaker

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Arkansas Act 626 outlaws any gender-affirming medical treatment for persons under eighteen years of age. This Note focuses on the evolving litigation surrounding Arkansas Act 626, the potential repercussions of the issues facing transgender adolescents, and the legal protections that may be implemented whether or not Arkansas Act 626 is upheld as a constitutional piece of legislation. It begins by examining the standard bases for administering puberty blocker treatments and addressing many of the misconceptions in medical treatment that have influenced the shaping of legislation on transgender healthcare. The Note discusses the current legal barricades for adolescents trying to access …

Amended Expert Disclosure Report: Navahine V. Dept. Of Transportation, State Of Hawai’I, Catherine Smith

Scholarly Articles

From a historical and sociological legal perspective, children in America, including in Hawai'i, require extraordinary legal protection from the harm of climate change and the government actions causing them harm. Hawai'i has a long history and tradition of leading the way on broadening rights and protections under state law, particularly for children. The principles of intergenerational justice and equity at the heart of the public trust doctrine in Hawai'i similarly require that courts accord special attention and protection for children.

On June 20, 2024, the youth-powered Navahine case settled, resulting in the first constitutional climate settlement of its kind in …

Children's Right To Access Potentially Critical Learning: Liberating Youth From Propagation Of Structural Injustice, Melina Constantine Bell

Scholarly Articles

Over the past two years, U.S. states have passed educational gag orders (“EGOs”) that prohibit teaching about antiracism and LGBTQ+ identities. EGOs are destructive in at least two ways. First, they violate children’s right to access information that is potentially critical for their individual well-being. Second, they interfere with cultivating mutual respect in a pluralistic society, which serves children’s present and future wellbeing interests. In this article, I aim to demonstrate the harms that EGOs inflict, and how revising the legal framework governing children’s rights in the United States can increase both children’s and adults’ well-being. That revision entails the …

How Viable Is Viability? Artificial Womb Technology And The Threat To Abortion Access, James E. Brown

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

The viability standard plays an important role in abortion access around much of the United States. In fact, before the Dobbs decision, the viability standard was the constitutional gatekeeper to abortion access and was uniform across the entire nation. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has removed the constitutional right to abortion altogether. Nevertheless, I will provide an argument as to why Dobbs does not signal the end of viability-based abortion around the U.S. I will prove the importance of the viability standard even in a post-Dobbs society, highlighting its operation within various state laws, such as Michigan’s Prop. 3, as well …

In The Shadow Of Monetization: The Conflicting Interests Of Parents And Children In The Commercialization Of Social Media: An Analysis Of The United States Legal Precedent Child Labor Regulation And Protections Within A New Industry, Taylor Rathwell

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Children's Legal Rights Journal

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Sorry, Kid, You Have No Rights Here: How Can We Protect Unadjudicated Youth In Private Residential Treatment Facilities From Harmful And Unnecessary Strip Searches?, Amanda Simmons

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Best Interests Of The Child In Judicial Perspective: Morocco And Chile As Case-Studies (1990-2020), Susana Sanz-Caballero

Children's Legal Rights Journal

Is there a common understanding in the judiciary process about what “the child’s best interests” are, regardless of geographic location or legal order? In every nation, when disputes impacting minors arise, judges emerge as the final adjudicators. Judges, as final adjudicators, appear to be in the best possible position to determine a child’s best interests and apply the notion fairly and appropriately. However, the concept of a child’s “best interests” is far from uniform, varying across cultures and individual family dynamics. It is an invaluable exercise to review the national case law of different countries to test whether the concept …

Policing Morality: The Inconsistent Application Of The Moral Fitness And Fitness Factor, Ariana D. Meyers, Gabrielle C. Wolf

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Promise Of Pell: Pell Grants For Justice System Involved Youth After The Fafsa Simplification Act, Mary Hornschemeier Bandstra

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Extended Jurisdiction Juvenile Prosecutions: "One Last Chance" Or A False Promise?, Ari Seckler

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Children's Legal Rights Journal

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Foster Care: How Foster Parent Intervention Affects The Child Welfare System, Olivia Mcgrath

Children's Legal Rights Journal

"Every child is entitled to a caregiver who can support the family's efforts toward a successful reunification." The National Training and Development Curriculum for Foster and Adoptive Parents provided by the Children's Bureau clearly states the rights of a child in foster care. A child removed from their biological family's home deserves the efforts of the child welfare system, their biological parents, and their foster parents to work toward returning the child to their home. "Foster to adopt" is a misleading term that contradicts the role of a foster parent. Federal and state legislation defines the primary goal of foster …

The Direction Of Child Labor Legislation: Exploring Divergent Perspectives About The Standard For Child Labor Laws, Taylor Rathwell

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Activism Is Youth-Full: How Youth Around The World Are Carrying The Torch For Gazans, Sierra Garcia

Children's Legal Rights Journal

Throughout history, many successful nonviolent action campaigns have been led by young people, from the Free Speech movement to the Civil Rights movement to the Black Lives Matter movement. Recent social movements worldwide - from Latin America to Hong Kong and beyond - have drawn on the strength of mass youth mobilization. It is difficult to imagine the landscape of social activism today without the efforts of young people.

Today, social movements are meeting the pressing crises of our time with unique vision, scale, and infrastructure - pointing the way toward transformation, with youth leading that charge. Studies show that …

S.B. V. S.S.: Children's Best Interests And Parents' First Amendment Rights Through A (Skeptically) Originalist Lens, Drew Gehman

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Corporal Punishment Of Children: A Multinational Comparison Between United States, Canada And Georgia; How The United States Compares To Canada And Georgia, Giana Cacciato

Children's Legal Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Educational Rights Of Children With Incarcerated Parents, Puneet Pathak, Anshuman Panda

Children's Legal Rights Journal

The overall development of any child is elevated when they are brought up in a family environment with love, care, and attention. Children with incarcerated parents are often raised in an unstable environment and are subject to various human rights violations; particularly, their right to education is compromised. As per the 27th edition of Prison Statistics India, the number of children living with incarcerated parents in Indian prisons stands at 1,867³. However, this number only accounts for the children allowed to reside in prison with the women prisoners, while the number of children with incarcerated parents living outside …

The Adult Rights-Bearing Archetype And How It Stifles Young People’S Equal Protection, Catherine E. Smith

Scholarly Articles

American constitutional law is defined by a rights-bearing archetype that prioritizes adults—and the Equal Protection Clause is no exception. The Supreme Court has recognized children as constitutional persons and proclaimed that “neither the Fourteenth Amendment nor the Bill of Rights is for adults alone,” but courts mostly see autonomous, rational, individualistic, income-generating grown people as rights-bearers. For the first time, this article reveals six adult-rights-bearing analytical traps that limit children’s equal protection, and proposes jettisoning the rigid Carolene Products test in favor of a nascent youth-based framework. Instead of shoehorning children’s rights into a web of laws and principles designed …

Remembering Chief Justice Max Baer, Kim Berkeley Clark

Duquesne Law Review

When Max Baer was elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in 1989, the Family Division was thought of as a place for new judges to be assigned and then leave as soon as possible. Judges and lawyers alike often characterized the work of the Family Division as less important than the work in other divisions because there are no jury trials, because of the high number of selfrepresented and unrepresented parties struggling to be heard, and due to the mistaken belief that rules were not followed.