Family Law Commons^™

Court’S Choice Of Law Ruling Undermines Washington Community Property Law: A Critique Of Shanghai Commercial Bank V. Chang, Brian D. Hulse

Seattle University Law Review

This Article deals with the issues that arise when Washington courts face the following scenario. One spouse enters into a contract without the joinder (and perhaps without the knowledge) of the other spouse. Both spouses are domiciled in Washington. The contract has contacts with one or more jurisdictions other than Washington and is generally governed as to validity and interpretation by the law of another jurisdiction. The contracting spouse defaults and the other party to the contract obtains a judgment on the contract. The court confronts a question about the property to which the plaintiff will have recourse to collect …

Policing For Profit: A Constitutional Analysis Of Washington State’S Civil Forfeiture Laws, Julia Doherty

Seattle University Law Review

The summer of 2020 reignited a conversation about the relationship between race and policing in the United States. While many have taken the opportunity to scrutinize the racially discriminate components of our criminal justice system, comparable aspects of civil law must be equally scrutinized. A particular area of concern pertains to racially biased policing and the concept of “policing for profits” with Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities (BIPOC), which is accomplished mainly through civil asset forfeiture at a state and federal level.

The World Moved On Without Me: Redefining Contraband In A Technology-Driven World For Youth Detained In Washington State, Stephanie A. Lowry

Seattle University Law Review

If you ask a teenager in the United States to show you one of their favorite memories, they will likely show you a picture or video on their cell phone. This is because Americans, especially teenagers, love cell phones. Ninety-seven percent of all Americans own a cell phone according to a continuously updated survey by the Pew Research Center. For teenagers aged thirteen to seventeen, the number is roughly 95%. For eighteen to twenty-nine-year-olds, the number grows to 100%. On average, eight to twelve-year-old’s use roughly five and a half hours of screen media per day, in comparison to thirteen …

“What’S Past Is Prologue”: The Story Of The Sale Of The University Of Puget Sound School Of Law To Seattle University, Annette E. Clark

Seattle University Law Review

When the Seattle University Law Review editorial staff invited me to write an updated history of the Seattle University School of Law in honor of our 50th anniversary, I planned to start the narrative with the year 1989, which was where the prior written history (authored by former Law Library Director Anita Steele and published by the Law Review) had left off. It also happens to be the year when I graduated from this law school and joined the tenure-track faculty, so 1989 seemed like a propitious place to begin. However, as I began to do the research necessary to …

A Path Forward: Litigating The Treaty-Based Claims Of Children Sexually Abused In The Indian Health Service System, Peter B. Janci, Stephen F. Crew, Zachary Pangares

Seattle University Law Review

In 1855, representatives for the United States traveled to the Great Plains with orders to seek peace with Blackfoot Nation so the westward expansion of “civilized” white settlers could continue without interruption. After weeks of negotiations, the United States plan materialized. The terms of these promises were memorialized on October 17, 1855, in a treaty between the United States government and Blackfoot Nation.

One hundred and sixty-seven years later, representatives for the United States and the Blackfoot Nation convened in Rapid City, South Dakota to discuss the U.S. government’s breach of the treaty’s terms. Eight Native men, including three from …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Blood On The Tracks, Thomas D. Russell

Seattle University Law Review

Streetcars were the greatest American tortfeasors of the early twentieth century, injuring approximately one in 331 urban Americans in 1907. This empirical study presents never-before-assembled data concerning litigation involving streetcar companies in California during the early twentieth century.

This Article demonstrates the methodological folly of relying upon appellate cases to describe the world of trial court litigation. Few cases went to trial. Plaintiffs lost about half their lawsuits. When plaintiffs did win, they won very little money. Regarding the bite taken out of the street railway company, the Superior Court was a flea.

Professor Gary Schwartz and Judge Richard Posner …

A Game Theory View Of Family Law: Planning For A 500% Family Tax, Steven J. Willis

FIU Law Review

Divorces involve money, which can prompt fierce legal battles. These include family obligations for child support, alimony, and property division. Small income changes can have huge consequences. For example, a $1,000 income increase can result in $5,000 of increased family obligations. A $10,000 increase can produce $50,000 of obligations. Or a $10,000 decrease can result in $50,000 of reduced obligations.

Dobbs, Abortion Laws, And In Vitro Fertilization, Kerry Lynn Macintosh

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Playing God In The 21st Century: How The Push For Human Embryonic Germline Gene Editing Sidelines Individual And Generational Autonomy, Anna E. Melo

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Every four and a half minutes a child with a genetic birth defect is born in the United States. For some, these conditions are treatable and manageable, but sadly for others, they are a death sentence. Congenital malformations and chromosomal abnormalities are the leading cause of infant mortality. CRISPR-Cas9 presents hope for the future, a liberation from the heritable genetic shackles that a child would otherwise be trapped in. With such optimism for future applications of germline gene editing, there are also great concerns with what national and global limitations and auditing must be in place to permit “genetic hedging.” …

Introduction: Domestic Violence And Access To Justice Within The Family Law And Intersecting Legal Systems, Jennifer Koshan, Wanda Wiegers, Janet Mosher, Wendy Chan, Michaela Keet

Canadian Journal of Family Law

The articles in this collection explore the access to justice issues that arise for survivors of domestic violence in their encounters with Canada’s family law system. While family law and family dispute resolution processes are the central focus of the articles, three contributions also address family law's intersections with other legal domains (civil restraining orders, child welfare, and immigration). Common across the contributions is a desire to carefully interrogate the potential of law and legal processes to enhance—or conversely to undermine—the safety and well-being of survivors and their children.

Preventive Justice? Domestic Violence Protection Orders And Their Intersections With Family And Other Laws And Legal Systems, Jennifer Koshan

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Civil protection order legislation is a distinctive response to domestic violence with its focus on immediate safety and access to justice. Although the legislation was motivated by the need to broaden protective remedies for domestic violence and make them more accessible, similar remedies continue to exist and be utilized in the family law arena—for example, exclusive possession orders for the family home and restraining orders related to family disputes. Some jurisdictions also allow civil protection orders to contain conditions relevant to family law disputes, such as interim parenting orders. Intersections, overlaps and potential conflicts also exist between civil protection order …

Domestic Violence, Precarious Immigration Status, And The Complex Interplay Of Family Law And Immigration Law, Janet Mosher

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Survivors of domestic violence must frequently navigate multiple legal processes, as well as the various administrative systems that provide crucial supports and resources. For women with precarious immigration status, navigation is made all the more challenging not only because immigration and/or refugee law processes are added to the array of legal domains to be navigated, but because their access to supports and resources is both restrictive and in flux, shifting along with the changes in their immigration status.

Drawing from interviews with experienced lawyers and case law searches, I explore many of the intersections between family law and immigration law …

Bill C-92: A Catalyst For Change In The Ycja, René Allain

Canadian Journal of Family Law

This paper examines Bill C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis children, youth and families (2019) (C-92), and how some of its principles should inform a redrafting of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (2002) (YCJA or the Act) to address the over-incarceration of Indigenous youth. Erasing the effects of centuries of racist and genocidal policies is a herculean process that will take several generations. Disrupting this status quo must begin by allowing children an opportunity to learn and prosper within their communities. Although trite, the maxim “children are our future” holds particularly true for Indigenous Nations in Canada.

Front Matter

Canadian Journal of Family Law

No abstract provided.

Challenging Myths And Stereotypes In Domestic Violence Cases, Jennifer Koshan

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Survivors of domestic violence, who are disproportionately women, face numerous myths and stereotypes about the veracity, nature, and extent of violence they and their children experience. In legal disputes, they encounter allegations that they have lied about or exaggerated domestic violence out of vengeance, jealousy, or to gain an advantage in family law proceedings; that their partners are victims too; that abuse ends at separation or is irrelevant unless it is physical; and that it has no impact on children or only matters if it does. Although scholars and activists have revealed how these allegations are tainted by false and …

“This Isn’T Justice”: Abused Women Navigate Family Law In Greater Vancouver, Wendy Chan, Rebecca Lennox

Canadian Journal of Family Law

With the implementation of the Family Law Act in 2013, the family legal system in British Columbia saw a series of progressive reforms. These include the recognition of emotional, psychological, and financial control as family violence, a new protection order process to replace the limited restraining orders formerly available to abuse victims, a mandate that courts consider how exposure to family violence impacts children, and minimum mandatory training standards for family dispute resolution professionals. While there has been a great deal of legal commentary on these new provisions, there is a paucity of scholarly research documenting the experiences of frontline …

Mediator Discretion In Cases Involving Intimate Partner Violence, Michaela Keet, Jeff Edgar

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Mediation is a centerpiece in the ‘agreement culture’ around family law litigation. It is recognized by the courts as offering inherent protections to deal with challenging cases such as those involving intimate partner violence. To learn more about how mediators invoke and view the process’s protections, we conducted a series of interviews with senior mediators, trainers, and policymakers in the field. This article synthesizes current views within the mediation field about how to identify and screen for IPV, and implications for process management. At the heart of these interviews was the theme of mediator discretion: mediators describe and value discretion …

The Intersection Of Child Protection And Family Law Systems In Cases Of Domestic Violence, Wanda Wiegers

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Both the child protection and the family law systems are intended to promote the best interests of children, and both can profoundly affect the relationships between children and their parents or caregivers. Over the past two decades, both systems have also accorded more weight in the assessment of best interests to how exposure to domestic violence can harm or place children at risk. However, these systems have evolved differently, are governed by different statutes, and are administered in different ways. Child protection proceedings purport to have primarily a protective function and invariably involve a public agency, while family law proceedings, …

Front Matter

Canadian Journal of Family Law

No abstract provided.