Family Law Commons^™

Zero Sympathy: Unaccompanied Minors' Rights In The Us Immigration System, Mahrukh Ali

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This note analyzes the US Government's approach to unaccompanied minors and the webs they must navigate when they are apprehended by the US immigration system. More importantly, this note calls for reformative approaches to children's rights through acknowledging the differences between adults and children while simultaneously taking their vulnerability and autonomy into account. After explaining the migrant crisis along with its implications and examining the underlying reasons fostering this movement, this note discusses the legal options available for unaccompanied minors. It draws on the shortcomings of the immigration system as the system labels unaccompanied minors as dependent children, but also …

Working While Mothering During The Pandemic And Beyond, Nicole Buonocore Porter

Faculty Publications

Although combining work and family has never been easy for women, working while mothering during the pandemic was close to impossible. When COVID-19 caused most workplaces to shut down, many women were laid off. But many women were forced to work from home alongside their children, who could not attend daycare or school. Mothers tried valiantly to combine a full day’s work on top of caring for young children and helping school-aged children with remote school. But many found this balance difficult, leading to women’s lowest workforce participation rate in over forty years. And even women who did not quit …

Children Of The Government: Affording A Higher Education A Review Of The State Of Pennsylvania’S Recently Implemented Law That Grants Children Who “Age Out” Of The Foster Care Tuition And Fee Waivers At Every University In The State, Erin K. Cooper

Helms School of Government Undergraduate Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bell V. Goggles, 19-Ap-02 (Blkfet. Tr. Ct. App., July 19, 2021), Blackfeet Appellate Court

Court Decisions

In the Blackfeet Tribal Court of Appeals, the Court dismissed a case for lack of jurisdiction over the parties. The case concerned child support obligations arising from the State of Wyoming, Wind River Indian Reservation. Neither the petitioner nor respondent are Blackfeet, nor the children concerned. While the Blackfeet Nation Honors full faith and credit, the respondent does not reside on the Blackfeet Reservation, therefore relief in this matter does not apply to the decision of the Blackfeet Tribal Court.

Modernizing Capacity Doctrine, Lisa V. Martin

Faculty Publications

Federal capacity doctrine—or the rules establishing whether and how children’s civil litigation proceeds—has largely remained the same for more than a century. It continues to presume that all children are incapable of directing their own cases, and that adults must litigate on children’s behalf. But since that time, our understanding of children, and of adolescents in particular, has significantly evolved. This Article contends that it is well beyond time to modernize the capacity doctrine to better account for the capabilities of adolescents and support their transition to adulthood.

Post-Grillo: New Family Mediation Protections And Revised Dangers, Kelly Browe Olson

Law Faculty Scholarship

Until Professor Trina Grillo’s article warned readers of its process dangers, the family mediation process was viewed as a positive antidote to extensive and costly litigation and as a valuable opportunity for families to work together informally to resolve their custody, support, and property issues. Grillo, an academic and a practicing mediator, asserted that family mediation was not living up to its potential, that mediators hurt women and minorities by mandating participation without lawyers, and that its use created a false sense of empowerment. She was concerned that some mediators were not neutral, failed to focus on clients’ individual needs, …

A Q&A With Homeschooling Reform Advocates Elizabeth Bartholet And James Dwyer, Elizabeth Bartholet, James Dwyer

Popular Media

Elizabeth Bartholet, Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor and Faculty Director of the Child Advocacy Program (CAP), and James Dwyer, the Arthur B. Hanson Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School, were interviewed by Harvard Law Today about their virtual conference titled, Homeschool Summit: Problems, Politics, and Prospects for Reform. The June event was attended by leaders in education and child welfare policy, legislators and legislative staff, academics and policy advocates, medical professionals, homeschooling alumni, and others, to discuss children’s rights in connection with homeschooling in the United States.

Mommy, Baby And Rapist Makes Three? Amid Abortion Bans, The Pressing Need For A Nationwide Lower Standard To Strip Parental Rights, Regardless Of A Rape Conviction, Melanie Dostis

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

Among the fundamental rights recognized in the Constitution are the rights of parents to raise their children. While never interpreted as an absolute legal privilege, courts have exercised wide discretion in preserving this right and historically ignored the reality that not all parents are deserving of this right. Even though the family law system has protections in place to terminate parental rights for atrocities like abuse, it largely neglects an uncomfortable area of parental origin: parental rights regarding children conceived by rape. This is not only to the detriment of children, but, as this Note argues, at the peril of …

Preventing Child Maltreatment Through Medical-Legal Partnership, Debra Chopp

Book Chapters

There has been significant attention in recent years to health care delivery models that address social determinants of health. One such model is medical-legal partnership (MLP). MLPs join health care providers with lawyers to address health-harming legal needs in the lives of vulnerable patients. Research on MLPs has demonstrated their success in reducing stress and increasing health and well-being in the patients they serve and in their families. This chapter explores the possibility of using MLP as a tool to prevent child maltreatment.

Inheritance Crimes, David Horton, Reid Kress Weisbord

Washington Law Review

The civil justice system has long struggled to resolve disputes over end-of-life transfers. The two most common grounds for challenging the validity of a gift, will, or trust— mental incapacity and undue influence—are vague, hinge on the state of mind of a dead person, and allow factfinders to substitute their own norms and preferences for the donor’s intent. In addition, the slayer doctrine—which prohibits killers from inheriting from their victims—has generated decades of constitutional challenges.

But recently, these controversial rules have migrated into an area where the stakes are significantly higher: the criminal justice system. For example, states have criminalized …

Comparing Family Property Disputes In English And Singapore Law: "Context" Is Everything, Man Yip

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper examines why Singapore law has not followed English law in the area of beneficial ownership of family property. It points out that the landmark cases in the two jurisdictions are underpinned by different family paradigms.The English landmark cases are based on the unmarried cohabitants paradigm and the legal rules that have emerged from these cases are aimed at, whether successfully or not, ensuring a fair division of the family home upon the breakdown of these relationships. In contrast, the Singapore seminal judgments are underlaid by contests between children over their parents’ property which raised questions as to the …

The Termination Of Parental Rights In Texas: The Long Run Cut Short For Parents In Bexar County, Gabriel A. Narvaez

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Homosexuality And Adoption Of Children: A Bibliometric Analysis, Karthiayani A. Ms., Manika Kamthan Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study is based on the bibliometric analysis of research publications that focus on highlighting the impact of homosexuality on the process of adoption of children. The primary objective of this study is to analyze the frequency of publications focusing on the impact of parental sexual orientation on the process of adoption in different countries. The data required for this study was collected from the Scopus database and was analyzed using VOSviewer software. Literature published from 2000 to January 2021 were extracted and analyzed. A total of 284 documents which are classified into articles, letters, editorials, conference papers, and reviews …

Divorce Without Marriage: Taxing Property Transfers Between Cohabiting Adults, Keeva Terry

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Deinstitutionalization, Family Reunification, And The "Best Interests Of The Child": An Examination Of Armenia's Child Protection Obligations Under Conventional International Law, George S. Yacoubian Jr., Esq.

Pace International Law Review

For nearly a century, the global community has sought to afford children legal protections, abandoning widely held views that children were pecuniary assets. In the United States and globally, a nascent children’s rights movement culminated in broad child welfare reform. Whether adoption, armed conflict, child labor, education, human trafficking, or deinstitutionalization, the post-war 20th century witnessed an evolution of international child protections. The prevailing standard of “best interests of the child” (BIC) has been incorporated into domestic and international law doctrine and, not surprisingly, has been operationalized in a variety of ways. In recent years, the standard has been explored …

Exploring Tactile Art-Making With Deafblind Students And Their Families: An Opportunity For Creative Play, Alice Rodgers

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The impact of a deafblind diagnosis on an individual’s mental health and the well-being of the family involved can be profound. However, current research and available literature for the mental health treatment and therapy practices of deafblind persons and their families is limited (Kyzar et al., 2016; “WFDB Global Report 2018,” n.d.). This thesis used the Leeds Family Psychology and Therapy Service principles (Leeds FPTS) and the Expressive Therapies Continuum with established deafblind teaching strategies to facilitate an original arts-based community project entitled: “Things We Like.” This project provided an opportunity for deafblind students (ages three to 22) and their …

Law School News: Professor Of The Year 2021: Brittany Raposa 05/20/2021, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Children Have Rights, Too: How The Thirteenth Amendment Can Protect America's Abused Youth, Francesca Lauta

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Three million children are abused every year in the United States. Although there are some safeguards, such as foster care and state child abuse laws, the number of abused children has not dwindled. How should the federal government respond? This article argues that the Thirteenth Amendment can be interpreted to protect abused children. It is widely accepted that the Thirteenth Amendment’s sole purpose is to abolish Black slavery, therefore rendering it useless in the modern legal climate. Nothing in the wording or context of the Amendment, however, suggests that it is limited to Black slavery. Interpreting the Amendment to encompass …

Care In The Time Of Covid: Addressing The State Of Family And Medical Leave In Light Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Emily Kowalik

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

Perceived Psychosocial Impacts Of Legalized Same-Sex Marriage: A Scoping Review Of Sexual Minority Adults’ Experiences, Laurie A. Drabble, Angie R. Wootton, Cindy B. Veldhuis, Ellen D.B. Riggle, Sharon S. Rostosky, Pamela J. Lannutti, Kimberly F. Balsam, Tonda L. Hughes

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

A growing body of literature provides important insights into the meaning and impact of the right to marry a same-sex partner among sexual minority people. We conducted a scoping review to 1) identify and describe the psychosocial impacts of equal marriage rights among sexual minority adults, and 2) explore sexual minority women (SMW) perceptions of equal marriage rights and whether psychosocial impacts differ by sex. Using Arksey and O’Malley’s framework we reviewed peer-reviewed English-language publications from 2000 through 2019. We searched six databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, JSTOR, and Sociological Abstracts) to identify English language, peer-reviewed journal articles …