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Family Law

Family Law Prof Blog

Family law issues explored by law professors.
By Barbara Glesner Fines, Robert E. Oliphant, and Nancy Ver Steegh (William Mitchell College of Law).

Post Frequency: 12.6/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 15:18:00

Murray: "Exposing the Underground Establishment Clause in the Supreme Court?s Abortion Cases"

Posted on January 15, 2010
Justin S. Murray (Georgetown University Law Center) has posted Exposing the Underground Establishment Clause in the Supreme Court?s Abortion Cases on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court held that women have a constitutional right...

Abel: "Keeping Families Together, Saving Money, and Other Motivations Behind New Civil Right to Counsel Laws"

Posted on January 14, 2010
Laura Abel (Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law) has posted Keeping Families Together, Saving Money, and Other Motivations Behind New Civil Right to Counsel Laws, Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review (forthcoming), on SSRN. Here is the...

Evidentiary Issues in IL Domestic Violence Cases

Posted on January 14, 2010
The Illinois Court of Appeals recently affirmed that section 115-7.4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code) (725 ILCS 5/115-7.4 (West. Supp. 2007)), which permits prior acts of domestic battery to be admissible in a domestic battery trial,....

Psychiatrist Communications Unprotected Under Act in IL Custody Cases

Posted on January 13, 2010
In answering a question certified for interlocutory appeal, an Illinois Appellate Court determined that the Mental Health Confidentiality Act does not protect communications with Section 604(b) court-appointed psychiatrist in custody-visitation evaluation...

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Norwegian Study Shows No Significant Correlation Between Divorce Rate and Parenting a Child with Cancer

Posted on January 13, 2010
Using data on nearly 978,000 married couples in Norway, researchers found that divorce rates between 1974 and 2001 were no higher among couples with a child suffering from cancer compared with other parents. When other factors were considered, such as...

More on the YouTube Debate

Posted on January 12, 2010
For those interested in reading more about the debate on whether trial recordings from the controversial Proposition 8 case now playing out in California should be posted on YouTube (see blog post about the case here), check out this CNN...

The Beginnings of a Supreme Court Ruling on Same Sex Marriage?

Posted on January 12, 2010
CNN reports on on a trial that began yesterday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco challenging California's Proposition 8 (which bans same-sex marriage). [Perry and Stier have] been committed to each other for eight years and have four sons...

Ate Too Much Over the Holidays?

Posted on January 12, 2010
Then let?s hope you?re not part of BeautifulPeople.com, an international dating site for beautiful people. Many members, especially American ones, have been recently expelled because of gaining weight over the holidays. Suddenly, I?m starting to understand that 50% divorce rate?...

Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on Civil Commitment of Sex Offenders Today

Posted on January 12, 2010
Today, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in United States v. Comstock (08-1224), which deals with a federal law that indefinitely commits those who finished serving their sentences in North Carolina, typically for sexual offenses against minors...

Happy Divorce Day!

Posted on January 11, 2010
Today is D-Day. No, not that D-Day. Divorce Day. D-Day, or Divorce Day is widely accepted to be the busiest day of the year amongst family law circles. It is the day that falls on the first Monday after the...

Schiltz: "Dueling Vocations: Managing the Tensions between Our Private and Public Callings"

Posted on January 11, 2010
Elizabeth Rose Schiltz (University of St. Thomas School of Law) has posted Dueling Vocations: Managing the Tensions between Our Private and Public Callings, a chapter from her forthcoming book Women, Sex, and the Church (2010), on SSRN. Here is the...

Fighting Like Cats and Dogs Over, Well, Cats and Dogs

Posted on January 10, 2010
For those interested in pet custody issues, see the relevant pending legislation in several states: Wisconsin 2007 Assembly Bill here 2008 Michigan House Bill 5598 here 2008 New Jersey Assembly Bill 2663 here No doubt, our furry friends often become....

Child Slavery in Haiti

Posted on January 09, 2010
An astounding new report suggests that because of poverty, at least 225,000 children in Haiti, two-third girls, have been sent into slavery as unpaid household servants, known as ?restavek.? Some of these children?especially girls?also suffer sexual, psychological, and physical abuse...

Hatcher: Collateral Children: Consequences and Illegality at the Intersection of Foster Care and Child Support

Posted on January 08, 2010
Daniel L. Hatcher (University of Baltimore School of Law) has published "Collateral Children: Consequence and Illegality at the Intersection of Foster Care and Child Support," 74 Brook. L. Rev. 1333(2009). Here is the abstract from SSRN: This Article is the...

Gender Selection Technology More Common

Posted on January 08, 2010
It seems that selecting for a baby?s gender is becoming increasingly common. Interestingly, according to one fertility expert in Los Angeles,"China is strongly in favor of boys, as we would suspect. India, strongly in favor of boys. But when you...

In Chambers Examination of Children in TPR Case Violates Due Process

Posted on January 07, 2010
A Michigan Court of Appeals recently ruled that an unrecorded in camera interview with 4 children involved in a proceeding to terminate their parents' rights resulted in a due process violation. The family involved in these proceedings has a protracted...

Domestic Violence Division Created in Cook County

Posted on January 07, 2010
Some changes are planned in Chicagoland courts for the New Year. From the Chicago Tribune: The chief judge of Cook County Circuit Court is creating a domestic violence division to try to improve communication among judges and ensure that abuse...

No Court-Martial for Pregnant Soldiers

Posted on January 06, 2010
In November, Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo announced a policy that would permit the court-martial of soldiers who became pregnant and those who caused the impregnation. Last month, however, Maj. Gen. Cucolo clarified his policy, saying that he was not going...

Embattled Congressman's Wife Alleges Ownership of Funds Sought under Forfeiture Order

Posted on January 06, 2010
The wife of former Representative William Jefferson, convicted in August in federal court on 11 counts of corruption (see here), is alleging ownership of the proceeds of certain assets the government has sought to seize as restitution for the Congressman's...

Divorced at 10 Years Old

Posted on January 05, 2010
The BBC reports on a Yemeni child bride who fought for, and miraculously received, a divorce from her 30 year-old husband. She had not even known she was to be married on the day of her wedding. With her father's...

Custody Battle of Same-Sex Couple in VT Intensifying

Posted on January 05, 2010
With the Brazilian custody dispute recently resolved (see here), the media has been focusing on another one that has been ratcheting up, with the child recently gone missing. From the Associated Press: MONTPELIER, Vt. ? A Vermont woman locked in...

Call for Proposals for Conference on Child Representation

Posted on January 04, 2010
Representing Children: Ethical and Practical Problems, April 2-3, 2010, Oregon Child Advocacy Project, University of Oregon School of Law, Eugene, Oregon Representing children charged with delinquent acts or who are the subjects of child custody disputes or juvenile court dependency...

Honor Killings on Rise in England

Posted on January 04, 2010
But hopefully, the New Year will see a dramatic decrease in these honor crimes. From the London Evening Standard: In the financial year 2007/08, a total of 161 incidents, including 93 criminal offences, were reported to police. The rest were...

Hope Cheating Spouse's Lover is Rich

Posted on January 03, 2010
That's the advice from CNN, which recently did a whole story on the old tort of alienation of affection. This allows a spouse to sue the other spouse's lover. I suppose to maximize revenge, one should collect a huge divorce...

Custody of American Indian Child

Posted on January 02, 2010
This recent custody case involving an American Indian child is interesting because it highlights the high legal standard?beyond-a-reasonable-doubt?to terminate parental rights to an American Indian child. The Nebraska court found that a drug addiction meets the standard, but the girl's...

MR

Posted on January 01, 2010
MR

Judge Delays Contoversial Abortion Survey

Posted on December 31, 2009
An Oklahoma judge has delayed a decision on the constitutionality of an Oklahoma law which would survey doctors performing abortions and then post facts relating to those abortions on a public website. An Oklahoma judge Friday put off until Feb....

Gift Giving Not Over Yet?

Posted on December 31, 2009
Now might be the best time for grandparents to give away parts of their estates, with the 45% estate tax lapsing soon and Congress?s lack of action. However, Congress may impose a new estate tax that would apply retroactively to...

Science Comes in Aid of Dating in Time For New Year's Eve

Posted on December 30, 2009
Before families are formed, there must be dating (sometimes unfortunately so). Luckily, science can help us there too: Striking the right balance between revealing too much and being too conservative in how much skin is on show has long been...

Custody Battle Involving Quadriplegic Mother

Posted on December 30, 2009
A quadriplegic mother is fighting her ex-boyfriend in court to retain custody of their son. The ex-boyfriend claims she cannot be a competent mother because of her disability. It is a case that touches on important questions about the rights...

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