Family Law

CHILDREN’S RIGHTS DEBATES, REVISITED

Martha Minow

DUNWODY DISTINGUISHED LECTURE IN LAW

The Epidemic of Higher Levels of Depression and Anxiety in Each Successive Generation of Youth: Proposed Causes, Detrimental Effects, and the Introduction of Positive Psychology in the Classroom

Written by: Rosemarie Parasole

Abstract The past few decades have witnessed a major increase in each successive generation of youth reporting higher levels of mental illness. The detrimental effects of mental disorders, including depression and anxiety, demand a solution that addresses a change in thinking and wellbeing among youth. Research illustrates the substantial impact the teachings of positive psychology […]

A Man’s Home Is His Castle, But It Has a Secret Dungeon: Domestic Violence Victims Need An Amendment to Florida’s All-Party Consent Law

Written by: David K. Warren

Abstract Domestic violence is an epidemic that is occurring at alarming rates throughout the state of Florida and across the nation. Much of that abuse occurs behind closed doors inside the home where there are no witnesses. Because Florida law does not allow a person to record communications without the consent of everyone else involved, […]

Bethany R. Berger, In the Name of the Child: Race, Gender, and Economics in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl

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 was ostensibly about a dispute between prospective adoptive parents and a biological father. But this Article […]

Frances H. Foster, Should Pets Inherit?

63 Fla. L. Rev. 801 (2011)|  | | ARTICLE :: On August 20, 2007, billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley died, survived by her brother, four grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and her beloved companion of eight years, a white Maltese dog named Trouble. One week later came news that shocked the world. Helmsley left $12 million to Trouble.

Lauren A. Kirkpatrick, Treading on Sacred Ground: Denying the Appointment of a Testator's Nominated Personal Representative

63 Fla. L. Rev. 1041 (2011)|  | | PDF CASE COMMENT, Schleider v. Estate of Schleider, 770 So. 2d 1252 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) :: Muriel’s mother had just died. She and her sister, Orit, had been fighting for years during their parents’ guardianship. Now Orit was bringing Muriel to court over who would act as […]

Solangel Maldonado, Illegitimate Harm: Law, Stigma, and Discrimination Against Nonmarital Children

63 Fla. L. Rev. 345 (2011)| |  | | ABSTRACT :: No one would dispute that for most of U.S. history, nonmarital children suffered significant legal and societal discrimination. Although many individuals believe that the legal disadvantages attached to “illegitimate” status have disappeared in the last forty years, this Article demonstrates that the law continues to […]

Hillel Y. Levin, Resolving Interstate Conflicts Over Same-Sex Non-Marriage

63 Fla. L. Rev. 47 (2011)| | | | ABSTRACT :: States have adopted several different regimes of recognition for same-sex couples. A few states allow same-sex couples to marry; several others offer marriage- like partnerships (usually called civil unions), which provide all or nearly all of the substantive rights and responsibilities associated with marriage; […]

Peter Nicolas, The Lavender Letter: Applying the Law of Adultery to Same Sex Couples and Same Sex Couples

63 Fla. L. Rev. 97 (2011)| | | | INTRODUCTION :: In the political and legal debate over same-sex marriage, references to the rights (or benefits or privileges) and responsibilities (or burdens or obligations) associated with marriage constitute a key weapon in the rhetorical battle. Most of the focus, however, has been on the “rights” […]

Ann Laquer Estin, Families Across Borders: The Hague Children's Conventions and the Case for International Family Law in the United States

62 Fla. L. Rev. 47 (2010) |   |   |   | ABSTRACT :: In our globalized world, as families form and dissolve across international borders, domestic family law does not adequately address the needs of parents and children with ties to multiple legal systems. For these cases, the Hague Children’s Conventions provide a […]

Benjamin H. Barton, Against Civil Gideon (and for Pro Se Court Reform)

62 Fla. L. Rev. 1227 (2010)| | | | INTRODUCTION :: “Civil Gideon” is a short-hand name for a concept that has been the white whale of American poverty law for the last forty years-a constitutional civil guarantee to a lawyer to match the criminal guarantee from Gideon v. Wainwright. This Article argues that the […]

Ben "Ziggy" Williamson, The Gunslinger to the Ivory Tower Came: Should Universities Have a Duty to Prevent Rampage Killings?

60 Fla. L. Rev. 895 (2008) | | | | INTRODUCTION :: On April 16, 2007, Seung Hui Cho, a Virginia Tech student, went on a rampage across the university’s campus. He murdered thirty- two people-twenty-seven students and five professors-before killing himself. Cho’s rampage was not only the worst mass shooting on an American university […]

Mary-Rose Papandrea, Student Speech Rights in the Digital Age

60 Fla. L. Rev. 1027 (2008) | | | | ABSTRACT :: For several decades courts have struggled to determine when, if ever, public schools should have the power to restrict student expression that does not occur on school grounds during school hours. In the last several years, courts have struggled with this same question […]

Alan E. Garfield, Protecting Children from Speech

57 Fla. L. Rev. 565 (2005) | | | | INTRODUCTION :: The notion that children need to be sheltered from inappropriate speech long predates Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” or Bono’s expletive-enhanced acceptance of a Golden Globe. Plato expressed concern about youths’ impressionable minds 2300 years ago, stressing that the tales the “young first hear […]