Family Law Prof Blog

Data on Meddling In-Laws

From Huff Post:

A new survey suggests that meddling in-laws are to blame for one in 10 U.K. divorces.

The Co-operative Legal Services surveyed 2,000 married couples -- 800 of which had been divorced -- about the cause of marital tension in their relationships. Eleven percent of the divorcés surveyed blamed "interfering in-laws" for their divorces.

Read more here.

MR

Domestic Violence Order Voted through European Parliament

From Jordans' Family Law News:

The European Parliament has voted with an overwhelming majority (602 votes in favour, 23 against, 63 abstentions) to endorse the European Commission's proposal for an EU-wide violence protection order.

The new regulation will mean that citizens who have suffered domestic violence can rely on a restraining order obtained in their home country wherever they are in the EU: the protection will travel with the citizens. In practice, the EU law will benefit women in particular: around one in five women in Europe have suffered physical violence at least once in their life, according to surveys.

Read more here.

MR

Dire Report on Families Out of Britain

From Law Week:

Lone parent families are increasing at a rate of more than 20,000 a year and will total more than two million by the time of the next election, according to a new report accusing the Government of turning a blind eye to its commitment to promote family stability.

The report, to be published by the Centre for Social Justice in the week beginning 10th June , also finds that at least one million children are growing up without a father and that some of the poorest parts of the country have become "men deserts" because so few primary schools have male teachers.

Read more here and download the report here.

MR

U.S. Supreme Court Victories for Same-Sex Couples

From the New York Times:

In a pair of major victories for the gay rights movement, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that married same-sex couples were entitled to federal benefits and, by declining to decide a case from California, effectively allowed same-sex marriages there.

The rulings leave in place laws banning same-sex marriage around the nation, and the court declined to say whether there was a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. But in clearing the way for same-sex marriage in California, the nation’s most populous state, the court effectively increased to 13 the number of states that allow such unions.

The decision on federal benefits will immediately extend many benefits to couples in the states where same-sex marriage is legal, and it will give the Obama administration the ability to broaden other benefits through executive actions.

Read more here or download the Supreme Cour'ts opinion in Perry here or download the Supreme Court's opinion in Windsor here.

MR

Adoptive Parents Win at U.S. Supreme Court

From CNN:

The Supreme Court sided on Tuesday with adoptive parents in a divisive custody fight over a Native American child after the biological father asserted his parental rights.

The justices, by a 5-4 margin, said the adoption by a white couple was proper and did not intrude on the federal rights of the father, a registered member of the Cherokee tribe, over where his daughter, Veronica, 3, would live.

The court said the father could not rely on the Indian Child Welfare Act for relief because he never had legal or physical custody at the time of adoption proceedings, which were initiated by the birth mother without his knowledge.

Read more here or download the Supreme Court's opinion in the case here.

MR

Placement in WI

From wislawjournal.com:

It is time for Wisconsin to reconsider the law regarding contingent placement orders.

The May edition of the Wisconsin Journal of Family Law features point/counterpoint articles on the topic by two very thoughtful family law judicial officers: Brown County Judge Tom Walsh and Milwaukee County Assistant Family Court Commissioner Bill Honrath.

Read more here.

MR

Custody Cases Surge in England

From the Telegraph:

New figures show the number of children caught up in legal battles between separating or divorcing parents jumped by 27 per cent last month and is currently running at almost twice the level seen two years ago.

Cafcass, the agency which looks after children's interests in the family courts, said that it received 5,061 new cases involving family splits in England in May, by far the highest ever seen in a single month.

It has piled new pressure on the agency, which has been already severely stretched by a separate dramatic rise in the number of children being taken into care in the wake of the Baby P scandal four years ago.

The surge in demand for it to be involved in so-called “private law” cases follows the removal of legal aid for couples in most divorce cases.

Under changes which came into effect on April 1 this year, an estimated 200,000 people a year who would have been able to get legal aid in divorce and child contact cases no longer qualify.

Read more here.

MR

Japan & Hague Concention on Int'l Child Abduction

From the Japan Times:

Giant Hello Kitty-emblazoned kudos to Japan for finally signing the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. Now comes the hard part: actually making it work.

Read more here.

MR

Lawsuit Against Family Law

From newsreview.com:

“The entire family-law system is unconstitutional,” Newdow told SN&R. “It deprives people of their rights to their relationships with their children.”

In 2005, 2006 and 2007 Newdow informed the speaker of the Assembly of his intent to file suit under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 526(a), which allows taxpayers to file grievances against government waste.

“You waste incredible amounts of money,” said Newdow. “People spend millions of dollars—literally—on individual cases that should be going towards the family.”

The complaint names as defendants California Superior Court Judge James Mize, Presiding Judge Eugene Balanon, State Attorney General Edmund Brown, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Controller John Chiang.

Read more here.

MR

Introducing Family Law

From Law Times:

The federal government’s latest attempt to bring western family law principles to native reserves is once again attracting controversy.

The family homes on reserves and matrimonial interests or rights act is the federal government’s fourth attempt to address the vacuum that exists in matrimonial property laws in aboriginal communities.

The standing committee on the status of women has just referred the bill back to Parliament without amendment despite hearing a litany of concerns about the process and the lack of consultation and non-legislative measures and support.

Read more here.

MR

Fetal Origins

From the Atlantic:

Researchers in the increasingly influential field known as fetal origins—the study of how fetal conditions affect long-term health—have to be pretty creative. Running controlled experiments on pregnant women is, after all, verboten. Still, scientists have made exciting finds in recent years by cleverly drawing on data from dramatic, naturally occurring “experiments.” By seeing what happens to fetuses when an entire population is exposed to, say, fasting, or mourning, or smog—conditions that would be deemed unethical if they were devised in a lab—we are gaining insights into how life before birth shapes life long afterward.

Read more here.

MR

5th Circuit on Breastfeeding

From Law.com:

While several new health studies health studies concerning breastfeeding are making the rounds, the topic has also been generating headlines in the employment law context, thanks to a recent Fifth Circuit ruling (as reported in Texas Lawyer's Tex Parte Blog) involving the firing of a woman because she wanted to use a breast pump at work.

According to the opinion, when Donnicia Venters spoke to her boss at Houston Funding about using a breast pump at work upon her return from maternity leave, her request was met with a long pause, then the news that her position had been filled. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought a Title VII action against Houston Funding, alleging the company had discriminated against Venters based upon her sex.

Read more here.

MR

Babies Sleeping in Cardboard Boxes--Normal in Finland

From Updated News:

For 75 years, Finland’s expectant mothers have been given a box by the state. It’s like a starter kit of clothes, sheets and toys that can even be used as a bed. And some say it helped Finland achieve one of the world’s lowest infant mortality rates.

It’s a tradition that dates back to the 1930s and it’s designed to give all children in Finland, no matter what background they’re from, an equal start in life.

The maternity package – a gift from the government – is available to all expectant mothers.

Read more here.

MR

Hat Tip: SH

Horrific Exam

From Daily Mail:

The University of Cambridge has defended a law exam described as 'horrific' by students because of its graphic depictions of oral sex, male rape and naked torture.

The university's renowned law faculty has used real-life scenarios for exams in the past, but many students were left shocked by its latest test questions.

Around 200 students sitting the exam on Saturday morning were presented with a scenario involving a fictional college drinking society's initiation ceremony which went on to describe several indecent assaults.

Read more here.

MR

Fewer Online Marriages Result in Divorce

From ars technica:

Like everything else, dating has moved online in recent years through a combination of organized dating services and incidental meetings (the Ars forums have enabled a number of matches). Now, a new survey of American households shows just how important this phenomenon has become: since 2005, a third of marriages were the result of online meetings, with nearly half of those coming through online dating services. The good news? Fewer relationships that started online ended up in divorce, and people were generally more satisfied with the ones that survived.

The numbers come from a survey sponsored by eHarmony, a dating site that frequently uses its advertisements to suggest that it makes matches based on psychologically validated personality profiles. As revealed in the conflict of interest statement, one of the researchers involved in the new study is a scientific advisor to eHarmony. But the researchers got the dating company to allow them to publish their survey analysis no matter what it showed, and the group hired an outside statistician to validate the work.

Read more here.

MR

Hat Tip: SH

FASFA Changes Consider Income of Same-Sex Partners

 From Erez Aloni, writing for the Huffington Post:

Under the purview of the Department of Education, the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will now include in its calculation of students' eligibility for financial aid the income of cohabiting, unmarried parents -- including same-sex spouses that are generally unrecognized by the federal government due to the Defense of Marriage Act. LGBTQ organizations have long fought for this legal change; indeed, our community has accepted it as a political victory. Gay activists and commentators argue that the new policy is more just because it reflects the real structure of families -- that it validates "LGBTQ families and experience." The Web is replete with stories of unfortunate children of same-sex couples who had to include only one parent in their applications in previous years (despite having two parents living together) and who suffered emotionally pain as a consequence (even in the face of typically larger tuition grants under the old policy).

Read more here.

MR

How Much Are We Working

See great charts from the Atlantic about how much we are working these days here.

MR

Harvard Admissions Letter

From the Washington Post:

A woman answers a letter from the Harvard Admissions Office from over half a century ago, inquiring into her plans for working while having a family.

Read it here.

MR

The Atlantic's Take on Marriage

The Atlantic has a series of interesting articles on marriage here.

MR