Family Law Prof Blog

AI Project

From AP:

If a baby was taken from their parents four decades ago during Argentina’s military dictatorship, what would that person look like today?

Argentine publicist Santiago Barros has been trying to answer that question using artificial intelligence to create images of what the children of parents who disappeared during the dictatorship might look like as adults.

Almost every day, Barros uploads these images to an Instagram account called iabuelas, which is a portmanteau in Spanish for artificial intelligence, or IA, and grandmother, or abuela — taken from the well-known activist group Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo that searches for missing children.

 Read more here.

IL Law Protects Children's Finances

From PBS:

Legislative efforts to protect children online typically center on their privacy. But thanks to the efforts of an Illinois teenager, the finances of some of the youngest digital workers could also be better protected in the future. Lisa Desjardins reports.

See it here.

Child Care Cliff

 

 

Lafortune & Low: "Collateralized Marriage"

 

Link to the paper here.

 

MI Bans Child Marriage

From CBS:

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation to prevent child marriage and protect minors.

The bills raise the minimum age for a person to consent to marriage to 18, according to Whitmer's office.

"Keeping Michiganders safe and healthy is one of my top priorities, and today's bipartisan bills will build on our efforts to protect young people—especially young women—from abuse," said Whitmer. "As a county prosecutor, I went after those who used their power to prey on young people, and as governor, I am proud to sign legislation to strengthen protections for children and survivors into law. Together, we can make Michigan a safe, welcoming state where you can grow up and pursue your potential."   

Read more here.

Missing Kids

New Book on Parent Privilege

From Yahoo!:

Melissa Kearney begins her new book, The Two-Parent Privilege with a scene from an academic conference she attended a few years ago.

After days speaking with colleagues about declining U.S. employment and social mobility, the University of Maryland professor asked whether scholars should give more thought to the condition of families. Given their centrality to children’s life prospects, she reasoned, the policy community seemed oddly disengaged from discussions about parenting and household structure. In particular, the gradual increase in one-parent homes didn’t receive expert scrutiny in proportion with its importance to schooling and workforce preparation.

As Kearney expected, her inquiry was met with an uncomfortable quiet. In her experience, while social scientists were willing to acknowledge America’s undeniable trend toward single parenting, especially among the poor and working class, they were reluctant to weigh its consequences — and somewhat skeptical that anything could be done about it. Compared with subjects like taxation, welfare and finance, she writes, families are a seldom-discussed “elephant in the room.”

...

In a conversation with The 74’s Kevin Mahnken, Kearney discussed why she wrote The Two-Parent Privilege and whether anything can be done to address the problems it identifies.

Read more here.

TikTok Fined

From CNN:

A major European tech regulator has ordered TikTok to pay a €345 million ($368 million) fine after ruling that the app failed to do enough to protect children.

The Irish Data Protection Commission, which oversees TikTok’s activities in the European Union, said Friday that the company had violated the bloc’s signature privacy law.

An investigation by the DPC found that in the latter half of 2020, TikTok’s default settings didn’t do enough to protect children’s accounts. For example, it said, newly-created children’s profiles were set to public by default, meaning anybody on the internet could view them.

Read more here.

Same-Sex Marriage in the Navajo Nation

From CNN:

“When it comes to having a marriage certificate, that’s something that we will not obtain until that marriage certificate says ‘the Navajo Nation’ on it,” Nelson, executive director of Navajo Nation Pride and an executive assistant to Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, told CNN.

That day could be on the horizon.

In June, Navajo Nation Council Delegate Seth Damon introduced a bill to repeal the prohibition on same-sex marriage. The legislation has cleared three committees and faces just one more before it can go before the full council. Meanwhile, key Navajo leaders have voiced support for the measure.

If the bill clears the committee stage, Nelson said he expects it to go before the full council in mid-October. And if it passes, he added, it could have a ripple effect on Indigenous nations in the US.

Read more here.

SEALS Deadline Extended

We are extending the deadline for our family law programming at SEALS until this Friday, September 29^th.   Please fill out this Google Form to sign up for a discussion group and/or a work-in-progress session.  Questions can be directed to your family law section resource chairs (Meghan Boone, Naomi Cahn, Meredith Harbach, Laura Lane-Steele, Seema Mohapatra, & Clare Ryan) at [email protected].

Please see the original message below:

We are excited to be organizing a Topical Workshop in Family Law at SEALS next year – held in the beautiful Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa, Fort Lauderdale, Florida from July 21-July 27. The Workshop will include a number of panels and discussion groups, based on your interest.

If you would like to participate, please fill out this Google Form by Friday, September 22nd. Questions can be directed to your family law section resource chairs (Naomi Cahn, Meredith Harbach, Laura Lane Steele, Seema Mohapatra, & Clare Ryan) at [email protected].

 

 

Childcare Losses

From CNBC:

 It’s barely 10 a.m. on a Wednesday, but the day at Greenway Learning Center is well underway. Story time is done, jelly sandwiches have been eaten and the kids have been divided into the preschoolers and the “twos”, with infants in another room. As the preschoolers review their numbers, the 2-year-olds play with brightly colored blocks.

Ashleigh Proctor, who works nearby as a facilities manager, dropped in to see her son, Ahmad, who’s been attending the center since he was 8 months old. Proctor said being around teachers and other kids has helped his development and the center has come to feel like family.

But she’s not sure how much longer Ahmad can stay. Proctor is one of millions of families that have had help paying for child care thanks to $24 billion in pandemic-era funding Congress passed in 2021. The funding is set to expire on Sept. 30, and The Century Foundation estimates that 3.2 million kids in the U.S. will lose their spot in child care. 

Read more here.

Age of Consent in the UK

From the Independent:

Calls have been made for laws around the age of sexual consent to be overhauled amid the allegations against Russell Brand.

Brand, a comedian turned conspiracy theorist, is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl when he was in his thirties.

While he has vehemently denied all allegations and insists his relationships were consensual, the claims have ignited a debate around not only the age of consent but also age gaps.

Brand’s alleged victim, known by the pseudonym Alice, told the Sunday Times she was in an emotionally abusive three-month relationship with him that began in 2006. The actor is accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, in the wake of a joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.

Alice told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour on Monday it is time to start to think about changing laws around the age of sexual consent.

Read more here.

Happy Autumn

The Blind Side Follow Up

From Naomi Cahn (UVA), writing for the Conversation:

What’s the difference between adoption and conservatorship? Millions of dollars and the freedom to make your own choices, if you ask retired football player Michael Oher.

Oher, whose story was made into the 2009 movie “The Blind Side,” says he believed he signed papers to be adopted by an affluent white couple, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, in 2004. But papers filed in court recently indicate Oher was in fact never adopted. Rather, he has been under a court-imposed conservatorship all this time. Further, it is alleged that the arrangement allowed the Tuohys to “gain financial advantages” by striking deals in Oher’s name.

The Tuohys’ attorneys have pushed back, saying that Oher had long known he wasn’t formally adopted and that the conservatorship was necessary for his college football aspirations. Their current attorney has also said he believes the long timeline for getting an adoption – compared with the relatively speedy conservatorship process – played a role in their decision.

As the high-profile legal drama continues to unfold, Leigh Anne Tuohy’s personal website still describes Michael Oher as the couple’s “adopted son.”

Read more here.

Covid Continues to Hospitalize Children

From CNN:

Covid-19 hospitalizations have been on the rise in the United States for months, with weekly admissions now more than triple what they were two months ago. Seniors have the highest rates of Covid hospitalizations by far, but hospitalizations among children — especially among those younger than 5 — are rising fast.

More than 20,500 people in the US were admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 during the week ending September 9, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – about 8% higher than the week before.

“We haven’t really seen this for many months, but we’re starting to see people come into the hospital critically ill,” said CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a cardiologist and professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University. “There needs to be a greater sense of urgency because deaths are rising, hospitalizations are rising.”

Read more here.

How Government Shutdown Can Affect Families

 

 

Editor Sought

The International Family Law Journal is the only English language practitioner journal dealing with the rationale and jurisprudence of family law as it affects families and individuals across Europe and the rest of the world. Published quarterly, it deals with the complexities affecting international family lawyers across the fields of marital property, financial matters, separation and divorce, all aspects of child law and EU and other international instruments.

The Journal is currently recruiting a co-editor to work alongside Michael Edwards, the current co-editor. Becoming an editor is a rewarding and fulfilling experience which will not only make a major contribution to this high quality journal but also enable you to extend your network, promote the area of practice that you are passionate about and be recognised as a leading figure within the international family community.

The co-editor is responsible for:

• Commissioning original content to appear in the journal.
• Reading and editing contributors’ manuscripts.
• Maintaining the standing and increasing the profile of the journal.

We are looking for the following skills and attributes in the successful applicant:

• A strong vision for the future direction of the journal.
• A sound working knowledge of, and good standing within, the international family law community, preferably as a practitioner or academic.
• An active presence in the international family law community with a strong network of contacts.
• Previous experience of writing for, and preferably editing, publications and familiarity with the editorial standards of practitioner publications.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to meet deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills and an ability to cultivate positive working relationships with both LexisNexis staff and members of the Editorial Board.

A full job role description is available upon request (email [email protected]). The role attracts an honorarium to cover associated costs.

To apply, please forward your CV and a covering letter by email to [email protected] by Friday 29 September 2023.

Helping Aging Parents

From Forbes:

Today is World Alzheimer’s Day, a global effort to raise awareness and challenge the stigma around Alzheimer's disease. We read about it, we fear the disease and we still avoid discussing it with aging loved ones.

It’s not just our elders who fear delving into the subject of possible dementia. It’s us, too, the adult children. It’s too scary to think it could happen to our own family members. But it can, and when that happens, families experience extreme stress arising from zero preparation for this possibility.

Here are three tips that can help every family avoid extreme stress with aging parents in failing cognitive health, by discussion and planning.

Read more here.

 

FL Gives State Workers Maternity Leave

From Miami Herald:

With a tight labor market and more than 7,000 vacancies in state government, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet did something this week that the state government has never done in agreeing to offer paid maternity leave to expectant mothers.

Under the proposal approved Tuesday during a nine-minute meeting via telephone, eligible state employees can receive paid maternity leave for up to seven weeks and parental leave for two weeks. For mothers, that amounts to combined family leave of nine weeks. For fathers and partners of the expectant mother, that gives two weeks of paid leave.

Read more here.

Love & Marriage for All Ages

From Women's Health:

The long-awaited senior Bachelor Nation spin-off, The Golden Bachelor, is almost here. ABC officially introduced 71-year-old Gerry Turner (pronounced like "Gary") during the Bachelorette Men Tell All episode for Charity Lawson's season, and fans totally freaked out. The show is set to air in less than a month.

Yup, the formula that delivers The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise now includes a version filled with boomers looking for love. There are even new spoilers for Gerry's first one-on-one date. It's sure to be golden, indeed.

Dedicated members of Bachelor Nation will know that the original Bachelor season debuted in 2002, and that this momentous occasion has been in the works since 2020—so it's been a long time coming! ABC's official description of the show reads that "one hopeless romantic is given a second chance at love," searching for a partner "to share the sunset years of life." Personally, I can't think of any other concept that will give Bachelor Nation a revival other than adding senior citizens to its roster.

Read more here.