Beginning with a story most familiar to us in the opera "Madame Butterfly, Carol Weisbrod uses a variety of stories to illuminate important issues in how society, through law, defines important relationships in the family. The book addresses such important issues as marriage, divorce, parent-child relations and abuses, and nonmarital intimate contacts. Each chapter works with fictional literature or narratives inspired by biography or myth, ranging from the Book of Esther to Kafka to memoirs of family life. The book is joined by a running commentary on "Madame Butterfly and variations on that story. These commentaries on variations on the Butterfly story that begin each chapter wonderfully exhibit the author's argument that fictional material better expresses the complexity of intimate lives than the crude simplicities of the law. The author looks at law from the outside, using narratives to provide a perspective on the issues of law and social structure--and individual responses to law. This book explores the relationships between the inner life and the public through an examination of what is ordinarily classified as the sphere of "private life," the world of family relationships.
This book will be of interest to scholars and practitioners concerned with families and the laws relating to marriage, divorce, and child abuse as well as to scholars interested in law and literature and the use of narratives to understand law.
Carol Weisbrod is Ellen Ash Peters Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law. She is a scholar of family law and the author of a recent text on family law as well as of numerous articles on family law and law and literature.

As the only area of law that is still commonly termed 'Islamic law', family law is one of the most sensitive and controversial legal areas in all Muslim-majority countries. Morocco and Jordan both issued new family codes in the 2000s, but there are a number of differences in the ways these two states engaged in reform. These include how the reform was carried out, the content of the new family codes, and the way the new laws are applied. Based on extensive fieldwork and rich in sources, this book examines why these two ostensibly similar semi-authoritarian regimes varied so significantly in their engagement with family law. Doerthe Engelcke demonstrates that the structure of the legal systems, shaped by colonial policies, had an effect on how reform processes were carried out as well as the content and the application of family law.

Taking a multi-disciplinary perspective, and one grounded in human rights, Unaccompanied young migrants explores in-depth the journeys migrant youths take through the UK legal and care systems. Arriving with little agency, what becomes of these children as they grow and assume new roles and identities, only to risk losing legal protection as they reach eighteen? Through international studies and crucially the voices of the young migrants themselves, the book examines the narratives they present and the frameworks of culture and legislation into which they are placed. It challenges existing policy and questions, from a social justice perspective, what the treatment of this group tells us about our systems and the cultural presuppositions on which they depend.

Pre-modern Muslim jurists drew a clear distinction between the nurturing and upkeep of children, or 'custody', and caring for the child's education, discipline, and property, known as 'guardianship'. Here, Ahmed Fekry Ibrahim analyzes how these two concepts relate to the welfare of the child, and traces the development of an Islamic child welfare jurisprudence akin to the Euro-American concept of the best interests of the child, enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Challenging Euro-American exceptionalism, he argues that child welfare played an essential role in agreements designed by early modern Egyptian judges and families, and that Egyptian child custody laws underwent radical transformations in the modern period. Focusing on a variety of themes, including matters of age and gender, the mother's marital status, and the custodian's lifestyle and religious affiliation, Ibrahim shows that there is an exaggerated gap between the modern concept of the best interests of the child and pre-modern Egyptian approaches to child welfare.

Conjugal Misconduct reveals the hidden history of controversial and legally contested marital arrangements in twentieth-century America. William Kuby examines the experiences of couples in unconventional unions and the legal and cultural backlash generated by a wide array of 'alternative' marriages. These include marriages established through personal advertisements and matchmaking bureaus, marriages that defied state eugenic regulations, hasty marriages between divorced persons, provisional and temporary unions referred to as 'trial marriages', racial intermarriages, and a host of other unions that challenged sexual and marital norms. In illuminating the tensions between those who set marriage policies and those who defied them, Kuby offers a fresh account of marriage's contested history, arguing that although marital nonconformists composed only a small minority of the population, their atypical arrangements nonetheless shifted popular understandings of marriage and consistently refashioned the legal parameters of the institution.

'With a red-hot hero and emotional, unforgettable storyline, Crownover delivers the goods' Lori Wilde, New York Times bestselling author From the New York Times bestselling author of the Marked Men series comes Jay Crownover's latest steamy Texan romance. Will Case and Aspen find their happy ending or are some grudges too much to overcome... 'This tense, sensual romance is chock full of headstrong, admirable characters who will appeal to romance and suspense fans alike' Publishers Weekly The last thing Case Lawton wants to do is help the woman who cost him everything, but maybe Aspen isn't the heartless lawyer he thought he knew... Case Lawton comes from a family of criminals. So as the sheriff of Loveless, Texas, he's determined to do everything by the book - until he's called to Aspen Barlow's office after a so-called break-in. Although he's uninterested in helping the lawyer who caused him to lose custody of his son, Case is surprised by the Aspen he finds there, and starts to question his long-held grudge... Aspen is scared for her life, and Case is her last hope for protection. But she knows that to get him on her side, she'll have to reveal the painful truth from all those years ago. Now, as they work together to track down a dangerous criminal, Case and Aspen have to learn to trust each other. And as the threats escalate, it becomes clear there's a thin line between love and hate... and soon there's nothing Case wouldn't do to keep her safe... Includes It's All About That Cowboy, a bonus novella by Carly Bloom! Readers are loving Jay Crownover's latest! 'A sultry, action-packed, wonderful addition to the Loveless, Texas series by Crownover that keeps you on your toes from start to finish, warms the heart, and definitely leaves you yearning for more' 5* reader review 'Pairing an angsty, steamy enemies-to-lovers romance with a twisty, turny suspense arc, Justified was a riveting love story....Justified is Jay Crownover at the top of her game' 5* reader review 'Justified is absolutely everything I love about Jay Crownover! Strong characters, some intrigue, some mystery, and a whole lot of sexiness make for a book I just did not want to put down!' 5* reader review Filled with heart, intrigue and cast of characters you'll fall for, don't miss out on the other titles in the Loveless, Texas series! Praise for Jay Crownover and the Loveless, Texas series: 'I'm in love with Loveless, TX!!' 5* reader review 'I always recommend any books written by Jay Crownover' 5* reader review 'I've never read a Jay Crownover book that I have not loved' 5* reader review 'Off the charts attraction, dramatic suspense, heartbreaking betrayal, deep emotion, and unforgettable romance will keep you turning the pages to the climactic end. Fans and new readers will devour this fantastic story. I couldn't put it down!' Jennifer Ryan, New York Times bestselling author 'Once again, Jay Crownover proves why her words are so addictive! Her characters bleed life so tangibly, you feel like you're drowning in the emotions: in the best way possible. Five big huge stars for Justified! Don't miss this page turner!' Harper Sloan, New York Times bestselling author

Although the 'Israeli case' of bioethics has been well documented, this book offers a novel understanding of Israeli bioethics that is a milestone in the comparative literature of bioethics. Bringing together a range of experts, the book's interdisciplinary structure employs a contemporary, sociopolitical-oriented approach to bioethics issues, with an emphasis on empirical analysis, that will appeal not only to scholars of bioethics, but also to students of law, medicine, humanities, and social sciences around the world. Its focus on the development of bioethics in Israel makes it especially relevant to scholars of Israeli society - both in and out of Israel - as well as medical practitioners and health policymakers in Israel.

Providing a panoramic and interdisciplinary perspective, this book explores the interrelations between globalization, borders, families and the law. It considers the role of international, multi-national and religious laws in shaping the lives of the millions of families that are affected by the opportunities and challenges created by globalization, and the ongoing resilience of national borders and cultural boundaries. Examining familial life-span stages - establishing spousal relations, raising children and being cared for in old age - Hacker demonstrates the fruitfulness in studying families beyond the borders of national family law, and highlights the relevance of immigration and citizenship law, public and private international law and other branches of law. This book provides a rich empirical description of families in our era. It is relevant not only to legal scholars and practitioners but also to scholars and students within the sociology of the family, globalization studies, border studies, immigration studies and gender studies.

The well-being of children should be a social priority, and should consider the family circumstances into which children are born. Putting Children's Interests First in US Family Law and Policy: With Power Comes Responsibility details the rise of a federal policy of 'sexual expressionism', which prioritizes adults' interests over children's welfare. It describes the costs to children in the areas of family structure and stability, and the federal programs attempting to ameliorate the situation of non-marital children. Offering a detailed empirical and ethical critique both of 'sexual expressionism' and of the related federal programs, this study will be of interest to scholars and activists supporting children, women and the poor.

Like many beliefs, religious views matter across an individual's life and the life cycle of a family - from birth to marriage, through child-rearing, and, eventually, death. This volume examines clashes over religious liberty within the personal realm of the family. Against swirling religious beliefs, secular values, and legal regulation, this volume offers a forward-looking examination of tensions between religious freedom and the state's protective function. Contributors unpack some of the Court's recent decisions and explain how they set the stage for ongoing disputes. They evaluate religious claims around birth control, circumcision, modesty, religious education, marriage, polygamy, shared parenting, corporal punishment, faith healing, divorce, and the end of life. Authors span legislators, attorneys, academics, journalists, ministers, physicians, child advocates, and representatives of minority faiths. The Contested Place of Religion in Family Law begins an overdue conversation on questions dividing the nation.

Conjugal Misconduct reveals the hidden history of controversial and legally contested marital arrangements in twentieth-century America. William Kuby examines the experiences of couples in unconventional unions and the legal and cultural backlash generated by a wide array of 'alternative' marriages. These include marriages established through personal advertisements and matchmaking bureaus, marriages that defied state eugenic regulations, hasty marriages between divorced persons, provisional and temporary unions referred to as 'trial marriages', racial intermarriages, and a host of other unions that challenged sexual and marital norms. In illuminating the tensions between those who set marriage policies and those who defied them, Kuby offers a fresh account of marriage's contested history, arguing that although marital nonconformists composed only a small minority of the population, their atypical arrangements nonetheless shifted popular understandings of marriage and consistently refashioned the legal parameters of the institution.

This book explores, through a children's rights-based perspective, the emergence of a safeguarding dystopia in child online protection that has emerged from a tension between an over-reliance in technical solutions and a lack of understanding around code and algorithm capabilities. The text argues that a safeguarding dystopia results in docile children, rather than safe ones, and that we should stop seeing technology as the sole solution to online safeguarding. The reader will, through reading this book, gain a deeper understanding of the current policy arena in online safeguarding, what causes children to beocme upset online, and the doomed nature of safeguarding solutions. The book also features a detailed analysis of issues surrounding content filtering, access monitoring, surveillance, image recognition, and tracking. This book is aimed at legal practitioners, law students, and those interested in child safeguarding and technology.

Despite increasing visibility of same-sex relationships in South Africa, there remains a distinct lack of research and public discussion around same-sex family practices and related legislative and social issues. This new collection of essays, interviews and images seeks to address this critical information gap by both capturing recent scholarship and documenting the challenges and experiences of same-sex partnered families. By bringing together work from diverse academic and professional disciplines - as well as visual materials from two recent exhibitions - this unique collection will play a crucial role in promoting further research into LGBTI families in South Africa. Topics covered include the theory and context of LGBTI families in South Africa; the legislative framework; media representations of same-sex families; assisted reproduction technology - challenges, experiences and understandings; parenting practices; disclosure practices within families; and intimate partner violence.

The well-being of children should be a social priority, and should consider the family circumstances into which children are born. Putting Children's Interests First in US Family Law and Policy: With Power Comes Responsibility details the rise of a federal policy of 'sexual expressionism', which prioritizes adults' interests over children's welfare. It describes the costs to children in the areas of family structure and stability, and the federal programs attempting to ameliorate the situation of non-marital children. Offering a detailed empirical and ethical critique both of 'sexual expressionism' and of the related federal programs, this study will be of interest to scholars and activists supporting children, women and the poor.

With over half of Americans now in favor of marriage equality, it is clear that societal norms of marriage are being quickly redefined. The growing belief that the state may not discriminate against gays and lesbians calls into question whether the state may limit other types of marital unions, including plural marriage. While much has been written about same-sex marriage, as of yet there has been no book-length legal treatment of unions among three or more individuals. The first major study on plural marriage and the law, In Defense of Plural Marriage begins to fill this lacuna in the scholarly literature. Ronald C. Den Otter shows how the constitutional arguments that support the option of plural marriage are stronger than those against. Ultimately, he proposes a new semi-contractual marital model that would provide legal recognition for a wide range of intimate relationships.

This book expands our understanding of a growing, yet largely unstudied phenomenon: the flow of children across borders through intercountry adoption. What explains the spread of intercountry adoption through the international system over time? McBride investigates the interconnected networks of states, individuals, and adoption agencies that have collaborated to develop the practice of intercountry adoption we see today. This book tells the story of how adoption agencies mediate between individuals and states in two ways: first by teaching states about intercountry adoption as a policy, and second by helping states implement intercountry adoption as a practice. McBride argues that this process of states learning about intercountry adoption from adoption agencies has facilitated the global development of the practice in the past seventy years.

The Western tradition has always cherished the family as an essential foundation of a just and orderly society, and thus accorded it special legal and religious protection. Christianity embraced this teaching from the start, and many of the basics of Western family law were shaped by the Christian theologies of nature, sacrament, and covenant. This volume introduces readers to the enduring and evolving Christian norms and teachings on betrothals and weddings; marriage and divorce; women's and children's rights; marital property and inheritance; and human sexuality and intimate relationships. The chapters are authoritatively written but accessible to college and graduate students and scholars, as well as clergy and laity. While alert to the hot button issues of sexual liberty today, the contributing authors let the historical figures speak for themselves about what Christianity has and can contribute to the protection and guidance of our most intimate association.

This book provides a comparative account of the abolition of concubinage in East Asia, offering a new perspective and revised analysis of the factors leading to - and the debates surrounding - the introduction of a new Marriage Reform Ordinance in Hong Kong in 1971. It uses this law as a platform to examine how the existence of concubinage - long preserved in the name of protecting Chinese traditions and customs - crucially influenced family law reforms, which were in response to a perceived need to create a 'modern' marriage system within Hong Kong's Chinese community after the Second World War. This was, by and large, the result of continued pressure from within Hong Kong and from Britain to bring Hong Kong's marriage system in line with international marriage treaties. It represented one of the last significant intrusions of colonial law into the private sphere of Hong Kong social life, eliminating Chinese customs which had been previously recognised by the colonial legal system's family law. This book contextualizes the Hong Kong situation by examining judicial cases interpreting Chinese customs and the Great Qing Code, offering a comprehensive understanding of the Hong Kong situation in relation to the status of concubines in Republican China and other East Asian jurisdictions. It will be of particular interest to teachers and students of law, as well as researchers in gender studies, post-colonialism, sociology and cultural studies.

Families in Europe are increasingly shaped by the mobility of persons and multicultural backgrounds. This book is focusing on the protection of children in cross-border situations. What are the fundamental rights of children in transnational families, what is in their 'best interest', and how can their rights be safeguarded? There is much controversy on these rights and the accompanying uncertainty has resulted in considerable practical difficulties for those trying to implement them. In order to provide a clearer scope and insights into the nature of children's fundamental rights and their best interests, this book examines solutions provided by both EU and international law to the questions raised by the increasing incidence of transnational families as regards the protection of minors. It covers both substantive and conflict-of-laws rules. Differences in the substantive family laws of Member States still prevent an effective protection of the child or its family unit. This includes cases of migration, asylum, forced marriage, kafalah, but also rainbow families. Further, the role of human rights (mutual recognition of status and surrogacy agreements, adoption) and procedural rights (child abduction, Brussels II bis recast) in cross-border cases must be considered carefully. Fundamental Rights and the Best Interest of the Child in Transnational Families is a timely work on the implementation of the child's interests in the EU and covers the most relevant topics emerging from the rapid internationalisation of child and family law and from the increased mobility of families.

The International Society of Family Law is an independent, international, and non-political scholarly association dedicated to the study, research and discussion of family law and related disciplines. The Society's membership currently includes professors, lecturers, scholars, teachers, and researchers from more than 50 different countries, offering a unique opportunity for networking within a truly international family law community.The International Survey of Family Law is the annual review of the International Society of Family Law. It brings together reliable and clearly structured insights into the latest and most notable developments in family law from all around the globe. Chapters are prepared by an international team of selected experts in the field, usually covering 20 or more jurisdictions in each edition.

Jill Elaine Hasday's Intimate Lies and the Law won the Scribes Book Award from the American Society of Legal Writers "for the best work of legal scholarship published during the previous year" and the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award for Family and Relationships. Intimacy and deception are often entangled. People deceive to lure someone into a relationship or to keep her there, to drain an intimate's bank account or to use her to acquire government benefits, to control an intimate or to resist domination, or to capture myriad other advantages. No subject is immune from deception in dating, sex, marriage, and family life. Intimates can lie or otherwise intentionally mislead each other about anything and everything. Suppose you discover that an intimate has deceived you and inflicted severe-even life-altering-financial, physical, or emotional harm. After the initial shock and sadness, you might wonder whether the law will help you secure redress. But the legal system refuses to help most people deceived within an intimate relationship. Courts and legislatures have shielded this persistent and pervasive source of injury, routinely denying deceived intimates access to the remedies that are available for deceit in other contexts. Intimate Lies and the Law is the first book that systematically examines deception in intimate relationships and uncovers the hidden body of law governing this duplicity. Hasday argues that the law has placed too much emphasis on protecting intimate deceivers and too little importance on helping the people they deceive. The law can and should do more to recognize, prevent, and redress the injuries that intimate deception can inflict.

A Guide to America's Sex Laws is the first concise compendium of the nation's sex laws. It summarizes the laws regulating personal sexual activity, revealing gaps, anachronisms, anomalies, inequalities, and irrationalities, and providing an empirical basis for studies of sexual regulation. Judge Richard A. Posner and Katharine B. Silbaugh cover broadly defined areas of regulation, providing background and definitions and placing the laws in their historical and constitutional context. From Alabama to Wyoming, this informative and fascinating reference book will be an essential resource. It takes only a few minutes with A Guide to [America's] Sex to realize that the nation's laws governing what two consenting adults can do with one another are an odd jumble.--Eric Fidler, San Diego Commerce Especially noteworthy is how laws governing various sexual activities vary from state to state.--Library Journal Fascinating and often surprising facts are concisely documented and conveniently organized in A Guide.--Carlin Meyer, New York Law Journal

Societies and states are at a crossroad in how children are treated and how their rights are respected and protected. Childrens new position and their strong rights create tensions and challenge the traditional relationships between family and the state. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted unanimously by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1989 and came into force in 1990. Article 2 places states under an obligation to accord primacy to the best interests of the child in all actions concerning children and to ensure and regulate child protection. This book offers a comparative and critical analysis of the implementation of Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In order to examine how Article 2 is being implemented, it is essential to have a sound understanding of the obligations it emposes. The opening chapters will explore the precise content of these obligations in terms of the legislative history of the text, its underlying philosophy, its amplification by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, and subsequent authoritative interpretations of it by courts around the world. The book will then drill down into the conceptual and theoretical challenges posed by the very nature of the obligations and will offer in-depth exploration of the long-running 'rights v welfare' debate that has always presented something of a challenge in giving effect to children's rights. Contributors are leading academics in the children's rights field drawn from a wide range of countries and jurisdictions worldwide, including those with common law, civilian and mixed traditions. Disciplines represented in the book include law, psychology, political science, childhood studies, social work and anthropology. By drawing together the various facets of Article 2 and analysing it from a range of perspectives, the volume provides a coherent and comprehensive inter-disciplinary analysis on discrimination and the rights of the child.

Most people believe that parents have rights to direct their children's education and upbringing. But why? What grounds those rights? How broad is their scope? Can we defend parental rights against those who believe we need more extensive state educational control to protect children's autonomy or prepare them for citizenship in a diverse society? Amid heated debates over issues like sexual education, diversity education and vouchers, Moschella cuts to the heart of the matter, explaining why education is primarily the responsibility of parents, not the state. Rigorously argued yet broadly accessible, the book offers a principled case for expanding school choice and granting exemptions when educational programs or regulations threaten parents' ability to raise their children in line with their values. Philosophical argument is complemented with psychological and social scientific research showing that robust parental rights' protections are crucial for the well-being of parents, children and society as a whole.