New laws put kids first; reforms stress protection over preserving families
Article Abstract:
Many politicians and child advocates are realizing that family preservation at all costs is not always the best approach. The basis of this approach is the assumption that children do best with their birth parents and that social services can train parents to be satisfactory caregivers. Statistics bely this, though. According to the National Center on Child Abuse Prevention Research, 45% of the 3,581 children known killed by a parent between 1992 and 1994 were killed after the families had been brought to the attention of social services. Child molesters and abusers can probably not be helped by family preservation services.
Publication Name: ABA Journal
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0747-0088
Year: 1996
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Divorced dads challenge tuition law: Pa. statute allows court to order former spouses to pay college expenses
Article Abstract:
Several legislative and judicial assaults may make it harder for children of divorced parents to get parental funding for college tuition. The PA Supreme Court recently heard two consolidated cases brought by fathers disputing a state law requiring them to pay, though appellate courts in IL, IN, IA, NH, and WA have upheld similar laws. Foes say the laws violate Fourteenth Amendment guarantees to equal protection. Even voluntary agreements to pay, signed at the time of the divorce, are proving often unenforceable.
Publication Name: ABA Journal
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0747-0088
Year: 1995
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
The price of speaking out; Americans expressing views on public issues increasingly face lawsuits brought by adversaries. But now they are fighting back with legislation and lawsuits of their own
Article Abstract:
People who file lawsuits against government abuses are increasingly finding themselves the targets of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). Issues involving zoning, land use and real estate development comprise the largest category of SLAPPs. Most such suits are dismissed with time but threaten the idea of participatory democracy. Those fighting a SLAPP should move for dismissal on petition-clause grounds.
Publication Name: ABA Journal
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0747-0088
Year: 1996
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Few like pollution guidelines; business "up in arms" over proposed fines for corporate environmental crimes. 27th Amendment ratified; congressional vote ends debate over 203-year-old pay-raise proposal
- Abstracts: ViewPlan offers several programs to meet practitioners' estate planning software needs
- Abstracts: Oklahoma libel case puts tort reform movement on trial: trial lawyers sue group over articles in newsletter. Evangelist is suing 6 lawyers; claims libel and refuses to turn other cheek
- Abstracts: Canadian labor policy as a model for legislative reform in the United States. The form and frequency of union mergers
- Abstracts: U.S. law firms in U.K. face a risk of new taxes; revolutionary change in U.K. law may increase compliance costs