Volume 8, Spring 2011, Issue 3
HOW MARRIAGE BECAME OPTIONAL: COHABITATION, GENDER, AND THE EMERGING FUNCTIONAL NORMS
J. Herbie DiFonzo
In 1953, sociologist Ray E. Baber confidently asserted that the “opportunity which marriage affords for constant and complete companionship with the person most loved, with the full sanction of society, is its greatest single attraction.” Another mid-20th century text, Paul H. Landis’ “Making the Most of Marriage”, referred to the “long-accepted idea that marriage is the natural state for adults.” Landis noted that marriage “has a more prominent place in both our aspirations and realizations than ever before in American history.” His sociology text equated marriage with the drive to establish family life. Several headings in his chapter on “Needs Fulfilled by Marriage” reflected the era’s rock-solid perception that true love and family life always commence at the altar: “Marriage Meets the Need for Love and Emotional Security”; “Marriage Meets the Need for Status and Appreciation for Personal Worth”; “Marriage Answers the Need for Companionship”; and “Marriage Meets the Physiosexual Need for Response.” View More
Marie Gryphon
Although the American justice system is derided as expensive, capricious, and prone to abuse, Americans go to court more often—and more expensively—than any other people in the world. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of reducing the incidence of what I will call “abusive litigation” in the United States by replacing the so-called “American rule” requiring each party to a lawsuit to pay her own attorneys, win or lose, with a “loser pays rule,” according to which the losing party to a civil suit must pay the winner’s reasonably incurred legal fees. Loser pays is the default rule for payment of attorney’s fees in the vast majority of foreign legal systems. View More
WELFARE, INCOME DETECTION, AND THE SHADOW ECONOMY
Drew A. Swank
In the spring of 2009 a humorous parody of the MasterCard Credit Card Company advertising campaign circulated on the Internet, showing an actual photograph of the first lady, Michelle Obama, volunteering at a soup kitchen, having her picture taken by a man waiting in line with his cell phone. View More
THE CENTRAL REGISTRY STATUTE FOR ABUSE AND NEGLECT MATTERS IS CONSTITUTIONALLY FLAWED
W. Todd Miller
This discussion identifies two perceived flaws with the Central Registry (Registry) maintained by the Department of Children and Families (DCF). I contend that the Registry statute 1) must allow proof of rehabilitation; and 2) intentionally or unintentionally deems parents perpetually unfit to care for children without the necessary proofs to reach such a destructive determination. View More