This bibliography covers law review articles published, for the most part, after 2009. Articles for which the title is self-explanatory or that concern only a single case, state, or statute are cited, but not annotated.

Multicultural Issues in Family Law: An Annotated Bibliography

This bibliography covers private international law or conflict of laws in a broad sense. In particular, it covers judicial or adjudicatory jurisdiction, prescriptive jurisdiction, choice of forum, choice of law, federal-state conflicts, recognition and enforcement of sister-state and foreign-country judgments, extraterritoriality, arbitration and related topics. It includes books and law journal articles published in English during 2012. It does not include articles or essays published in books (as opposed to journals), or writings appearing only in electronic form.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2207023_code109467.pdf?abstractid=2204138&mirid=4

Private International Law Bibliography 2012:U.S. And Foreign Sources in English

This is the Twenty-Sixth Annual Survey of American Choice-of-Law Cases. It is intended as a service to fellow teachers and students of conflicts law, in the United States and abroad. Of the 4,300 cases decided in 2012 by state and federal courts, this Survey reviews 1,225 appellate cases, focusing on those cases that may contribute something new to the development or understanding of conflicts law, particularly choice of law. Highlights include: ▸ Numerous cases exemplifying the valiant efforts of state courts, and some lower federal courts, to protect consumers, employees, and other presumptively weak parties from the Supreme Court’s ever-expanding interpretation of the Federal Arbitration Act; ▸ A few cases enforcing choice-of-law clauses unfavorable to their drafters, and many more cases involving deadly combinations of choice-of-law and choice-of-forum clauses; ▸ Several interesting products liability cases, and other tort conflicts, including maritime torts and workers’ compensation claims by professional football players; ▸ The first appellate case interpreting the recent amendments of the anti-terrorism exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act (FSIA); ▸ The first cases holding unconstitutional the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA); ▸ A Massachusetts case holding that an undissolved Vermont same-sex union was an impediment to a subsequent same-sex marriage in Massachusetts; ▸ An Arizona case holding that a Canadian same-sex marriage was against Arizona’s public policy, but — unlike other cases — also holding that the trial court had jurisdiction to annul the marriage and divide the parties’ property; ▸ The first case in decades upholding a foreign marriage by proxy; ▸ A case upholding, on First Amendment grounds, an injunction against Oklahoma’s “Anti-Shari’a” Amendment; and ▸ A case refusing to recognize a Japanese divorce, custody, and child support judgment rendered in a bilateral proceeding because the husband did not receive notice of a subsequent guardianship proceeding.

Choice of Law in the American Courts in 2012: Twenty-Sixth Annual Survey

Introduction I. Are States Required to Give Full Faith and Credit to Valid Adoptions in Sister States? A. The Full Faith and Credit Clause, Its Limitations, and Its Interplay with the Effects Clause 1. The Difference Between Full Faith and Credit Due Judgments and Statutory Laws 2. "Public Policy Exceptions" to the Full Faith and Credit Clause 3. The Difference Between Recognition and Enforcement of Sister States' Judgments 4. The Effects Clause B. Full Faith and Credit and Adoption by Same-Sex Couples II. Recognition in Oklahoma and Enforcement in Louisiana: A Conflict Between the Tenth and Fifth Circuits A. Finstuen v. Crutcher B. Adar v. Smith C. Circuit Split III. Congress Should Pass an Act that Will Protect the Parental Rights of Same-Sex Adoptive Parents A. Judicial Solution: All Circuits Should Follow the Tenth Circuit B. Legislative Solution: Congress Should Pass a "Protection of Adopted Children Act" Conclusion INTRODUCTION Lucy and Jennifer Doel legally adopted a baby in California in 2002. (1) While living in Oklahoma, where their child was born, Lucy and Jennifer requested an amended birth certificate with both of their names listed as "parents." (2) This request was denied for public policy reasons, as Oklahoma does not permit same-sex couples to adopt children, so only Lucy Doel was listed on the birth certificate as the child's mother. (3) Although a birth certificate is not supposed to confer parental rights, (4) Jennifer was not permitted to accompany her child at the hospital during a medical emergency, and only "the mother" (Lucy) was allowed access to their sick daughter. (5) Thus, the denial of an amended birth certificate deprived Jennifer of an important parental right--the ability to visit her child in the hospital and make medical decisions for the child she legally adopted. Jennifer and Lucy were eventually awarded an amended birth certificate by the Tenth Circuit, (6) but other parents have not been so lucky. Oren Adar and Mickey Smith were denied an amended birth certificate by the Fifth Circuit, which held that their valid New York adoption did not have to be "enforced" by Louisiana's Registrar. (7) The court reasoned that amending the child's birth certificate with both men's names listed as parents was not recognition, but enforcement of their valid adoption. (8) While the Fifth Circuit argues that "birth certificates are merely 'identity documents that evidence ... the existing parent-child relationships, but do not create them,'" (9) there are no guarantees that Mr. Adar and Mr. Smith would be able to visit their child in the hospital, make major medical decisions for him, or have any of the other rights guaranteed to adoptive parents in the Fifth Circuit, simply because they are a same-sex couple. (10) This not only affects the rights of Mr. Adar and Mr. Smith, but, more importantly, the rights of their adopted child. Much of the recent national dialogue has revolved around whether or not same-sex couples should be permitted to marry. (11) While gay marriage advocates are winning significant victories throughout the country, (12) there is another even more immediate issue to address. Right now in the United States, many same-sex couples, married or not, are raising their own families. Approximately seventeen percent of same-sex couples are raising children, (13) and approximately 65,000 of the children being raised by same-sex couples are adopted. (14) Although the rights of same-sex adoptive parents remain in the shadow of the gay marriage debate, it is crucial that a focus be placed on protecting existing families. Yet, because of the varying state laws on adoptions by same-sex couples, this is not so simple. Normally, sister states are required to recognize the "public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other state" through the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution. …

Lauren Lombardo

Papers

Does Heather Have Two Mommies? the Importance of Full Faith and Credit Recognition for Adoptions by Same-Sex Couples