Children's Bill of Rights

I have been thinking about this for awhile now and getting my thoughts together. Society says that it does all these things to "protect" children, yet we fail them over and over. My job has taught me that while we think of the "best interests of the child" really they are a passing thought.

The US Constitution speaks of all "men" being created equal. The Constitution has been construed to give limited rights to children. The way to improve on the limited rights provided by the Constitution, is to expand the rights through the states. I want to draw up a children's bill of rights.

When the state goes through the process of terminating parental rights, the state is careful not to infringe on the fundamental rights enjoyed by adults through the 14th Amendment: the right to procreate, the right to choose who associates with your child, the right to marry [or not], the right to chose medical treatment for your child. We focus so much on parents, that the children, the vulnerable with no voice, are neglected.

Think about this: Mother is on meth. She is pregnant and delivers. Baby is taken by the state at birth and placed in foster care. For the first 15 months of his/her life, she is raised by a medically certified foster home. The state offers numerous services to the parent, but the parent remains on drugs......After 15 months, the state decides to terminate the rights of mom, and moves for a trial. The state starts looking for an adoptive placement. It takes 6 months to get to trial. Mother appeals. Takes 6-9 months for appeal to happen. Mother is denied. Somewhere in the six months for trial, adoptive home is found. Child is now 2, and presumably bonded to foster family. And now the state expects the child to be happy about being ripped for the only home she has known and placed with strangers. But all in all, in order to preserve the mother's constitutional rights, this child's life is placed in uncertainty for 2 whole years.

What about a child's rights? The right to be protected, to live in a loving home, to be in a household that is drug, crime, and sex offender free. How about the right to a speedy determination and trial if they are to be taken from their parents by the state and adopted out? What about the right to stability [financial and emotional]. What about the right to have their own voice?

I don't know how this bill of rights will shape up, but it will eventually. Parents who are addicts, sex offenders, abusers, and so on-------they should not have children who will become victims to the cycle that they perpertrate. Kids do not ask to be born. And they should not have to be asked to be protected.

Happy Birthday

I am the Aunt to a brand new baby girl named Brooklyn Grace. I skipped my classes today, but ironically enough, the birth room looks out over my campus....so there really was no getting away from school today. She is a beautiful tiny one, weighing in at 5 lbs, 8 oz. The miracle of life never ceases to astound me. And how she comes out of her mother's womb, knowing her mother's voice and knowing her mother's scent is mindboggling.

So, a toast to Brooklyn...May you grow to be a strong woman full of grace and integrity.

Blogs by some of the professors I have had......

So blogging is a thing for professors as well. You want to know what is near and dear to their hearts, and maybe get into their minds for exams? Who doesn't....so read their blogs or find their law review articles. Either are useful for figuring out what the exam will be like.

Professor Standen's passion? Sports Law. Who knew?

Professor Appleman.....I could not find a specific blog for her, but type her name and see that she is active on SEVERAL blogs........here is a link to one: Legal Ethics.

Professor Williams...also a contributor to a legal theory blog.

Professor Runkel....Law Memo.

KCP....no blog found, but some published law review article info......Abstract.

Okay, enough for now. Maybe I will add to later. But seriously, part of writing that winning exam is to get in the heads of your professors. Every little bit counts!

Ethics?

I had an extremely distressing experience in class this week. We had an attorney in one of my classes this week who was a guest lecturer. While he was describing a real trial he did that day he made statements that pointed out that he had failed to report child abuse [as an officer of the court you are a mandated reporter] and he used threat of punishment of a crime as a means to settle a custody dispute. What bothers me the most is that he thinks he did nothing wrong. At first I thought it was just me, but I talked to other students and they were bothered as well.

Next, I talked to my boss who is a mandatory reporter as well and practices in the family law section. As I explained she said that he had breached his duty and by using an inferred threat to settle, he committed a crime.

Now I am left with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. This attorney is well respected in this community. I am going to do what I know is right, but the hard part of being "ethical" and doing right, is knowing that there could be retaliation or consequences...............As a student you always hear about those slimy attorney's who give all attorney's a bad name----you just never think you are going to have one guest lecturing in your class!

This Semester

This semester promises to be a time of actual usefulness! So much of law school is abstract theory with no practice. What this means for the law student is that when you get out of school, and pass the bar, you have to LEARN how to actually practice law! You have to learn to draft motions, petitions, affadavits and so on.....It's very frusterating. Here is the recaps of the classes:

Family Law: Theory course, but very practical because we learn about dividing property and divorce. Something that I did not realize is how much federal law mandates family law in different states. Should prove to be interesting.

Employment Law: This class is about the employee-employer relationship. Basically we will study the "at will presumption" and then discrimination in the workplace. I was surprised to hear what a growing field of law this is.

Criminal Procedure: This is about the restrictions on police action. So far this class is fascinating and makes you think about what powers a police officer actually has to make stops, to complete seizures, to question you. Also, since it is taught by my FAVORITE professor and she is once again keeping me entertained with her dry wit and humor, I am in my element.

Legislation: The professor is a sitting appellate court judge in my state. He is a genuinely nice man. And he brings a passion about the subject matter. This course is useful. We are learning how to actually interpret a statute [something that some courses take a passing blow at trying to teach you] and we will learn to construct statutes. This is something that every law student should know how to do.

Oregon Family Law: This could possibly be the most useful outside of trial practice, that I will take in my law school journey. We have been assigned a spouse, and we are analyze and file petitions, motions, affadavits, trial memos, and general judgments of dissolution. This is a course in how to practice law, something that is rare in law school. The course is being taught by a practicing divorce attorney, so that makes it even more useful!

I finally feel as if I am learning about things that interest me in the fields that I want to practice. Which for once feels darn good!

What type of law?

Everytime I tell someone that I am a law student, I get this cautious, "What type of law?" I have said prosecution in the past. The next response is, "Well, good, as long as you don't do defense." And honestly, as I have posted before, I have always felt kind of sick in the stomach when thinking about doing defense work. But since the Don Turner competition, I have really been thinking hard.

Our legal system is unique. We are one of the few country's with attorney-client privledge. The only country who can plead the fifth. We are the only country that limits the power of the police to search whereever and whenever they want. We have a beautiful, enduring Constitution. A Constitution in which our founding fathers, whom I respect deeply, had the foresight to grant the right of the accused to confront thier accusors and the right to a jury trial in criminal proceedings [also rare in other societies.] I believe this nation is the best country for law and order.

So, if I believe in this then I have to believe that an accused has the right to council, otherwise, how would the system work effectively? It wouldn't. Do guilty people go free from the work of defense council? Why yes.....look at OJ Simpson's first crime spree [although he was convicted after his more recent brush with the law]. But simply put, Innocent people are convicted as well. Innocent people are placed on death row. The system is imperfect, but for it to work correctly, the defendant must have adequate council to mount a defense.

I may not like everything that happens, particularly when violent offenders are not punished, but defense attorney's safeguard the constitution. Maybe more than any other attorney's do. They are the ones that are the gatekeepers and check on power within the system. Only 3-5% of all crimes go to trial. The rest are plead out at the DA's instigation. The defense's job is to make sure that the power that the DA has is used correctly. That is an honorable and important job.

Here I go again....

No, not that awful 80's Whitesnake song.......the real deal. Class starts tomorrow. For some reason I don't think I am going to be able to sleep. I actually love the professors and classes I have this term (go figure) and I feel like a kid the night before Christmas [sick, huh?]. The classes I am taking will be useful for me in the future.

I also feel like I have a rockin' schedule...... only 2 classes per day and they are back to back, so I am not at the school all day long. On MWF, I will work, and T-Th's I will just do school.

New semesters are fun for me. It's like a clean, new slate where you get to start over. I am not sure why like them so much, but I do......

Reading for my first two classes taught me that I am really going to like Employment Law and Family Law [at least the textbooks]. Both the textbooks take a very sociological look at what work is to society and what family is to society. It looks like the authors continue to revisit these issues. And as a sociology minor, I dig this kind of stuff.