LAW 532 - Children’s Rights

One of the most dynamic areas of legal theory today, children’s rights is a fascinating lens through which to reexamine fundamental principles about rights more generally and larger moral and legal questions: What beings are capable of possessing rights? At what point in their lives do they become right holders-before birth, at birth, upon developing certain capacities? What reasons does the legal system have for ascribing rights to anyone? What do rights protect - choices, interests, something else? Should everyone have the same rights? Or should equal rights for all at least be a presumptive starting point for legal analysis? In this class we will address these questions in the course of examining the law governing fundamental aspects of children’s lives. Specific topics will include abortion, maternal substance abuse during pregnancy, how states identify and protect newborns from unfit birth parents, prison nurseries, barriers to adoption domestically (including race and religion matching and the Indian Child Welfare Act) and internationally, corporal punishment within the family and in schools, parental religious objection to medical care, cults, homeschooling, regulation and financing of religious schools, students’ rights of expression, and the right to vote. Students in this class will write a 10-15 page paper on a topic of their choice; no exam.