Family Law
Fall 2005
Professor Edward Stein
Class hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 1:30 pm -2:25 pm
My Office: Room 510
Phone: 212-790-0269
Email: ed@edstein.com
Office Hours: Mondays 11 am to 12 noon and Thursdays 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
All course materials will be made available on the course’s ANGEL web site. Using
this “paperless” case book saves you money and to provides more up-to-date material. If
you have problems logging on to your ANGEL account, please contact a reference
librarian or email Lynn Wishart at wishart@yu.edu.
Course Description: This course examines federal and state laws concerning familial
relationships (broadly construed). The course focuses on legal familial relations between
adults, specifically: who can get married; the rights, duties, and obligations of marriage;
the state’s interest in marriage; the dissolution of marriages; the distribution of property
upon dissolution; various jurisdictional issues relating to marriage; and the arrangements
between divorced parents regarding the custody, support and visitation of children. The
course also considers alternatives to marriage and the relationship between families and
race and gender, respectively. Special attention will be paid to policy-based and
theoretical questions about families.
Course Mechanics: All students are expected to do all the assigned reading for every
class, to attend class regularly and to be prepared to participate in class discussion. Class
attendance and participation will be part of each student’s grade for the semester.
During each class, I will call on students at random. If I call on you and you are
unprepared, please say so. Your lack of preparation will be noted and you can expect to
be called on sometime in the next two or three classes. I will also on occasion take
attendance in class. In addition, I encourage students with questions or comments to
“voluntarily” participate. “Voluntary” class participation in class discussion will count
towards one’s class participation grade.
There will be a final exam. I will discuss the form and mechanics for the final exam in
the latter part of the semester. If you wish to get a sense of the likely form of my exam,
you can look at the exams I gave when I taught family law in the past. These exams will
be available on the course’s ANGEL web site.
Schedule: Note this is the syllabus for the first three weeks of the class. A more
complete syllabus will be distributed by the first day of class. The syllabus that follows
is tentative; changes may be made during the semester. Any changes in the readings for
each class will be announced in advance in class and on ANGEL.
I. Introduction
Aug 29: Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health, 798 N.E.2d 941 (Mass. 2003)
II. Marriage
A. The Fundamental Right to Marry
Aug 30: re-read Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health, 798 N.E.2d 941 (Mass. 2003)
Pace v. Alabama, 106 U.S. 583 (1883)
Naim v. Naim, 87 S.E.2d 749 (Virginia 1955)
Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
Aug 31: Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U.S. 374 (1978)
Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987)
Keeney v. Heath, 57 F.3d 579 (7th Cir. 1995)
B. What Is a Family?
Sep 6: Village of Belle Terre v. Boras, 416 U.S. 1 (1974)
Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
Overton v. Bazzetta, 539 U.S. 126 (2003)
Sep 7: Penobscot Area Housing Development Corp. v. City of Brewer, 434 A.2d 14
(Maine 1981)
Borough of Glassboro v. Vallorosi , 568 A.2d 888 (New Jersey 1990)
Braschi v. Stahl Associates Company, 543 N.E.2d 49 (New York 1989)
C. The Doctrine of Family Privacy
Sep 8: McGuire v. McGuire (Nebraska 1953)
Griswold v. Conn, 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
Lawrence v. Texas, 123 S. Ct. 2472 (U.S. 2003)
D. Gender and Challenges to the Traditional Marriage Model
Sep 13: Bradwell v. Illinois, 83 U.S. 130 (1873)
Mackenzie v. Hare, 239 U.S. 299 (1915)
Dunn v. Palermo, 55 S.W. 2d 679 (Tennessee 1975)
Orr v. Orr, 440 U.S. 268 (1979)
Nguyen v. INS, 533 U.S. 53 (2001)
E. The Benefits and Responsibilities of Marriage
1. Tort Claims Involving Spouses
Sep 14: Hoye v. Hoye, 824 S.W.2d 422 (Kentucky 1992)
Gilbert v. Barkes, 987 S.W.2d 772 (Kentucky 1999)
Osborne v. Payne, 31 S.W.2d 911 (Kentucky 2000)
Hutelmyer v. Cox, 514 S.E.2d 554 (N.C. App. 1999)
Sep 15: Romero v. Byers, 872 P.2d 840 (New Mexico 1994)
Boone v. Boone, 546 S.E.2d 191 (S.C. 2001)
G.L v. M.L., 550 A.2d 525 (N.J. Super. Ct. 1988)
Dunphy v. Gregor, 642 A.2d 374 (N.J. 1994)
2. Testimonial Privileges
Sep 20: Trammel v. United States, 445 U.S. 40 (1980)
United States v. Estes, 793 F.2d 465 (1986)
People v. Fields, 38 A.D.2d 231 (New York 1972)
People v. Fields, 289 N.E.2d 557 (New York 1972)
Handout on Spousal Communications