Protecting the Parental Rights of Incarcerated Mothers Whose Children are in Foster Care: Proposed Changes to New York\u27s Terminaton of Parental Rights Law

This Article examines the parental rights of incarcerated mothers under New York\u27s foster care and termination of parental rights laws. It describes the foster care system in New York, the grounds for a termination of parental rights proceeding, and the problems that persist despite New York\u27s legislative reforms. After examining these problems, the author proposes several legislative solutions, which include: (1) improving incarcerated parents\u27 access to court proceedings; and (2) requiring social services agencies and prison officials to provide the services necessary to maintain and strengthen the parents\u27 parental relationships. This Article concludes that, while New York has enacted legislation that recognizes the special needs of incarcerated parents whose children are in foster care, further legislation is necessary to address the problems that remain unresolved

Taking Stock and Moving Forward to Improve Prison Visitation Practices: A Response to Prison Visitation Policies: A Fifty-State Survey

Prison Visitation Policies: A Fifty-State Survey is a wonderful resource. The authors\u27 painstaking research has resulted in a dataset of immense importance. In addition, the authors have gone beyond simply describing their findings and have highlighted some of the issues they believe to be most significant. The authors express the hope that their work will both provide a useful body of information and be a catalyst for the research of others. An additional goal, already accomplished to some extent, is that the compilation and presentation of information from all of the states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons will encourage the administrators of the prison systems in these jurisdictions to engage with and learn from each other, thereby improving prison visitation policies throughout the United States

Damage to Family Relationships as a Collateral Consequence of Parental Incarceration

A review of available statistical information shows the irreversible and detrimental impact on parents and children of family separation due to imprisonment. Specifically, it looks to data on parental incarceration, the impact of incarceration upon families, and the difficulties of remedying the consequences to families of parental incarceration. Finally, the Article argues that alternatives to imprisonment should be used where the parent is not subject to high security confinement and that the parental role should be a relevant factor in sentencing

Phytotoxicity of four photosystem II herbicides to tropical seagrasses

Coastal waters of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) are contaminated with agricultural pesticides, including the photosystem II (PSII) herbicides which are the most frequently detected at the highest concentrations. Designed to control weeds, these herbicides are equally potent towards non-target marine species, and the close proximity of seagrass meadows to flood plumes has raised concerns that seagrasses may be the species most threatened by herbicides from runoff. While previous work has identified effects of PSII herbicides on the photophysiology, growth and mortality in seagrass, there is little comparative quantitative toxicity data for seagrass. Here we applied standard ecotoxicology protocols to quantify the concentrations of four priority PSII herbicides that inhibit photochemistry by 10, 20 and 50% (IC, IC and IC) over 72 h in two common seagrass species from the GBR lagoon. The photosystems of seagrasses Zostera muelleri and Halodule uninervis were shown to be generally more sensitive to the PSII herbicides Diuron, Atrazine, Hexazinone and Tebuthiuron than corals and tropical microalgae. The herbicides caused rapid inhibition of effective quantum yield ({increment}F/F′), indicating reduced photosynthesis and maximum effective yields (F/F) corresponding to chronic damage to PSII. The PSII herbicide concentrations which affected photosynthesis have been exceeded in the GBR lagoon and all of the herbicides inhibited photosynthesis at concentrations lower than current marine park guidelines. There is a strong likelihood that the impacts of light limitation from flood plumes and reduced photosynthesis from PSII herbicides exported in the same waters would combine to affect seagrass productivity. Given that PSII herbicides have been demonstrated to affect seagrass at environmental concentrations, we suggest that revision of environmental guidelines and further efforts to reduce PSII herbicide concentrations in floodwaters may both help protect seagrass meadows of the GBR from further decline