At the Intersection of Bankruptcy and Divorce: Property Division Debts Under the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994

Bankruptcy has long had unique implications for divorce settlements and debts between ex-spouses. Historically, some marital debts owed from one ex-spouse to another were excepted from the traditional policy of discharge. Bankruptcy law distinguished between debts in the nature of alimony, maintenance, and support, which were protected from discharge, and property division debts, which were not. This distinction often had harsh consequences for creditor ex-spouses. Reeently, Congress enacted the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, in part to ameliorate this problem. The amended Bankruptcy Code providP..s better protection for some property division debts. In this Note, Ms. Johnson argues that the new amendments, while certainly a conscientious enhancement of the Bankruptcy Code\u27s previously inadequate protection for marital debts, are in need of clarification. She locates several problems in these new amendments, and recommends specific guidelines to the National Bankruptcy Review Commission. Ms. Johnson canvasses legal commentary on the new legislation and suroeys contemporary case law to demonstrate that myriad difficulties exist in the application of the new section 523(a)(15)(B) balancing test created lly the Reform Act. She argues that the test encourages excessive flexibility and subjectivity. The balancing function is performed with varying degrees of success, and some courts have tended to uphold discharge notwithstanding the possibility of bankruptcy for the creditor ex-spouse. Al5o, nUr merous splits of authority have emerged. Ms. Johnson recommends specific guidelines to clari.fj section 523(a)(15)(B). These standards would remedy current problems of opacity, lack of uniformity, and subjectivity. Implementation of these guidelines would give bankruptcy judges better direction in applying the balancing test, while more effectively realizing Congress\u27s goal: greater protection for marital debts

Nudging Parents

Childcare quality matters, and parents intuitively understand that it does. Among the features of childcare parents most value, quality is regularly at the top of the list. Yet experts consistently rate childcare quality in the United States as mediocre at best. Why the disconnect? This Article argues that behavioral market failure is an important piece of the puzzle. Standard economic theory assumes parents are rational market actors, and even market failure theory cannot account for their imperfect rationality. But the paradox of poor childcare quality is not just market failure; it\u27s behavioral market failure. This diagnosis not only helps us understand the market\u27s dysfunction, but also enables us to think creatively about solutions. Armed with insights from behavioral economics, policymakers can identify, and in some cases capitalize on, parents\u27 behavioral anomalies, nudging them toward their desired childcare goals. Nudging parents is an important step toward building a better network of childcare to care for, nurture, and develop America\u27s childre

Sexualization, Sex Discrimination, and Public School Dress Codes

This essay joins the conversation about sexualization, sex discrimination, and public school dress codes to situate current debates within in the broader cultural and legal landscapes in which they exist. My aim is not to answer definitively the questions I pose above. Rather, I ground the controversy in these broader contexts in order to better understand the stakes and to glean insights into how schools, students, and communities might better navigate dress code debates

How (Not) to Talk about Abortion

In this essay, I aim to have a conversation about how we converse- how we talk-about abortion and related issues. In the process, I want to consider how we might come together to discover issues of shared commitment and values and transform the existing abortion debate. I begin with a review of some of the more notable abortion-related rhetoric during the 2012 Virginia General Assembly, and contrast that rhetoric with the discourse in my classroom. I then consider whether and how we might move forward together toward a more meaningful and productive dialogue on these issues

Tribute to Professor Carroll: He Was So Kind & Generous

John had many gifts, and he shared them generously with his colleagues and students at the law school. As I have reflected on the gift of his life and the depth of our loss, many stories and conversations have come to mind. But none is more profound-or more appropriate, I think-than the anecdote that came to me immediately after I found out about John\u27s death. I arrived at the law school on Friday, March 9, 2012 to the news that John had died suddenly the day before. I was devastated. And I could not help but be struck by the uncanny timing. Exactly a year before, on March 9, 2011, John was with my family and me at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. John came to pray with us, and cry with us, as our tiny baby Rose-just two days old-fought for her life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. He followed up with a generous message, offering us help and prayers, and connections to family members who were members of the VCU community. That was the kind of man John was: kind, generous. [..

Forward-Looking Family Law

Reviewing June Carbone & Naomi Cahn, Marriage Markets: How Inequality is Remaking the American Family (Oxford University Press 2014), and Clare Huntington, Failure to Flourish: How Law Undermines Family Relationships (Oxford University Press 2014). This essay reviews both books, describing their core arguments and innovative re- form proposals. Having surveyed their work, I agree with Carbone, Cahn, and Hunting- ton that the most urgent and politically-tenable reforms to family law involve enhancing investments for structural supports benefitting children. Both books shore up the instrumental and normative cases for such investment, and they also show how a renewed focus on children can help tamp down the culture wars and construct reforms with broad- based appeal. Parts II and III summarize Marriage Markets and Failure to Flourish, respectively. In Part IV, I use childcare law and policy as a frame through which to explore one of the most significant commonalities between the books—the argument that as part of its family law reform project, the state must look forward by investing in systematic supports to benefit children and support parents in childrearing

He Was So Kind & Generous

In Memoriam: Professor John F. Carroll, I