Children as Bargaining Chips

The parent- child relationship is one of the most valued and protected relationships in constitutional and family law. At the same time, the state has custodial power over children: a power that is necessary in some cases to protect vulnerable children from danger, neglect, and abandonment. But because the parent-child bond is so powerful, state actors can be tempted to exploit it for their own purposes. Custodial power over children provides state actors with the means to put pressure on the parent by threatening to remove the child. In these circumstances, the state uses the child as a bargaining chip to be traded for other rights, irrespective of the child\u27s wellbeing. Misuse of the state\u27s custodial power is harmful for two main reasons. First, children are harmed when separated from their parents. Second, parents are harmed by the separation because they are forced to choose between the exercise of two fundamental rights: custody of their children and individual liberty. This Article focuses on the question of how the law should distinguish between the state\u27s exercise of its custodial powers for permissible grounds, such as to protect the child, and its exercise of custodial powers for impermissible grounds, such as to induce the parent to give up another right. To answer this question, this Article first demonstrates that the state is, in fact, putting pressure on parents by deploying its custodial power. The Article identifies three areas of law-immigration, criminal confessions, and child welfare-in which this occurs. In each of these situations, I argue that consideration of the child\u27s wellbeing should be a formal legal requirement. The Article then proposes a constitutional test for scrutinizing a state\u27s separation, or threat of separation, of the parent and child. This test is designed to reveal what I term impermissible leverage. The principles articulated in the impermissible leverage test can be incorporated into state and federal statutes, as well as into the regulation of agencies tasked with child removal. The Article concludes with possible remedies when acts of impermissible leverage do occur

Europe\u27s Moral Margin: Parental Aspirations and the European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) balances along two axes: individual right vs. government interest and national vs. supranational judgment. The Court calibrates the level of deference it affords States through the margin of appreciation, a doctrine designed to vary how strictly the supranational court will scrutinize national decisions. This Article challenges the way in which the Court deploys margin of appreciation in order to defer to sensitive moral and ethical decisions taken by domestic institutions. I call this deference the moral margin. Although the European Convention on Human Rights explicitly authorizes the Court to take protection of morals into account when weighing rights claims, I argue that the Court has used this authorization in a manner that fails to honor its role within Europe. I critique the moral margin on two grounds. First, in practice, the Court has narrowed its definition of sensitive moral and ethical issues to cover almost exclusively cases that implicate reproductive choices and family formation. Second, I argue that when the Court chooses to defer to Member States, it should instead employ approaches – namely consensus analysis and proceduralization – that foster dialogue among Europe\u27s rights-protecting institutions. Using the recent gestational surrogacy judgments as a case study, I demonstrate how the ECtHR can engage with domes- tic institutions to allocate rights-protecting responsibility and encourage Europe-wide change

The Law of Emerging Adults

Law tends to divide people into two groups based on age: children and adults. The age of majority provides a bright line between two quite different legal regimes. Minority is characterized by dependency, parental control, incapacity, and diminished responsibility. Adulthood is characterized by autonomy, capacity, and financial and legal responsibility. Over the course of the twentieth century, evolving understandings of adolescence in law and culture produced a staged process of increasing liberty and responsibility up to the age of majority. After eighteen, however, the presumption of adulthood remains strong. Today, a combination of psychological and social factors has extended the process of becoming an adult well into legal adulthood. Psychologists call this life phase “emerging adulthood” and have identified it as a crucial period of transition and exploration. This Article argues that emerging adults should be treated as a distinct legal category. This life stage differs both from childhood and adulthood with regard to three key relationships: the parent-child; the individual and the market; and the individual and the state. Laws are beginning to treat emerging adults differently. This Article examines the developing law of emerging adults, by focusing on parental support obligations, federal interventions, and punishment. Looking to the future, this Article then provides a framework for further legal reform that is guided by three principles, which reflect emerging adulthood’s unique economic vulnerability, developing autonomy, and capacity to learn from mistakes. I argue that a broad array of legal tools could provide individuals with greater autonomy than exists during minority, but greater protection than adulthood typically provides. Such tools include staging responsibilities and entitlements over time, requiring licensing or consultation, or extending state and parental obligations toward emerging adults

A Study of the Physicochemical and Sensory Properties of Organic and Conventional Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) Before and After Baking

The objective of this study was to investigate if there were any differences in the physicochemical and sensory properties of organic and conventional potatoes (cv. Orla). The conventional potatoes had a lower dry matter content (P \u3c 0.05) and a slightly softer texture (P V 0.05) than the organic potatoes. The trained panel perceived the conventional baked potato to be slightly softer, less adhesive and wetter than the organic baked potato (

Comparison of rapid laboratory tests for failure of passive transfer in the bovine

peer-reviewedBackground Failure of passive transfer of maternal immunity via colostrum can occur in the bovine, and a number of blood tests have been developed to test calves for this failure. It is not clear which test is most suitable for this purpose. The objective was to examine the most commonly used tests for failure of passive transfer and to decide which is most suitable for routine laboratory use. 126 serum samples were taken from calves of dairy cows after birth but prior to colostrum feeding, and at 48 h of age. Five different tests were compared against radial immunodiffusion which is considered the appropriate reference method. These tests were serum gamma-glutamyltransferase levels, serum protein levels, serum globulin levels, an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and the zinc sulphate turbidity test. Results The tests examined displayed high sensitivity but widely varying specificity. Examination of the use of different cut-off points allowed some improvement in specificity at the expense of sensitivity, but the tests which had performed best at the original cut-off points still displayed the best performance. Gamma-glutamyltransferase levels as a measure of colostrum absorption returned, in this study, the best balance between sensitivity and specificity. The ELISA used in this study and serum globulin levels displayed performance similar to the gamma-glutamyltransferase levels. Serum total protein was less successful than others examined at providing both sensitivity and specificity but may, when performed via refractometer, be useful for on-farm testing. As currently performed the poor sensitivity for which the zinc sulphate turbidity test is most often criticized is evident. Modification of the cut-off point to increase specificity is less successful at balancing these parameters than the ELISA, gamma-glutamyltransferase levels, and globulin levels. Conclusions Gamma-glutamyltransferase levels, ELISA testing and circulating globulin levels performed best in detecting failure of passive transfer in serum samples, although all three had some practical considerations

Studies on the synthesis of rat brain synaptic membrane proteins

The study of the molecular organisation of specialised synaptic structures has been considerably advanced by the development of methods for the isolation of synaptic subfractions enriched in synaptic plasma membranes (SPM), synaptic junctional complexes (SJC's) and postsynaptic densities (PSD's). The present thesis deals with one important aspect of this organisation, namely the synthesis of SPM proteins and its modulation by selected chemical agents. SPM, mitochondrial and myelin-enriched fractions of comparable purity to published data have been isolated from adult rat brain. An in vivo35method for monitoring incorporation of L-( S)methionine into the protein of these fractions has been developed. This, involved injection of 35 flooding concentrations of L-( S)methionine into the lateral ventricle via a pre-implanted cannula. Since the precursor specific activity is known and constant for at least 45 minutes the incorporation rates can be reliably measured over this period. The effects of two anaesthetics, halothane and pentobarbitone, on brain protein synthesis were investigated. Halothane (3%) produced a gross inhibition of protein synthesis in total forebrain and SPM, myelin and mitochondrial fractions. Pentobarbitone produced no such inhibition at doses of 60 or 75 mg/Kg body weight. L-DOPA was also found to inhibit incorporation rates by close to 30% in total forebrain and mitochondrial protein in hyperthermic animals (body temperature 39-40&deg;C). Other subcellular fractions were less affected by the drug. Thyroid hormone deficiency during brain development impairs brain structure and function including synapse formation. The present study showed that hypothyroidism decreased protein yields in SPM, myelin and mitochondrial fractions and impaired synthesis of SPM and myelin protein. The rates of incorporation into total forebrain and mitochondrial protein were not significantly affected. SDS polyacrylamide gel, electrophoresis and fluorographic studies tentatively showed that the relative rates of synthesis of specific polypeptides were altered in thyroid deficient animals.<p

Confronting Childhood: Courts and the Contradictions of Juvenile Justice

For decades, the juvenile court has struggled to contain two contradictory, but necessary theories of justice. This project employs an in-depth, single case study of an urban juvenile court to demonstrate that contradictory juvenile justice models constrain court actors, while also giving them discretion. Individuals within the juvenile system hold ultimate responsibility for incorporating the rehabilitative juvenile model and the traditional criminal model into their roles and practices. Court actors structure interactions and goals based on attitudes regarding juvenile identity, self-identity, and blame in order to reconcile institutional ambiguities and produce fair and just results