For Richer for Poorer, in Sickness and in Health: Should Australia Embrace Same-Sex Marriage?

In 2004, the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) was amended to clarify that legal marriage requires a heterosexual union. This article will examine whether this amendment was consistent with the existing state of the common law, legislative trends throughout Australia and current societal values. It will also canvass the legal and social arguments in support of and in opposition to same-sex marriage. Arguments in support of legal same-sex unions based on equality before the law and international obligations will also be discussed. The recent amendments in Australia will then be contrasted with legal reforms in Canada aimed at ensuring that their Federal legislation is consistent with the equality provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Finally, an alternative system of relationship registration will be posed as a possible compromise

Increasing the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Existing Public Investments in Early Childhood Education: Recommendations to Boost Program Outcomes and Efficiency

Proposes ten reforms to maximize the impact of Head Start, Child Care Development Block Grants, and other existing funding streams, including working with states to align standards, improving provider quality, and enhancing data collection and reporting

The Campus Debit Card Trap: Are Bank Partnerships Fair to Students?

Examines partnerships between colleges and financial firms on campus ID, prepaid, debit, and financial aid disbursement cards and questions about fees, aggressive marketing strategies, and consumer protection. Lists best practices and recommendations

Interveners or Interferers: Intervention in Decisions to Withhold and Withdraw Life-Sustaining Medical Treatment

This article considers intervention in proceedings about withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment. Since the early 1990s, there have been a number of important decisions, both in Australia and overseas, about whether life-sustaining treatment should be withheld or withdrawn from an adult who no longer has capacity to make the decision for himself or herself. In almost all of these decisions, intervention by a non-party to the matter has been an issue. This article explores the rules of intervention in applications to appear as a party and as amicus curiae, and considers those rules in the context of decisions to withhold and withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment. The relevant cases are examined as are the advantages and disadvantages of intervention in these circumstances. The article concludes by suggesting a model for intervention that strikes the appropriate balance between ensuring all relevant issues are placed before the court while still respecting the intensely private nature of a decision to withhold or withdraw a life-sustaining measure in any given case

Hunger in America: Suffering We All Pay For

Estimates the recession's impact on food insecurity and the national and state-by-state cost of hunger from hunger-induced illnesses, including depression; poor educational outcomes and reduced lifetime earnings, and private charity to help feed families

Representing clients from courtroom to mediation settings: Switching hats between adversarial advocacy and dispute resolution advocacy

In the vast majority of cases legal representation in mediation can provide many advantages for clients. However, in some, progress can be thwarted when lawyers do not understand the goals of the mediation process and their dispute resolution advocacy role. This article will explore some of the similarities and differences between the knowledge and skills that lawyers can draw upon when representing clients in adversarial court hearings as compared with non-adversarial settings, such as in mediations. One key distinction is the different approaches that legal representatives can use to effectively act in the best interests of clients. This article will highlight how an appreciation of such distinctions can assist lawyers to “switch” hats between their adversarial and non-adversarial roles. In particular, an understanding that the duty to promote the best interests of clients in mediation is consistent with a collaborative and problem-solving approach can greatly assist in the resolution process

Inconsistencies in and the inadequacies of the family counselling and FDR confidentiality and admissibility provisions: The need for reform

In this article the author discusses issues arising from counselling and family dispute resolution (FDR) in relation to confidentiality and admissibility, such as whether an admission of abuse to a child, or a threat to harm the other parent, can be disclosed by the counsellor or family dispute resolution practitioner (FDRP) and used in court proceedings. It is found that the admissibility provisions in the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) are far more narrowly defined than the confidentiality requirements and have been interpreted strictly by the courts. There are competing policy considerations: the strict “traditionalist” approach, that people can have absolute faith in the integrity of counsellors and mediators and in the confidential nature of the process, must be balanced against a more “protectionist” stance, being the individual rights of victims to have all relevant information placed before the court and to be protected from violence and abuse. It is suggested that legislative reform is required to ensure that courts balance these considerations appropriately and don’t compromise the safety of victims of abuse and family violence

Meeting the Infrastructure Imperative: An Affordable Plan to Put Americans Back to Work

Analyzes shortfalls in federal infrastructure investment. Proposes boosting funding for transportation, water, dams, and energy through policy reform, updated fees, elimination of subsidies, expanded loan authority, private financing, and state matches

Summary of Proposed Stone Schoolhouse Information and Alphabetical Listing of Stone Schoolhouse contacts

A report on contacts and information relating to the stone schoolhouse project.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/buildings/2236/thumbnail.jp

Was Tertullian a Misogynist? A re-examination of this charge based on a rhetorical analysis of Tertullian’s work.

Feminist scholars have long assumed that Tertullian, a second-century Church Father, was a misogynist. This assumption is based almost exclusively on the infamous “Devil’s gateway” passage in the opening chapter of De cultu feminarum. However, feminist scholars have read this passage in isolation without reference to its wider context in De cultu feminarum and without considering other passages from Tertullian’s treatises. Furthermore, they have failed to recognize the influence which ancient rhetoric had on Tertullian’s work. By reading the “Devil’s gateway” passage in a wider context, and by engaging in a detailed analysis of Tertullian’s use of rhetoric, it becomes evident that Tertullian’s comments in that passage are not based on misogynistic view of women. Rather, they serve a specific rhetorical purpose in one particular treatise. Furthermore, by looking beyond the “Devil’s gateway” passage to other passages in which Tertullian makes reference to women, it is clear that his comments in the “Devil’s gateway” passage are not representative of his view of women. An examination of themes such as Mary, the anthropology of woman and woman’s role in the social order reveals a more nuanced picture of Tertullian’s view of women, than the one offered by some feminist scholars. By bringing together two areas - Tertullian’s use of rhetoric and feminist critique of Tertullian and of the Fathers in general - I will challenge the assumption that Tertullian was a misogynist and show that in some areas Tertullian can make a positive contribution to the feminist question.AHR