Goals:
To make student aware of the language of the law in relation with the best interests of the children.
Objectives:
Student will be able to identify main standards used to decide custody cases.
Background Information:
Taking the language of the law into the classroom is a task of many surprising complexities. To begin with the acquisition of language is a right that all children must have. This statement is reasonable because we understand, from experience in the classroom, that in order to learn the basic pronouncements of a culture, it is imperative to know and master the medium in which that particular culture is being communicated.
Law is part of a culture, it has a tradition and it has a history. Family law deals with matters pertaining to the family: adults, and children. We are interested in the standard of the best interests of the children. This concept is to be understood as the opinion and interpretation that adults, namely judges, have about what is best for children. Sometimes we come across another standard, in cases of step-parent litigations. The courts in Pennsylvania, in Spells v. Spells, granted visitation rights of the stepfather on basis of in loco parentis, noting that “courts must jealousy grant his rights to visitation.”
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Traditionally the test in child custody Paces has been the parents rights, and not the best interests of the child. m is began to changed in 1881, when Justice Brewer, in Chapsky v. Wood, introduced the nest interests of the child in his ruling.
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Parental preference the standard is also addressed, has been left aside, mostly by language, but not in practice since children don’t really have a voice. Because of this situation it has been proposed in California, in view also of a pluralism in family structure, the standard of “approximation” which “promotes continuity and stability for children.”
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m is standard “seeks to replicate past parental roles.”
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Other rules in the search for solutions of child custody are joint custody, maternal custody, and preference for the primary caretaker. Of the above Elizabeth Scott prefers the approximation standard.
Activity:
Write a letter to the class and tell us what kind of family you have. Don’t write your name, just talk. In your letter think of the following: has any of these standards been applied to your family? Which do you think is the best? Why?
Activity:
Make a drawing of your family and place yourself in it. Let’s talk about it in class if you wish to do so.
Activity:
In Gomez v. Gomez, what would have been the best standard?
Assessment: Check lesson one for list. Make changes as necessary.
