Developments in Law and Policy: Emerging Issues in Family Law

Abstract

Family law is intrinsically provocative because it governs a fundamentally important aspect of human life. Unlike fields such as securities or evidence, family law exerts a direct and profound effect upon our most deeply cherished relationships. It becomes most relevant at the happiest moments of our lives- weddings and births-and the saddest-divorces and deaths. Many of the disputes at the unsettled frontiers of this field where the law is rapidly evolving touch something deep within us and frequently evoke passionate, if not visceral, reactions. This Article surveys a variety of intriguing family law controversies that have arisen alongside developments in reproductive technologies and evolving social attitudes toward homosexuals and battered women.