What Is Right for Children?

Martha Albertson Fineman is Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law at Emory Law School. She is an internationally recognized law and society scholar and a leading authority on family law and feminist jurisprudence. She is founder and director of the Feminism and Legal Theory Project, which was inaugurated in 1984 at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The Project has since followed Professor Fineman to Columbia and Cornell, where she also held tenured faculty appointments, including the first Chair in the country in Feminist Jurisprudence. In addition to directing the Feminism and Legal Theory Project, Professor Fineman has published extensively on issues relating to family law, and feminist jurisprudence. She has received awards for her writing and teaching and has served on several government study commissions. She teaches family law, feminist jurisprudence, law and sexuality, and seminars on reproductive issues and select topics in feminist legal theory. Fineman is also a board member of Veteran Feminists of America and serves on the Transforming Community Project, an initiative aimed at improving racial relations and education on race scholarship at Emory. Karen Worthington is the founding director of the Barton Child Law & Policy Clinic at Emory Law School, where she directs the Clinic; supervises faculty, fellows and students; and teaches child advocacy. She has spent her career specializing in children's law and policy development. In addition to directing the Clinic since 2000, Professor Worthington directed the Southern Juvenile Defender Center from 2001-2005 and serves as a senior fellow with the Center for Study of Law and Religion at Emory Law.

• Contents: Introduction: what is right for children?, Martha Albertson Fineman; Part I Children's Rights as Human Rights: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: empowering parents to protect their children's rights, Barbara Bennett Woodhouse and Kathryn A. Johnson; Child, family, state and gender equality in religious stances and human rights instruments: a preliminary comparison, Linda C. McClain; Rhetoric, religion and human rights: 'save the children!', Barbara Stark; Feminist fundamentalism on the frontier between government and family responsibility for children, Mary Ann Case. Part II Children in the United States: the Legal Context: Using international human rights law in US courts: lessons from the campaign against the juvenile death penalty, Linda M. Keller; The lesser culpability of the juvenile offender: trial in adult criminal court, incarceration with adults, and excessive sanctions, Bernadine Dohrn; Parental rights doctrine: creating and maintaining maternal value, Annette R. Appell; Placing children in context: parents, foster care, and poverty, Naomi Cahn; Expanding the parent-child-state triangle in public family law: the role of private providers, Susan Vivian Mangold; Advocating for children's rights in a lawless nation: articulating rights for foster children, Barbara Bennett Woodhouse and Brooke Hardy; A proposal for collaborative enforcement of a federal right to education, Kimberley Jenkins Robinson; Taking children's interests seriously, Martha Albertson Fineman. Part III Comparisons: Children Within the Context of Human Rights: Introduction; The child's right to religious freedom in international law: the search for meaning, Ursula Kilkelly; Clashing rights and welfare: a return to a rights discourse in family law in the UK?, Shazia Choudhry; Accommodating children's religious expression in public schools: a comparative analysis of the veil and other symbols in Western democracies, Catherine J. Ross; Children, education, and rights in a society divided by religion: the perspectives of children and young people, Laura Lundy; Children, international human rights, and the politics of belonging, Alice Hearst; The right of children to be loved, S. Matthew Liao; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.

'Drawing together an impressive list of international contributors, What Is Right For Children? reshapes our thinking about the relationship between children, Human Rights and religion. Divided into three insightful sections encompassing topics such as juvenile justice, child protection, education, and parental rights, it will appeal to anyone interested in how cultural contexts shape debates about children, families, and governmental obligations. Passionate and timely, you’ll want to read every chapter.' Richard Collier, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK 'This unique collection enriches the dialogue around the US refusal to embrace the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Provocative chapters grapple with the legal and policy implications of differences between religious and human rights’ principles of personhood. What Is Right For Children? is an essential touchstone for all who care about children’s rights.' Nancy Dowd, University of Florida, USA