Essay Question Family Law

Effective from May 2013

Syllabus for CJ310/POL310

Family Law Duration: 8 Weeks | Credit Hours: 3

Course Quick Links: Course Description Course Outcomes Grading

Course Schedule Materials Course Requirements

Instructor Information

A short biography, contact information, office hours, course guidelines, etc. for your instructor may be found in the Instructor Information discussion area in this module.

Course Description

This course examines the relationship between the American family, and the judicial and social service systems. Topics include defining family, marriage, parent-child relationships, divorce, property division, child custody and support issues, cohabitation, paternity, adoption, assisted conception, and the juvenile justice and social service delivery systems. NOTE: CJ310 is cross-listed with POL310. Students may elect to register for either course number but may not receive credit toward graduation for more than one course.

This is an 8-week format. If you have experienced 15-week formats, you can expect the 8-week format to be nearly double the workload of a 15-week format.

Prerequisites:

None

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Course Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Describe the requirements and restrictions of marriage and how marriages may be terminated

2. Explain the legal standards for granting and denying child custody, visitation and support

3. Analyze the theories of alimony and property distribution upon divorce

4. Discuss adoption procedures involved with establishing paternity

5. Critique the ethical issues involved in the reproductive right to abortion

6. Explain the role that law plays in domestic disputes and childrearing, including child abuse and neglect

Course Outline:

This course is designed to give students an introduction to the full range of family law issues, including juvenile justice administration. Although family law is most often state specific, the substantive and procedural law of each state is generally based on nationally accepted legal principles. The purpose of this course is to present these principles to the student, their historical and ideological bases, and their current applications. Special focus will be placed on understanding the societal changes in family structure and values and how they are reflected in law and procedure.

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Materials

Oliphant, R, & Ver Steegh, N (2013). Family Law, 4th Edition. New York: Aspen. (ISBN: 978-1-4548-1552-5)

Feld, B (2009) Juvenile Justice Administration in a Nutshell, 2d Edition. St. Paul: Thomson West. (ISBN: 978-0-314-18138-1)

Project 1 Research Tips

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Course Schedule

Click here for the current term scheduleClick here for the current term schedule

Weeks start on Mondays at 12:01 AM and end on a Sundays at 11:59PM, ET, US. Unless otherwise noted, all assigned items are due at the end of the module (by 11:59PM, Sunday).

Week Module & Title Reading Assignments Online Discussions

Course Outcomes Related to this Module

Week 1

1 - Marriage Family Law Text:

Chapter 1 - Marriage - History

Chapter 2 - Marriage Contracts

Chapter 3 - Annulments

Chapter 4 - Divorce

Read Instructor Note

Complete Module 1 Quiz Is marriage essential to "family"?

Same Sex Marriage

Irretrievable breakdown

Week 2

2 - Child Custody, Visitation and Support

Family Law Text:

Chapter 5 - Child Custody

Chapter 6 - Modifying Custody

Chapter 8 - Visitation

Chapter 9 - Child Support

Chapter 10 -

Read about Project 1

Complete Module 2 Quiz

Joint custody

Parental decision- making

Child support and career changers

Chapter 10 - Child Support Modification and Enforcement

Read Instructor Note

Week 3

3 - Alimony and Property Distribution upon Divorce

Family Law Text:

Chapter 11 - Alimony

Chapter 12 - Modifying Alimony

Chapter 13 - Dividing the Marital Estate upon Divorce

Chapter 15 - Cohabitation and Contract Principles

Read Instructor Note

Submit Project 1

Complete Module 3 Quiz

You are the Judge

Week 4

4 - Alternate Dispute Resolution

Midterm Examination

Family Law Text:

Chapter 22

For Midterm Review Chapters 1-6; 8-13; and 15

Read Instructor Note

For Midterm Exam, review all discussion questions and comments in preparation for the exam. If you need clarification be sure to e-mail your professor before you take your exam

Complete Midterm Examination

The Best Process for Resolution of Family Law Disputes

Week 5

5 - Parentage, Adoption and Alternative Reproduction

Family Law Text:

Chapter 16 - Parentage

Chapter 17 - Adoption

Chapter 18 - Assisted Reproduction

Read Instructor Note

Read about Project 2 Putative fathers paternity rights

You be the Judge

Private Placement Adoptions

Week 6

6 - Domestic Violence and Child Abuse and Neglect, Termination of Parental Rights

Family Law Text:

Chapter 19 - Domestic Violence

Chapter 20 - Child Abuse

Submit Project 2

Complete Module 6 Quiz

Battered Women’s Syndrome as a defense

Goals and Standards for children in foster care

Week 7

7 - Juvenile Courts and Procedure

In Nutshell Text:

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Complete Module 7 Quiz Juveniles in jail for life

States’ Policies regarding

Introduction

Chapter 2 - Juvenile Court Jurisdiction

Chapter 4 - Preliminary Procedures

Chapter 7 – Procedural Rights at Trial

Read Instructor Note

regarding juvenile delinqency

Week 8

8 - Juvenile Justice Dispositions

Final Examination

In Nutshell Text:

Chapter 8 - Dispositional Decisions

For Final:

Review Chapters 1-6; 8-13; 15-20; and 22 in Family Law text

Review Chapters 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8 in Nutshell text

Read Instructor Note

For Final Exam, review all discussion questions and comments in preparation for the exam. If you need clarification be sure to e-mail your professor before you take your exam

Complete Final Examination

Reforms in Family Law

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Grading

Excelsior College Grading Policy:

Available Grades: A=90-100% B=80-89% C=70-79% D=60-69%

F=below 60%

Grade Weights:

Discussion Participation 20%

Quizzes 10%

Midterm Essay Examination 20%

Final Essay Examination 30%

Project 1 10%

Project 2 10%

Rubrics Used In This Course:

Writing Grading Rubric

Discussion Grading Rubric

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Course Requirements

Course Activities:

Before beginning your course work, be sure to review the Excelsior College Guidelines for Online Interaction (a.k.a. Online Etiquette or "Netiquette"). If you have any questions regarding these guidelines, please feel free to direct them to your instructor.

Project 1 - 10% New relationships and technologies are challenging the way we have traditionally looked at child support obligations. Historically, legal obligations to pay child support were based on either the legal status of marriage or the biological relationship established by paternity. Today, same sex relationships and non-traditional methods of reproduction have raised new issues about whether biological and legal relationships are enough or essential to establish support obligations.

Project 1 Research Tips

Consider these situations:

Should a biological father who had sexual intercourse with the child’s mother once and never had any relationship with the mother or child have a legal obligation to support the child?

Should a same sex partner who has no biological relationship with the child or legal relationship with the child or its mother but had a long term emotional relationship with both have a legal obligation to support the child when the couple splits up?

Traditional views of support would say yes to the first instance but no to the second.

What about the situation where one same-sex partner serves as the egg donor but the other partner carries the resulting embryo to term? If the couple splits up and the egg donor parent retains custody, what, if anything is the obligation of the other mother?

What about the obligations when conception is accomplished in vitro and the resulting embryo is implanted in the mother against the wishes of the father after the couple splits up? Support obligation to dad?

Considering the above and your reading about family law to date as well as outside resources, in a 500-700 word essay, answer the following question:

1. Should child support obligations be based on the biological, legal and/or social relationship between an adult and child?

Be sure to answer the question presented above and use the bulleted examples to illustrate and support your answer to the question.

Be sure to submit your project in one WORD document in APA format and place it in the appropriate assignment dropbox.

For additional information on how your work will be graded, see the Writing Grading Rubric

Project 2 - 10% Read Matter of Annette B. Retrieved February 3, 2008, from State Court Watch Web site.

Note that the New York Court of Appeals in Annette B. decided that it must not disturb the lower court’s ruling that Joseph abandoned his daughter. In the final paragraph of the Court’s opinion, Justice R.S. Smith Jr. wrote:

1. We thus conclude that there is legally sufficient evidence to support…[the] conclusion that Joseph abandoned Annette….We do not reach this conclusion lightly. Joseph had an important, constitutionally-protected right to a parental relationship with his daughter, and DSS gave his rights too little attention. But Annette’s interests are important too. At the time of the hearing below, she was nine years old and living in foster care; her mother had surrendered parental rights to her. DSS is seeking to free Annette for adoption, opposed by a father Annette had never lived with and with him she had had no contact since she was four or five.

Considering the above, the court decision, your reading about family law to date, as well as outside resources, in a 500-700 word essay, answer the following questions:

1. Suppose that Annette was not in foster care, but was in a group home. Or that Annette’s foster parents were not seeking to adopt her. Do you think the result of this case would have been different?

2. Should the current situation of the child be considered when legal standard is clear and convincing evidence of abandonment by the natural parent? Remember when answering this question that in Annette B., Joseph was not seeking custody of his child in this action. He was, at this time, only defending against a claim by the Department of Social Services that his parental rights should be terminated completely.

Be sure to submit your project in one WORD document in APA format and place it in the appropriate assignment dropbox.

For additional information on how your work will be graded, see the Writing Grading Rubric

Midterm Essay Examination - 20% Your Midterm Examination will include an essay portion with 5 questions, 3 of which you must answer to the best of your ability. Your answer to each question should be between 250-300 words.

This examination will be available for you to take beginning at 12:00 AM EST on the Wednesday morning of Module 4 and will close promptly the

This examination will be available for you to take beginning at 12:00 AM EST on the Wednesday morning of Module 4 and will close promptly the following Sunday evening at 11:55 PM EST. It is suggested you write or print out the essay questions for handy reference as you develop your responses. Be sure to submit your essay exam in one WORD document and place it in the appropriate assignment dropbox. Although there is no set word limit for your answers, it is required that you fully explain your responses.

For additional information on how your work will be graded, see the Writing Grading Rubric

Final Essay Examination - 30% Your Final Examination will include an essay portion with 5 questions, 3 of which you must answer to the best of your ability. Your answer to each question should be between 250-300 words.

This examination will be available for you to take beginning at 12:00 AM EST on the Wednesday morning of Module 8 and will close promptly the following Sunday evening at 11:55 PM EST. It is suggested you write or print out the essay questions for handy reference as you develop your responses. Be sure to submit your essay exam in one WORD document and place it in the appropriate assignment dropbox. Although there is no set word limit for your answers, it is required that you fully explain your responses.

For additional information on how your work will be graded, see the Writing Grading Rubric

Quizzes - 10% Quizzes can be submitted through the last day of Module 8, but students should complete quizzes as they become available so they can assess their understanding of the weekly topics.

Discussions - 20% You are required to complete each discussion board question during the module in which it is located.

When posting your discussion comments, it is important that you be both honest and respectful to the ideas and comments of your fellow students. Students need to remember that the discussion postings take place in an open forum. Please refrain from vulgar, racial, sexist or any other remarks or comments that an individual might deem to be offensive.

For additional information on how your work will be graded, see the Discussion Grading Rubric.

By registering for a web-based course, you have made a commitment to participate regularly with your instructor and other students in online discussions. You will be expected to use online course tools (Discussions and Chat rooms) to interact with your peers and work collaboratively to improve your understanding of underlying course ideas and issues.

To lessen the risk of losing your work, do not write major discussions directly into a discussion posting. Instead, compose and check your work in other software (such as Microsoft Word) and then use the Create Message button and copy and paste your text into the new posting.

FORMATTING AND STYLE FOR WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS:

Unless noted in the Syllabus, Excelsior College requires that all papers, projects, charts, etc. be submitted using the APA writing style.

COURSE ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION:

Course attendance and weekly course participation are required. Please see the policy on Excessive Absenteeism for more details.

Instructor Participation

Your instructor will:

post a welcome message during the first 24 hours of the course.

schedule real time office hours through the chat room and/or by individual appointment.

will communicate with you through the Blackboard communication tools, including internal course messaging.

respond to your communications within two business days and will participate substantively in the discussions at least 3 times a week in 15-week courses, or 4 times a week in 8-week courses.

provide you with formative feedback midway through the course based on work submitted to that point.

grade all formative assignments within 7 business days in 15-week courses and 4 business days in 8-week courses, and will grade final summative work within 5 business days after the end of the term.

POLICIES

You are responsible for being familiar with all the policies that are related to your activity in this course. Complete information on Excelsior College policies can be found in the Course Information area or by visiting www.excelsior.edu/policies.

ACADEMIC UNIT POLICIES

Effective July 2013 Term:

School of Liberal Arts Late Policy:

No exams or quizzes will be accepted after the due date.

Discussion posts must be completed within the module where they appear. Late discussion posts will not receive credit. Instructors may impose additional due dates for initial posts or responses and assess late penalties accordingly.

All graded assignments (e.g., projects, papers, homework, lab reports) submitted after the designated due date/time will be assessed a late penalty of five percent per day for the first 5 days (for example, -5 points each day on a 100 point assignment, or -2.5 points each day on a 50

point assignment). Any assignment submitted after the fifth day will receive a grade of zero.

No work will be accepted after the final day of the term unless an official course extension has been granted.

Situations involving extenuating circumstances will be considered at the discretion of the instructor.

Effective March-May 2013 Terms:

School of Liberal Arts Late Policy:

All graded assignments submitted after the designated due date/time will be assessed a late penalty of five percent per day for the first 5 days (for example, -5 points each day on a 100 point assignment, or -2.5 points each day on a 50 point assignment). Any assignment submitted after the fifth day will receive a grade of zero. Assessments (multiple choice format quizzes and exams) will not be accepted after the due date. No work will be accepted after the final day of the term unless an official course extension has been granted. Situations involving extenuating circumstances will be considered at the discretion of the instructor.

Turnitin.com:

Excelsior College subscribes to Turnitin.com, the world's largest plagiarism-detection service, and reserves the right to check all student work to verify that it meets the guidelines of this policy.

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Document ID: 4529963, Version: 1.6 | [current]