Customer Reviews

Neglected Stories: The Constitution and Family Values

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The author accurately described the process where the issues of constitutional significance of parental rights and the liberty right to custody of children parallel the struggles of the abolitionists and the civil rights movement. Of note, the very first case to reach the merits of "custody and the constitution" is awaiting decision as of this date (February 25, 2003) in the federal court in Dayton, Ohio, captioned Galluzzo v. Champaign County Court of Common Pleas, filed April 27, 2001. The denial of due process and equal protection are identical to the issues raised by the author and detailed throughout her book. This book is "must" reading for domestic relations attorneys who have no clue about the construction of federal law pursuant to state law and for legislators and legal theorists who lack knowledge of why the state's claim to the "best interests of a child" is uncontitutional where a parent is a suitable parent and not found by "clear & convincing" evidence to be unfit.

A fascinating historical perspective on the post-Civil War constitutional amendments which gives much needed background on family rights as aspects of liberty. I take serious issue with the New York Times review, which gave short shrift to Professor Davis' analysis. I read this book in law school but it is accessible to any reader interested in law and the public discourse on family values.