The Sections on International Law, Family and Juvenile Law, Gay and Lesbian Legal Issues, Poverty Law, and Women in Legal Education co-sponsored a program entitled "From Partners to Parents: Toward A Child Centered Family Law Jurisprudence," with Professor June Rose Carbone (Santa Clara University) acting as Moderator. The program took place on Sunday, January 10, 1999. A panel discussion portion of the program focused on how the legal system should recognize and advance children's interests. This interactive panel addressed the legal system's ability and willingness to advance children's interests by considering concrete fact patterns set in the contexts in which family law disputes are most likely to arise: divorce, abuse and neglect cases, and custody conflicts involving unmarried couples, gay and lesbian parents, and non-parent caretakers. The panelists raised international and comparative perspectives, as well as practice and critical approaches.
The panelists included: David Chambers, Michigan Law School; Cynthia Price Cohen, Child Rights International Research Institute; Martin Guggenheim, New York University; Martha Finemen, Columbia Law School; Frances Olsen, U.C.L.A.; and Suellyn Scarnecchia, Michigan Law School. Cynthia Price Cohen addressed the role of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. The proceedings of the panel are scheduled to be published in the Santa Clara Law Review.