The Constitutional Parent: Rights, Responsibilities, and the Enfranchisement of the Child

358 Pages·2014·1.202 MB·English

by  Jeffrey Shulman

The Constitutional Parent
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The
Constitutional
Parent
Rights, Responsibilities,
and the Enfranchisement
of the Child
J E F F R E Y S H U L M A N
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
Copyright © 2014 by Jeffrey Shulman.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including
illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108
of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without
written permission from the publishers.
Yale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational, business,
or promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected] (U.S. offi ce)
or [email protected] (U.K. offi ce).
Set in Electra LH type by Newgen North America.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shulman, Jeffrey, 1951– author.
The constitutional parent : rights, responsibilities, and the enfranchisement
of the child / Jeffrey Shulman.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-19189-9 (hardback)
1. Parent and child (Law)—United States. 2. Children—Legal status, laws, etc.—
United States. 3. Domestic relations—United States. 4. Constitutional law—
United States. I. Title.
KF540.S58 2014
346.7301′7—dc23
2013047823
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992
(Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Gretchen
and
Rachel, Sarah, Molly, and Alberta
Mine own, and not mine own
—A Midsummer Night’s Dream, IV.1.187
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
one
Sacred Trust or Sacred Right? 1
two
Parenting as a Sacred Trust 23
three
Parenting as a Sacred Right 93
four
Toward Constitutional Parenthood 136
conclusion
The World All Before Them 224
Notes 229
Index 323
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Acknowledgments
a grateful mind
By owing owes not, but still pays, at once
Indebted and discharg’d; what burden then?
—Paradise Lost, IV.55–57
Io we a great debt—surely, one not soon to be discharged—to my col-
leagues for their support of this project. Because they are who they are, I
bear the burden of gratitude lightly and happily. Robin West’s encourage-
ment could not have been more enthusiastic. David Wolitz’s intellectual
camaraderie could not have been more generous. Many of my colleagues
at Georgetown Law were once my teachers, as they are today—none more
so than Michael Seidman and the late Steven Goldberg.
For a series of research grants from Georgetown Law, my appreciation to
Dean William Treanor, former deans Judith Areen and Alex Aleinikoff, and
Associate Dean Gregory Klass. The assistance of the Georgetown Law Li-
brary Research Services staff (special thanks to Priscilla Day and Michael J.
Nelson II), the Offi ce of Faculty Support Services (thank you, Susanna Fix),
and the daily support, both administrative and existential, that I receive
from Noelle Adgerson have been invaluable. Several research assistants—
Catherine Grealis, May Chiang, Carmen Green, Amy Deroo, Akhil Gola,
and Andrew Warner—have labored mightily to save me from as much em-
barrassment as possible.
Georgetown University has been my academic home for three decades. It
was my good fortune for many years to teach in the Department of English;
it was a particular privilege to share the “duty” of teaching Milton with Jason
Rosenblatt, whose generosity of spirit I have never known to falter. It is my
good fortune today to work alongside Frances DeLaurentis, Craig Hoffman,
and my other colleagues in the Legal Research and Writing program.
ix