What Price Liberty: The Search for Equality for Kinship-Caregiving Families

13 Pages Posted: 24 Aug 2020

See all articles by Sacha Marie Coupet

Sacha Marie Coupet

Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Date Written: 2013

Abstract

This article explores the tension between equality and liberty within the context of family law, focusing on the ways that kinship families are oriented to prioritize equality over liberty. Family Law’s marriage-centric framework continues to exclude kinship-caregiver families from domestic relations court, forcing them to address family matters in probate and dependency court where there are fewer protections for parents, caregivers, and children. This article argues that because poor families, particularly families of color where kinship-caregivers are disproportionately over-represented, are often more dependent on the state to meet their material needs, they are more attuned to threats to equality rather than infringements on liberty. In contrast, affluent families who advocate for their interests in the realm of private domestic relations tend to favor liberty interests, even at the expense of equality. It advocates for an examination of the ways in which different communities understand and experience liberty to better understand inequality.

Keywords: Family Law, Guardianship, Kinship-Caregiver, Liberty, Equality, Poverty and the Law, Family Responsibility/Support Law

JEL Classification: K36, K41

Suggested Citation

Coupet, Sacha Marie, What Price Liberty: The Search for Equality for Kinship-Caregiving Families (2013). Michigan State Law Review, Vol. 2013, No. 1249, 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3655584

Sacha Marie Coupet (Contact Author)

Loyola University Chicago School of Law ( email )

25 E. Pearson
Chicago, IL 60611
United States

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