To say Oregon Law Philip H. Knight Professor of Law Merle Weiner has had a busy summer is an understatement.
The work of Weiner, considered an expert on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, is being used nationally and internationally in determining the outcomes of child abduction cases, especially as they pertain to domestic violence.
Most recently, Weiner has been involved with two international abduction cases litigated in New York: Lozano v. Alvarez and Broca v. Giron. Both cases involved the removal of children by a parent who alleged she was the victim of domestic violence.
The Supreme Court granted a petition for certiorari in the Lozano case and Weiner is currently working on an amicus brief that will be submitted to the United States Supreme Court.
Earlier in the summer, Weiner co-authored an op-ed for the Miami Herald on international abductions. The op-ed lauded Japan's recent legislation that asks judges to consider the risk of domestic violence to the "abductor" parent when returning the child to the "left-behind" parent.
Shortly after the op-ed was published, Weiner chaired a Congressional briefing on the intersection of domestic violence and the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Her two-hour panel was introduced by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Representative Chris Smith, and was attended by approximately 100 people. Weiner also participated earlier in the summer in the Uniform Law Commission's drafting session for the new Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.
Weiner has also been presenting papers. She presented a paper at the International Society of Family Law conference in Brooklyn, New York, titled "Caregiver Payments: Fairness as a Principle to Promote Family Harmony." She also completed her book manuscript, "Pink and Blue Cement: The Status of Parent-Partner," and will be submitting it to publishers shortly.
She said, "This has been a very big project and it feels great that it is finally ready to go out the door. I hope that the book will help people think about family law and family relationships differently."
- from a story by the UO School of Law