The Conversations About the Intersecting Institutions of Marriage
11 Pages Posted: 25 May 2010
Date Written: Spring 1998
Abstract
At the 1998 Association of American Law Schools (“AALS”) Annual Meeting, the sections on Family and Juvenile Law, Gay and Lesbian Issues, Minority Groups, and Women in Legal Education jointly sponsored a program entitled, The Intersecting Institutions of Marriage: Conflicts and Consequences. The goal of the program was to identify and explore the various ways in which the intersections of marriage as a legal, religious, social, and economic institution created and possibly determined important legal and social issues. The program included legal scholars who provided interesting, thoughtful and provocative reflections on the institution of marriage and on the reverberations flowing from the intersecting issues.
By way of introduction to the symposium papers and comments, presented in this edition of the Texas Wesleyan Law Review, this essay will highlight the issues raised by the panelists. This essay is not a substitute for the eloquent and stimulating comments of the panelists, nor is it an in-depth discussion of the legal issues raised during the program. Rather, it is a summary of the presentations and discussions, and an attempt to highlight the cogent points offered by the panelists and the audience at this provocative and enlightening AALS program. In addition to this essay, we are fortunate to have an essay from Professor Steven Hobbs that was a significant contribution to the program. I wish to thank the 1997 officers of the co-sponsoring sections for their support of the program: Naomi Cahn (Chair) and June Carbone (Secretary/Treasurer), Family and Juvenile Law; Frank X. Valdes (Chair), Gay and Lesbian Issues; Dorothy A. Brown (Chair), Minority Groups; and Judith Maute (Chair), Women in Legal Education. I also want to thank the program committee, consisting of Barbara Babb, Tonya Brito, and Jane Murphy, for their assistance in all aspects of planning and staging the program.
Keywords: institution of marriage, legal aspects, religious aspects, social aspects, economic aspects, AALS, intersecting issues
JEL Classification: K19, K39, J12
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation