Professor Joslin Comments on Changing Legal Definition of Parenthood for Sacramento Bee
Professor Courtney Joslin commented for the Sacramento Bee on the changing legal definition of parenthood as courts increasingly have held that adults who aren't biological or adoptive parents can still be assigned parental rights and responsibilities.
Traditionally, adults not related by blood or adoption would have been deemed "legal strangers" to children, but that has changed, Professor Joslin said. Referring to a recent appeals court ruling upholding a Sacramento Superior Court judge's decision to grant parental rights to a woman who never adopted her girlfriend's children but accepted parental responsibilities, Joslin noted that "the court says you have to look at the reality of families' lives, and the most important inquiry is whether a person is actually functioning as a parent."
Professor Joslin is a scholar in the field of family and relationship recognition, with a particular focus on same-sex and non-marital couples.