This introductory chapter traces the history of family law in America, which came of age during the last half of the twentieth century. Earlier, in practice, scholarship, and legal education, it was given little attention or respect. Perhaps the reason for the low status of family law practice, defined narrowly as domestic relations and almost exclusively concerned with divorce, was that it dealt with human conflicts and real people in distress, not legal abstractions. The legislative movement to recodify state family law, particularly divorce law, began mid-century. An important influence on divorce reform was the efforts of the Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. The Commissioners had been working on divorce law for seventy-five years before the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act was promulgated in 1970. The Act brought clarity in laws on marriage, divorce, and child custody. The chapter then looks at the development of child protection practice and law. Ultimately, the legal landscape of today has been shaped by many factors: the movement for racial equality, children’s rights, women’s rights, gay and lesbian rights, and the social and legal agenda of certain religious groups.
Protection of Children in Difficulty in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic
