Name ______________________________________________________

In a very high-profile trial, your client, a well-known former LSU running back and news personality, who is African-American, was acquitted of murdering his Caucasian ex-wife and her lover. However, in a civil trial, held a year after his acquittal, he was found civilly liable for the deaths. After his arrest, his children, then aged eight and six, lived with his ex-wife=s parents, who were granted temporary custody and who live in New Orleans. Now that the trials are over, your client wants permanent custody of his children.

While he admits the divorce was acrimonious, he and the children have always gotten along well. There is no record, and no allegation, that he has ever mistreated them. However, he did plead no contest to a charge of wife battering during his marriage and he spent three weeks attending counseling sessions. There is no evidence that he has ever abused any other women, including the three Caucasian women with whom he had serious relationships after his divorce. There are allegations that he abused his first wife, who is also African-American, but she never filed any charges.

The grandparents allege that a man who abuses his wife, and eventually kills her, is likely to abuse his children. Your client denies the charges. They also believe that the children will be better off in a home in which they can explore their Caucasian heritage, and in which there will not be daily reminders of their father=s involvement with their mother=s death (the attentions of the press, which routinely covers his activities, have continued).

Assignment:

1. Find and list the appropriate state statute(s) that govern custody.

2. Find and list any relevant cases.

3. Identify the sociological, psychological and public policy issues you will need to research and find information on them. Find and list periodical and monograph indexes and abstracts that will help you argue your case. Then create a bibliography of at least ten relevant items.

 

Legal issues

Statutes:

Cases:

Sociological, psychological and public policy issues