July 2021
Full Court Press is the newsletter of the University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC).
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A Heartfelt Thank You from
CFCC’s Founder and Director
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By Barbara A. Babb
After 32 years at the University of Baltimore School of Law, I will retire as Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC), effective August 1, 2021.
Serving in these two capacities is the honor of a lifetime – something I could not have accomplished without the support of my loving family, extraordinary colleagues, and dedicated staff members. I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.
I have grounded CFCC and my work in the principles and practice of therapeutic jurisprudence and the ecology of human development. These two concepts, when applied to family law, can protect families and children from present and future harms, reduce emotional turmoil, promote family harmony or preservation, and provide individualized and efficient, effective justice. I am grateful to have had so many opportunities to imbue my teaching, scholarship, presentations, and court reform work with these concepts.
It is thus fitting that my final Full Court Press focuses exclusively on TJ and describes how readers can become exposed to an exceptional TJ perspective from the writings of leaders from around the world. The summer issues of both the University of Baltimore Law Review and Family Court Review, published by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, feature insightful articles on the future of TJ and its broader adoption in the legal community. Simply by reading the articles and following the citations, you can learn a seminar’s worth of knowledge about TJ. These authors are the veritable “who’s who” in therapeutic jurisprudence. I invite you to learn more about TJ and to join us in its deliberate and widespread adoption.
Barbara A. Babb is the Founder of the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts and Associate Professor of Law Emerita at the University of Baltimore School of Law, effective August 1, 2021. She is also the Editor and Chef of Family Court Review.
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Next Level: How Therapeutic Jurisprudence (TJ) Becomes a Mainstream Principle and Practice |
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The summer issue (Volume 50, Issue 3) of the University of Baltimore Law Review features two articles that explore how to move therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) from an innovative to a mainstream practice through teaching at the university level.
In his article, “Teaching Therapeutic Jurisprudence”, David C. Yamada, Professor of Law and Director, New Workplace Institute, Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts, and Board Chairperson Emeritus of the International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence (ISTJ), writes about the future of TJ’s presence in law school curricula, which currently is limited and should be adopted more formally.
Yamada concludes that “if TJ is to enjoy greater influence in the realms of legal practice and the making of law and policy, then it must expand its presence in the standard law school curriculum.” He suggests the benefits of doing so and practical ways to accomplish this goal, including standard courses in law, modules or short series of classes, and clinical skills and practice.
In “Mainstreaming Restorative Justice and Therapeutic Jurisprudence Through Higher Education”, Dr. Ian D. Marder, Lecturer and Assistant Professor in Criminology at Maynooth University Department of Law in the Republic of Ireland, and Prof. David B. Wexler, one of TJ’s co-founders, explore how to integrate the teaching of restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudence at universities, particularly as related to criminal justice. They make the case that the two fields have much in common. Thus, they propose that interested educators from both “fields should engage in structured conversations to develop educational initiatives that equip criminal justice and law students to use restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudence in practice.”
University-level teaching is the way TJ moves to the next level of implementation. These two articles in the University of Baltimore Law Review show you how. – Barbara A. Babb
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Worldwide Perspectives and Inspiration about TJ |
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The summer issue of Family Court Review, the quarterly journal of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), is a special issue consisting of eight articles that focus on the application of therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ), specifically in the practice of family law.
You likely cannot find a better compendium of perspectives on the practice of family law and TJ anywhere, so I urge you to join AFCC to benefit from the journal on a regular basis or use one of the many ways our publisher makes articles available. As many of you know, I am the Editor in Chief of this publication, a role that I plan to continue into retirement.
What is significant about the articles in this issue are the stories from across the globe on the practical application today of TJ principles in family law matters from a wide variety of perspectives. The Presiding Judge of the Singapore Family Justice Courts, Justice Debbie Ong, for example, shares her transformative vision of TJ as the foundation for Singapore’s entire family justice system. I do not know of any other family justice system that has taken such a comprehensive view of court reform or has planned to implement it as quickly. Particularly noteworthy is the judicial leadership’s commitment to extensive training in TJ for judges and attorneys. In a separate article, Singapore District Judges Yarni Loi and Suzanne Chin detail how TJ is designed to be incorporated into all aspects of Singapore's family court operations.
Writing from an attorney’s point of view, Emily Stannard, an associate at the law firm of Wills Legal in Hasting, Aotearoa New Zealand, addresses how the application of TJ can help attorneys and other legal actors improve the experience of minorities and other disadvantaged populations in family courts.
New Zealand has struggled to address the persistent concerns of Maori, migrants, and survivors of family violence who come to court. The ignorance and insensitivity of attorneys to family-law related aspects of Maori culture, as an example, have appeared in court evaluation reviews for decades. The Maori have a well-developed system of customary law (tikanga) that includes concepts of a wider family (whanau) and kinship adoption (whangai) that is poorly understood in the legal community and is widely disregarded. Stannard notes the lack of progress made by reviews and changing legal rules and legal procedures. She suggests, instead, that changing how legal actors conduct their work (i.e., through a TJ lens) is likely to be more effective.
As a final example of the breadth of the application of TJ, authors Tricia Stephens, Colleen Katz, Vicki Lens, and Caterina Pisciotta, of the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College in the City University of New York, report on a qualitative study they undertook exploring the experiences of parents within the child welfare system. The authors have identified specific behaviors that are explicit TJ principles, and they suggest how these behaviors can improve the experience of parents and families in family court matters.
All of the articles in this special issue of Family Court Review are superb and can provide tremendous inspiration to those of you who believe, as I do, that family law, practiced through the lens of TJ, can become a truly caring profession. – Barbara A. Babb
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Editorial Notes
Barbara A. Babb & Marsha Kline Pruett
Barbara A. Babb, Associate Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law, and Director, Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts, Baltimore, Maryland
Family Law and Therapeutic Jurisprudence: A Caring Combination
Justice Debbie Ong, Presiding Judge of the Family Justice Courts, Singapore
Singapore Family Justice Courts Workplan 2020: Today Is a New Day
Judge Yarni Loi, District Judge, and Judge Suzanne Chin, District Judge, both of the Family Justice Courts, Singapore
Therapeutic Justice: What It Means for the Family Justice System in Singapore
Connie Healy, Lecturer, NUI-Galway, Ireland
Reform within the Family Courts Division: Lessons from Baltimore
Emily Stannard, Associate at Willis Legal, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
More Than Rules: Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Legal Actors in New Zealand's Legal System
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Michael L. Perlin, Professor of Law Emeritus, New York Law School, New York, New York, and Alison Lynch, Attorney, Mental Disability Law & Policy Associates, New York, New York
"Some Mother's Child Has Gone Astray:" Neuroscientific Approaches to a Therapeutic Jurisprudence Model of Juvenile Sentencing
Tricia Stephens, Colleen Cary-Katz, Vicki Lens, Caterina Pisciotta, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, City University, New York, New York
The View from the Other Side: How Parents and Their Representatives View Family Court
Karni Perlman, Lecturer, Haim Striks School of Law, College of Management Academic Studies, Israel, and Tamar Morag, Academic Director of the Child Advocacy Clinical Program at the Hebrew University Law School, Israel
Seen and Heard: A New Look at Child Participation in Family Disputes
Carrie Petrucci, Adjunct Faculty in the Counseling and Family Therapy Program at Alliant International University, San Diego, California
If We Measure It, They Will Come: A Realist Evaluation Approach in a Therapeutic Jurisprudence Context
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New Benchbook for Family Courts on Substance Use Disorders Now Available |
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The University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts has released a completely revised and updated edition of its Benchbook for Family Courts on Substance Use Disorders (Benchbook) – Second Edition. The Benchbook is a valuable resource to improve decision-making and outcomes in family law cases that involve substance use.
Substance use disorders (SUDs) are some of the most critical and pervasive public health problems of our time. Data is emerging from various studies that the Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to increased opioid overdoes.
According to, Trends in US Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health, Overdose, and Violence Outcomes, in JAMA Psychiatry, the study's authors have found that the rate (per 100,000 ED visits) of all drug overdoses has increased 23% in 2020 over 2019 and opioid overdoses have increased 31% for the same period. The study also includes data comparisons for intimate partner violence, suicide attempts, mental health conditions, and suspected child abuse and neglect.
The Benchbook for Family Courts on Substance Use Disorders provides valuable insight into the science of addiction, the treatment of SUDs, how SUDs affect children and families in many family law cases, and how family courts can intervene in ways that lead to better outcomes. The good news is that with a recognized neurobiological basis for substance use disorders, there is potential for recovery. Evidence-based interventions can prevent harmful substance use and related problems, and the courts have considerable power to influence individuals suffering from these disorders.
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Authors Barbara A. Babb and Judith D. Moran envision the family court as a "care center" and make a compelling case that reforms to the family justice system are necessary to achieve positive, long-lasting outcomes for families and children.
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CFCC's Truancy Court Program Toolkit, Second Edition provides a step-by-step guide on how to start and maintain an effective truancy reduction program. The Toolkit can be adapted to suit individual schools or entire jurisdictions.
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About CFCC
The Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) promotes policies and practices that unite families, communities and the justice system to improve the lives of children and families and the health of communities. CFCC advocates the use of therapeutic jurisprudence, the understanding that the legal system has an effect on behavior, emotions and mental health.
CFCC is led by Barbara A. Babb, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law; Founder and Director of the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts; Director of the Post-J.D. Certificate in Family Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law; and Editor-in-Chief of Family Court Review, published by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.
CFCC Staff and Contributors
Rebecca Stahl, CFCC Deputy Director; Michele Hong, CFCC Program Manager; Arion Alston, Truancy Court Program Mentor; Spencer Hall, Truancy Court Program Coordinator; Katrice Williams, CFCC Program Administrative Specialist.
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