W. Taylor Reveley III Research Professor and Arthur B. Hanson Professor of Law
Areas of Specialization
Family Law; Children and the Law; Trusts & Estates; International Law; Adoption Law; Education Law; Philosophy of Law; Constitutional Law--14th Amendment; Constitutional Law--1st Amendment (Religion)
Representative Professional Activities and Achievements
Joined the faculty in 2000 after teaching law at the Chicago-Kent and University of Wyoming law schools. Practiced law with Sutherland, Asbill, and Brennan; and Coudert Brothers; both in Washington, D.C., and worked in New York State Family Court as Law Guardian. Teaches family law, youth law, trusts and estates, and law and social justice. Selected for the Class of 2010 Professorship and three times for the Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence. Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, Fall 2019. Awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2025 in recognition of his scholarship on children's rights.
Articles
Clarifying Parens Patriae, James G. Dwyer
(30 Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 339-378 (2025))Mired in Meyer's Mischief A Century After Fabrication of Constitutional Parents' Rights, James G. Dwyer
(26 Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues 107-146 (2025))The Kincare Craze in Child Protection: Romanticism, Subterfuge, and Racial Separatism, James G. Dwyer
(19 Florida International University Law Review 1-69 (2025))The Real Wrongs of ICWA, James G. Dwyer
(69 Villanova Law Review 1-53 (2024))Faux Advocacy in Amicus Practice, James G. Dwyer
(50 Pepperdine Law Review 633-671 (2023))Smith's Last Stand? Free Exercise and Foster Care Exceptionalism, James G. Dwyer
(24 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law 856-906 (2022))The Most Dangerous Branch of Science? Reining in Rogue Research and Reckless Experimentation in Social Services, James G. Dwyer
(87 Missouri Law Review 1-94 (2022))Religious Schooling and Homeschooling Before and After Hobby Lobby, James G. Dwyer
(2016 University of Illinois Law Review 1393-1415)Same-Sex Cynicism and the Self-Defeating Pursuit of Social Acceptance Through Litigation, James G. Dwyer
(68 SMU Law Review 3-71 (2015))Jailing Black Babies, James G. Dwyer
(2014 Utah Law Review 465-541)Adopted Couple v. Baby Girl: Erasing the Last Vestigates of Human Property, James G. Dwyer
(93 Boston University Law Review Annex 51-54 (2013))Equality Between Adults and Children: Its Meaning, Implications, and Opposition, James G. Dwyer
(2013 Michigan State Law Review 1007-1028)Inter-country Adoption and the Special Rights Fallacy, James G. Dwyer
(35 University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 189-267 (2014))Misused Concepts and Misguided Questions: Fundamental Confusions in Family Law Debates, James G. Dwyer
(4 International Journal of the Jurisprudence of the Family 239-258 (2013))No Accounting for School Vouchers, James G. Dwyer
(48 Wake Forest L. Rev. 361-395 (2013))Promising Protection: 911 Call Records as Foundation for Family Violence Intervention, James G. Dwyer
(102 Kentucky Law Journal 49-101 (2014))Parents' Self-Determination and Children's Custody: A New Analytical Framework for State Structuring of Children's Family Life, James G. Dwyer
(54 Arizona Law Review 79-136 (2012))The Parental Choice Fallacy in Education Reform Debates, James G. Dwyer
(87 Notre Dame Law Review 1837-1859 (2012)) (62 Alabama Law Review 887-959 (2011))The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Employment Division v. Smith for Family Law, James G. Dwyer
(32 Cardozo Law Review 1781-1790 (2011))Parental Entitlement and Corporal Punishment, James G. Dwyer
(73 Law and Contemporary Problems 189-210 (2010))Constitutional Birthright: The State, Parentage, and the Rights of Newborn Persons, James G. Dwyer
(56 UCLA Law Review 755-835 (2009))First Parents: Reconceptualizing Newborn Adoption, James G. Dwyer
(37 Capital University Law Review 293-320 (2009))The Child Protection Pretense: States' Continued Consignment of Newborn Babies to Unfit Parents, James G. Dwyer
(93 Minnesota Law Review 407-492 (2008))A Child-Centered Approach to Parentage Law, James G. Dwyer
The Liberal State's Response to Religious Visions of Education, James G. Dwyer
(44 Journal of Catholic Legal Studies 195-231 (2005))School Accountability and ‘High Stakes’ Testing, James G. Dwyer
(2 Theory and Research in Education 211-217 (2004))A Taxonomy of Children's Existing Rights in State Decision Making About Their Relationships, James G. Dwyer
Funding Religion in a Post-Zelman World, James G. Dwyer
(5 Government, Law, and Policy Journal 11-15 (Winter/Spring 2003))Informed Consent for Neonatal Circumcision: An Ethical and Legal Conundrum, J. Steven Svoboda, Robert S. Van Howe, and James G. Dwyer
(17 Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy 61-133 (2000))Spiritual Treatment Exemptions to Child Medical Neglect Laws: What We Outsiders Should Think, James G. Dwyer
(76 Notre Dame Law Review 147-177 (2000))Setting Standards for Parenting - By What Right?, James G. Dwyer
(27 Child Psychiatry and Human Development 165-177 (1997)) (74 North Carolina Law Review 1321-1478 (1996))Parents' Religion and Children's Welfare: Debunking the Doctrine of Parents' Rights, James G. Dwyer
(82 California Law Review 1371-1447 (1994))Taking Evidence and Breaking Treaties: Aerospatiale and the Need for Common Sense, James G. Dwyer and Lois A. Yurow
(21 George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics 439-478 (1987))Blogs
Children’s Welfare and the State’s Fiduciary Responsibility, James G. Dwyer
(Cato Unbound (November 20, 2018))Which Side Are You On?, James G. Dwyer
(Cato Unbound (November 13, 2018))Book Reviews
Book Review of The Child Cases: How America's Religious Exemption Laws Harm Children, James G. Dwyer
(57 Journal of Church and State 392-394 (2015))Book Review of The Best Interests of the Child in Healthcare, James G. Dwyer
(18 Law & Politics Book Review 605-609 (2008))Editorials
Guardrails Needed for Social Science Research, James G. Dwyer
(35 Research on Social Work Practice 119-120 (2025))In Deciding Fulton v. Philadelphia, the Supreme Court Should Remember That Foster Care Is for the Children, James Dwyer
(National Review (May 6, 2021))A Child-Centered View of Foster Parenting by Same-Sex Couples, James G. Dwyer
(Jurist (December 8, 2015))Victory by Litigation Would be Hollow: Front Burner, James G. Dwyer
(Orlando Sentinel (April 3, 2015))The Ever-Shrinking Case for a Constitutional Right to Same-Sex Marriage, James G. Dwyer
(Jurist - Forum (February 6, 2014))Interviews
A Q&A with Homeschooling Reform Advocates Elizabeth Bartholet and James Dwyer, Elizabeth Bartholet and James Dwyer
(Harvard Law Today (June 28, 2021))News
Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution: Let's Change the Law the Right Way, James G. Dwyer
(Richmond Times-Dispatch (February 20, 2014))Other
Parental Rights and Religious Liberty: Examining New Conflicts Between Parents and the State, James G. Dwyer, Ryan Bangert, and Richard W. Garnett
(webinar, The Federalist Society's Religious Liberties Practice Group (December 14, 2022))Verified Amended Complaint by Next Friend James Dwyer Against Defendants Norfolk Department of Human Services (NDHS), James G. Dwyer
(United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia - Norfolk Division)Responses or Comments
Homeschooling: A Response to Ahlberg, Howell, and Justice, James G. Dwyer and Shawn F. Peters
(18 Theory and Research in Education 256-259 (2020))Symposium Articles
Diagnosing Liberal Resistance to Needed Child Welfare Reforms, James G. Dwyer
Introductory Remarks: Property Law, James G. Dwyer
School Vouchers: Inviting the Public into the Religious Square, James G. Dwyer