The Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families

STATEMENT FROM FAMILY LAW PROFESSORS ACROSS THE STATE 

We are family law professors who teach at every law school in the state of North Carolina. We speak on behalf of ourselves, rather than our institutions. Based on our professional expertise, the language of the proposed North Carolina amendment is vague and untested, and threatens harms to a broad range of North Carolina families. The amendment is phrased more broadly than most similar amendments in other states, and would therefore likely be construed by courts more broadly than in other states. The amendment would certainly ban same-sex marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships, and would very likely ban the domestic partnership health insurance benefits that a number of municipalities and counties currently offer to same- and opposite-sex unmarried couples. It also threatens a range of other protections for unmarried partners and their children, including domestic violence protections and child custody law. We are aware that some law professors at Campbell Law School think otherwise. In our view, this disagreement simply underscores the fact that Amendment One is vaguely worded and that it is not possible to know how broadly it will eventually be construed.

Jean Cary

Professor of Law

Campbell Law School

Scott Sigman

Associate Professor

Charlotte School of Law

Katharine Bartlett

A. Kenneth Pye Professor of Law
 

Kathryn Bradley

Professor of the Practice of Law

Director of Legal Ethics
 

Carolyn McAllaster

Clinical Professor of Law

Director, Duke Legal Project

 

Duke Law School

Sonya Garza

Assistant Professor

Elon School of Law

Kia H. Vernon

Assistant Professor of Law

North Carolina Central School of Law

Maxine Eichner

Reef C. Ivey II Professor of Law
 

Holning S. Lau

Associate Professor
 

UNC School of Law

Jennifer Collins

Professor of Law
 

Suzanne Reynolds

Executive Associate Dean and Professor of Law
 

Wake Forest School of Law