David M. Smolin
Encyclopedia
David Mark Smolin is a professor of law at Cumberland School of Law
in Birmingham, Alabama
where he is the Harwell G. Davis Chair in Constitutional Law, the director for Cumberland School of Law's Center for Biotechnology, Law, and Ethics
, and faculty advisor for the Law, Science and Technology Society.
Smolin is one of the world's leading academic experts on international adoption
scandals (see child laundering
) and the creator of an informational website on international adoption called www.adoptinginternationally.com. He has been interviewed and submitted content on the subject to a wide variety of news outlets across the world including National Public Radio, ABC News
, Al Jazeera
, The New York Times
, The Salt Lake Tribune
, CBC Radio
, and Radio Netherlands
to name a few.
He recently presented on adoption issues at the Korean Women’s Development Institute in Seoul, Korea; the Second International Symposium on Korean Adoption Studies in Seoul, Korea; and (as an independent expert) at the Hague
Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the Hague Adoption Convention.
His law review article, Child Laundering
, written in 2005, won Cumberland's inaugural Lightfoot, Franklin and White Faculty Scholarship Award for the most significant scholarly work published during the preceding year, and is consistently listed in the 10 Most Popular Articles in the bepress Legal Series.
His own family's international adoption
, discovery that their children were stolen, and ultimately successful, though arduous, six year search for the girls' original birth family in India
was featured on NPR's Morning Edition
titled Adoption Stories Gone Bad, and by ABC News
.
from the University of Cincinnati College of Law
. He is an internationally recognized expert in the field of intercountry adoption, and a nationally recognized expert in Bioethics
and Biotechnology
; Reproductive Constitutional law; Family and Juvenile law; and Law and Religion
. He has testified before legislative committees in the U.S. Congress, as well as five states on constitutional
issues.
Smolin joined the Cumberland faculty in 1987 after clerking for Senior Judge George Edwards
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1986-1987. Prior to that Smolin worked in a psychiatric hospital. He has also served as an adjunct professor at the interdenominational Beeson Divinity School
.
Smolin is the author of over 35 articles, primarily published as law review
articles, though some of his works have appeared in journals such as First Things
.
, child trafficking and child laundering
. Two articles gaining attention are available for download at bepress legal repository.
on the subject of stolen babies from Guatemala
, (see Human trafficking
; Child laundering
) after both the US Department of Justice and the Bureau of Consular Affairs
at the US State Department declined to be interviewed and declined to comment on the subject. Smolin referred to his own situation involving his stolen adopted daughters and said that there is no easy solution to child laundering
because it is usually successful and is too often the perfect crime
. He went on to say that the Office of Children's Issues
at the State Department should immediately facilitate DNA testing of the children and mothers who claim their children were stolen. He said adoptive parents should attempt to acquire DNA testing of their adoptive children so that they can form partnerships with the birth family.
because the huge amount of money channelled into adopting a child pales in comparison to the relatively small amount of money that could, in many circumstances, be used to reunite broken families and improve conditions within the child's culture and country of origin. He states the need to:
Smolin also believes that without a safe adoption system, comparatively wealthy families seeking to adopt children from impoverished nations are in a position to exploit that poverty, and where $20–30,000 may be spent to adopt a child, several hundred dollars may be all that is needed to reunite a child with that child's family and substantially improve conditions within the child's community. In general he believes that one major problem with international adoption is that the adoptions system is corrupted by far too much money and that there are no real consequences for violating adoption regulations.
On June 16, 2009 Smolin debated Jane Aronson
on the topic of celebrity adoptions for CBC Radio
. Both showed appreciation for one another with Smolin stating he admired Aronson's work in helping orphanages and improving international communities which are the sources for adoptive children, and Aronson stating "I'm glad to be on the program with you David because you're a smart and warm human being."
Aronson stated the issue is poverty and that there is no social services network to provide for the families. Smolin's views are, in part, stated above. The full audio can be found here: CBC radio broadcast: Celebrity Adoption The Podcast for Tuesday June 16, 2009
, hosted a Symposium on International adoption
. The purpose was to "take advantage of the gathered expertise to explore the question of how international adoption can be reformed to ensure respect for the rights and dignity of birth families, children and adoptive families [the adoption triad].".
Richard Cross, a senior special agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] assigned to the ICE Human Trafficking Unit in Seattle, Washington, spoke at the event. His entire lecture and audio file from the lecture are available for download on Cumberland's website.
The site is also based, in part, on the Smolin's personal experience in the field of international adoption, and the Smolins are unabashedly dedicated to reforming intercountry adoption "so that it may consistently and reliably assist all members of the adoption triad (birth families, adoptees, and adoptive families)."
Smolin heads Cumberland Law School's Center for Biotechnology, Law, and Ethics
, a center unlike any other of its kind in the United States. Research focuses on contemporary bioethical dilemmas and issues related to the Center's Annual Symposium
, which is typically co-sponsored by the Cumberland Law Review
.
The Center has attracted numerous experts including ethicist Gregory Pence
, atmospheric scientist John Christy
, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis
. Each year the Cumberland Law Review
typically publishes an issue featuring articles by visiting speakers.
advocate but approaches the international movement with concerns, which can be summed up in the conclusion to his paper Will International Human Rights Be Used as a Tool of Cultural Genocide? The Interaction of Human Rights Norms
, Religion
, Culture
, and Gender
published by the Journal of Law and Religion.
Smolin's basic view regarding the scope of the international movement is that not all worthy human causes deserve to be labeled or acted upon as a right. He believes that doing so could erode or destroy the most basic human rights if the international movement gained enough power to enact all of its goals. His quotation is as follows:
is an internationally recognized theoretical physicist.
His wife is Desiree Smolin.
Cumberland School of Law
Cumberland School of Law is an ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The 11th oldest law school in the United States, it is 160 years old and has more than 11,000 graduates. Its alumni include two United States Supreme Court Justices; Nobel Peace Prize recipient...
in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
where he is the Harwell G. Davis Chair in Constitutional Law, the director for Cumberland School of Law's Center for Biotechnology, Law, and Ethics
Cumberland School of Law's Center for Biotechnology, Law, and Ethics
The Center for Biotechnology, Law and Ethics is a bioethics, biotechnology, and biotechnology law research center of Cumberland School of Law located on the Samford University campus in Birmingham, Alabama...
, and faculty advisor for the Law, Science and Technology Society.
Smolin is one of the world's leading academic experts on international adoption
International adoption
International adoption is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple becomes the legal and permanent parents of a child that is a national of a different country...
scandals (see child laundering
Child laundering
Child laundering is the stealing and selling of children to adopting parents under false pretenses. Often the adoption agency or adoption facilitator hides or falsifies the child's origin to make the child appear to be a legitimate orphan by manipulating birth certificates, intake records, or...
) and the creator of an informational website on international adoption called www.adoptinginternationally.com. He has been interviewed and submitted content on the subject to a wide variety of news outlets across the world including National Public Radio, ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Salt Lake Tribune
The Salt Lake Tribune
The Salt Lake Tribune is the largest-circulated daily newspaper in the U.S. city of Salt Lake City. It is distributed by Newspaper Agency Corporation, which also distributes the Deseret News. The Tribune — or "Trib," as it is locally known — is currently owned by the Denver-based MediaNews Group....
, CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
, and Radio Netherlands
Radio Netherlands
Radio Netherlands Worldwide is a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands...
to name a few.
He recently presented on adoption issues at the Korean Women’s Development Institute in Seoul, Korea; the Second International Symposium on Korean Adoption Studies in Seoul, Korea; and (as an independent expert) at the Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the Hague Adoption Convention.
His law review article, Child Laundering
Child laundering
Child laundering is the stealing and selling of children to adopting parents under false pretenses. Often the adoption agency or adoption facilitator hides or falsifies the child's origin to make the child appear to be a legitimate orphan by manipulating birth certificates, intake records, or...
, written in 2005, won Cumberland's inaugural Lightfoot, Franklin and White Faculty Scholarship Award for the most significant scholarly work published during the preceding year, and is consistently listed in the 10 Most Popular Articles in the bepress Legal Series.
His own family's international adoption
International adoption
International adoption is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple becomes the legal and permanent parents of a child that is a national of a different country...
, discovery that their children were stolen, and ultimately successful, though arduous, six year search for the girls' original birth family in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
was featured on NPR's Morning Edition
Morning Edition
Morning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...
titled Adoption Stories Gone Bad, and by ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
.
Career
Smolin graduated first in his class and Order of the CoifOrder of the Coif
The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. A student at an American law school who earns a Juris Doctor degree and graduates in the top 10 percent of his or her class is eligible for membership if the student's law school has a chapter of the...
from the University of Cincinnati College of Law
University of Cincinnati College of Law
The University of Cincinnati College of Law is the fourth oldest continually running law school in the United States and a founding member of the Association of American Law Schools. It was started in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School...
. He is an internationally recognized expert in the field of intercountry adoption, and a nationally recognized expert in Bioethics
Bioethics
Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
and Biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
; Reproductive Constitutional law; Family and Juvenile law; and Law and Religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. He has testified before legislative committees in the U.S. Congress, as well as five states on constitutional
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
issues.
Smolin joined the Cumberland faculty in 1987 after clerking for Senior Judge George Edwards
George C. Edwards (Michigan jurist)
George C. Edwards, Jr. was a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1956 until 1962 and judge on the United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals from 1963-1995....
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1986-1987. Prior to that Smolin worked in a psychiatric hospital. He has also served as an adjunct professor at the interdenominational Beeson Divinity School
Beeson Divinity School
The Beeson Divinity School of Samford University is an interdenominational evangelical divinity school. The current dean is Timothy George.Though located on the campus of a Baptist university, Beeson remains interdenominational...
.
Smolin is the author of over 35 articles, primarily published as law review
Law review
A law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association...
articles, though some of his works have appeared in journals such as First Things
First Things
First Things is an ecumenical journal focused on creating a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The journal is inter-denominational and inter-religious, representing a broad intellectual tradition of Christian and Jewish critique of contemporary society...
.
Intercountry adoption
Much of Smolin's recent academic work regards international adoptionInternational adoption
International adoption is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple becomes the legal and permanent parents of a child that is a national of a different country...
, child trafficking and child laundering
Child laundering
Child laundering is the stealing and selling of children to adopting parents under false pretenses. Often the adoption agency or adoption facilitator hides or falsifies the child's origin to make the child appear to be a legitimate orphan by manipulating birth certificates, intake records, or...
. Two articles gaining attention are available for download at bepress legal repository.
Recent works
The first article won Cumberland Law School's first annual Lightfoot award for most significant scholarly paper published during the preceding year and is consistently listed in the 10 Most Popular Articles in the bepress Legal Series:- Child Laundering: How the Intercountry Adoption System Legitimizes and Incentivizes the Practices of Buying, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Stealing Children, also published by the Wayne Law Review.
- Unpublished: Child Laundering As Exploitation: Applying Anti-Trafficking Norms to Intercountry Adoption Under the Coming Hague Regime
- The Two Faces of Intercountry Adoption: The Significance of the Indian Adoption Scandals, Seton Hall Law Review; http://www.adoptinginternationally.com/analysis/articles/indianscandallaws.pdf http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=david_smolin and
- Intercountry Adoption as Child Trafficking, Valparaiso Law Review http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=david_smolin.
Al Jazeera interview - Stolen Babies - People and Power segment
On June 24, 2009 Smolin appeared in an interview with Al JazeeraAl Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
on the subject of stolen babies from Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, (see Human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
; Child laundering
Child laundering
Child laundering is the stealing and selling of children to adopting parents under false pretenses. Often the adoption agency or adoption facilitator hides or falsifies the child's origin to make the child appear to be a legitimate orphan by manipulating birth certificates, intake records, or...
) after both the US Department of Justice and the Bureau of Consular Affairs
Bureau of Consular Affairs
The Bureau of Consular Affairs is a bureau of the United States Department of State within that department's management office. The mission of the Bureau is to administer laws, formulate regulations and implement policies relating to the broad range of consular services and immigration. , the...
at the US State Department declined to be interviewed and declined to comment on the subject. Smolin referred to his own situation involving his stolen adopted daughters and said that there is no easy solution to child laundering
Child laundering
Child laundering is the stealing and selling of children to adopting parents under false pretenses. Often the adoption agency or adoption facilitator hides or falsifies the child's origin to make the child appear to be a legitimate orphan by manipulating birth certificates, intake records, or...
because it is usually successful and is too often the perfect crime
Perfect crime
Perfect crime is a colloquial term used in law and fiction to characterize crimes that are undetected, unattributed to a perpetrator, or else unsolved as a kind of technical achievement on the part of the perpetrator....
. He went on to say that the Office of Children's Issues
Office of Children's Issues
The Office of Children's Issues is an agency of the Bureau of Consular Affairs, which in turn is part of the US Department of State. The Office of Children’s Issues was created in 1994 under the leadership of Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mary Ryan and that of her successor...
at the State Department should immediately facilitate DNA testing of the children and mothers who claim their children were stolen. He said adoptive parents should attempt to acquire DNA testing of their adoptive children so that they can form partnerships with the birth family.
Celebrity adoptions and the subsidiarity principle
Smolin has said that celebrity adoptions highlight the problems with intercountry adoption. While not being expressly opposed to celebrity adoption or international adoption, Smolin believes in the need for an implementation of the subsidiarity principle as it relates to international adoptionInternational adoption
International adoption is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple becomes the legal and permanent parents of a child that is a national of a different country...
because the huge amount of money channelled into adopting a child pales in comparison to the relatively small amount of money that could, in many circumstances, be used to reunite broken families and improve conditions within the child's culture and country of origin. He states the need to:
Reform international adoption by putting a priority on keeping children in their original family and within their community.
Smolin also believes that without a safe adoption system, comparatively wealthy families seeking to adopt children from impoverished nations are in a position to exploit that poverty, and where $20–30,000 may be spent to adopt a child, several hundred dollars may be all that is needed to reunite a child with that child's family and substantially improve conditions within the child's community. In general he believes that one major problem with international adoption is that the adoptions system is corrupted by far too much money and that there are no real consequences for violating adoption regulations.
Debate with Jane Aronson
On June 16, 2009 Smolin debated Jane Aronson
Jane Aronson
Jane Aronson is a doctor, with expertise in pediatric infectious diseases and adoption medicine.- Life and career:...
on the topic of celebrity adoptions for CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
. Both showed appreciation for one another with Smolin stating he admired Aronson's work in helping orphanages and improving international communities which are the sources for adoptive children, and Aronson stating "I'm glad to be on the program with you David because you're a smart and warm human being."
Aronson stated the issue is poverty and that there is no social services network to provide for the families. Smolin's views are, in part, stated above. The full audio can be found here: CBC radio broadcast: Celebrity Adoption The Podcast for Tuesday June 16, 2009
Cumberland School of Law Symposium on International Adoption
On April 15, 2005 Smolin, with the cooperation of Cumberland School of LawCumberland School of Law
Cumberland School of Law is an ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The 11th oldest law school in the United States, it is 160 years old and has more than 11,000 graduates. Its alumni include two United States Supreme Court Justices; Nobel Peace Prize recipient...
, hosted a Symposium on International adoption
International adoption
International adoption is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple becomes the legal and permanent parents of a child that is a national of a different country...
. The purpose was to "take advantage of the gathered expertise to explore the question of how international adoption can be reformed to ensure respect for the rights and dignity of birth families, children and adoptive families [the adoption triad].".
Richard Cross, a senior special agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] assigned to the ICE Human Trafficking Unit in Seattle, Washington, spoke at the event. His entire lecture and audio file from the lecture are available for download on Cumberland's website.
Richard Cross, the lead federal investigator for the prosecution of Lauryn Galindo for visa fraud and money laundering involved in Cambodian adoptions, estimated that most of the 800 adoptions Galindo facilitated were fraudulent--either based on fraudulent paperwork, coerced/induced/recruited relinquishments, babies bought, identities of the children switched, etc.
Adopting Internationally website
Recently Smolin, along with his wife, launched www.adoptinginternationally.com, a website meant to provide information regarding "the complex issues associated with international adoption." The site includes personal stories and academic analysis.The site is also based, in part, on the Smolin's personal experience in the field of international adoption, and the Smolins are unabashedly dedicated to reforming intercountry adoption "so that it may consistently and reliably assist all members of the adoption triad (birth families, adoptees, and adoptive families)."
Biotechnology, law and ethics
Smolin heads Cumberland Law School's Center for Biotechnology, Law, and Ethics
Cumberland School of Law's Center for Biotechnology, Law, and Ethics
The Center for Biotechnology, Law and Ethics is a bioethics, biotechnology, and biotechnology law research center of Cumberland School of Law located on the Samford University campus in Birmingham, Alabama...
, a center unlike any other of its kind in the United States. Research focuses on contemporary bioethical dilemmas and issues related to the Center's Annual Symposium
Symposium
In ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...
, which is typically co-sponsored by the Cumberland Law Review
Cumberland Law Review
The Cumberland Law Review is a law review published by the students at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.Founded in 1970, the Review publishes three issues a year, with each issue averaging between 150 and 200 pages. Each issue consists of any combination of tributes, articles,...
.
The Center has attracted numerous experts including ethicist Gregory Pence
Gregory Pence
Gregory E. Pence is a professor in the department of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is an expert in the field of medical ethics who has written several books and has testified before the United States Congress and the California Senate about cloning and reproductive...
, atmospheric scientist John Christy
John Christy
John R. Christy is a climate scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville whose chief interests are satellite remote sensing of global climate and global climate change. He is best known, jointly with Roy Spencer, for the first successful development of a satellite temperature...
, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis
Artur Davis
Artur Genestre Davis is a former member of the United States House of Representatives for , serving from 2003 to 2011 when he was succeeded by Terri Sewell, also a member of the Democratic Party....
. Each year the Cumberland Law Review
Cumberland Law Review
The Cumberland Law Review is a law review published by the students at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.Founded in 1970, the Review publishes three issues a year, with each issue averaging between 150 and 200 pages. Each issue consists of any combination of tributes, articles,...
typically publishes an issue featuring articles by visiting speakers.
Human rights
Smolin is a human rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
advocate but approaches the international movement with concerns, which can be summed up in the conclusion to his paper Will International Human Rights Be Used as a Tool of Cultural Genocide? The Interaction of Human Rights Norms
Norm (philosophy)
Norms are concepts of practical import, oriented to effecting an action, rather than conceptual abstractions that describe, explain, and express. Normative sentences imply “ought-to” types of statements and assertions, in distinction to sentences that provide “is” types of statements and assertions...
, Religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, Culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, and Gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
published by the Journal of Law and Religion.
Smolin's basic view regarding the scope of the international movement is that not all worthy human causes deserve to be labeled or acted upon as a right. He believes that doing so could erode or destroy the most basic human rights if the international movement gained enough power to enact all of its goals. His quotation is as follows:
The reform of human rights law, if it were to be attempted, would involve severely reducing the scope of its aspirations. For example, it would certainly not be a small thing if international human rights law could be effective against genocide; international human rights law, it would seem, has dissipated its moral force and its efforts by offering itself to be used by virtually every cause that can be placed in the idiom of ‘rights-talk.’ Not every worthy cause or human good can or should be transformed into an international ‘right.’ Religion has had to learn, sometimes only through painful and destructive experience, that not all of its most cherished goods can or should be enforced by political means. The relatively young human rights movement needs to be taught the same lesson, hopefully before it seriously mars its reputation by destroying the very rights it was designed to protect. Until and unless a severe winnowing of the goals and norms of international human rights law occurs, religious believers, and people of good will who believe in intermediary institutions, religious freedom, and family rights, should be warned. For the great contemporary protector of rights, the international human rights movement, would, if given real power, constitute one of the gravest threats to those rights yet conceived by humanity.
Articles
- Overcoming Religious Objections to the Convention on the Rights of the ChildConvention on the Rights of the ChildThe United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children...
, Emory International Law ReviewEmory University School of LawEmory University School of Law is a first-tier US law school that is part of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. It is ranked #30 among ABA-approved law schools by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report...
. http://www.law.emory.edu/cms/site/index.php?id=1589&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=421&cHash=6902a6357f http://www.law.emory.edu/cms/site/index.php?id=3780 http://www.law.emory.edu/cms/site/fileadmin/journals/eilr/v20n1/SmolinCROP.pdf - Child Laundering, Wayne Law Review http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3679&context=expresso
- Religion, Education, and the Theoretically Liberral State: Contrasting Evangelical and Secularist Perspectives, 44 Journal of Catholic Studies 99 (2005) http://www.stjohns.edu/media/3/1a3d39a7e1fa4d1f87d20e0ad3b5ee5e.pdf
- Does Bioethics Provide Answers? Secular and Religious Bioethics and Our Procreative Future, 35 Cumberland Law ReviewCumberland Law ReviewThe Cumberland Law Review is a law review published by the students at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.Founded in 1970, the Review publishes three issues a year, with each issue averaging between 150 and 200 pages. Each issue consists of any combination of tributes, articles,...
473 (2005). - Nili Luo and David Smolin, Intercountry Adoption and China: Emerging Questions and Developing Chinese Perspectives, 35 Cumberland Law Review 597 (2005).
- The Two Faces of Intercountry Adoption: The Significance of the Indian Adoption Scandals, 35 Seton Hall Law Review 403 (2005) http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=david_smolin
- Intercountry Adoption as Child Trafficking, 39 Valparaiso Law Review 281 (2005) http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=david_smolin http://www.adoptinginternationally.com/analysis.php
- A Tale of Two Treaties: Furthering Social Justice Through the Redemptive Myths of Childhood, Emory International Law Review, 17 Emory International Law Review 967 (2003).
- Nontherapeutic Research with Children: The Virtues and Vices of Legal Uncertainty, 33 Cumberland Law Review 621 (2003). https://repository.unm.edu/dspace/bitstream/1928/2576/1/berg_submission+June+24+2005.pdf
- Should a Ban on Reproductive Cloning Include a Ban on Cloning for Purposes of Research or Therapy?, 32 Cumberland Law Review 487 (2002).
- Strategic Choices in the International Campaign Against Child Labor, 22 Human Rights QuarterlyHuman Rights QuarterlyHuman Rights Quarterly is a quarterly academic journal established in 1979 covering human rights. The journal is intended for scholars and policymakers and follows recent developments from both governments and non-governmental organizations. It includes research in policy analysis, book reviews,...
942 (2000) - Conflict and Ideology in the International Campaign Against Child Labour, 16 Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal 383 (1999)
- The Future of Genocide: A Spectacle for the New Millennium? 23 Fordham International Law JournalFordham International Law JournalThe Fordham International Law Journal is a student-run law journal associated with the Fordham University School of Law. According to the Washington and Lee journal rankings, it is the 8th most cited student-edited international and comparative law journal in the United States.- History :The...
460 (1999) - Review, First ThingsFirst ThingsFirst Things is an ecumenical journal focused on creating a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The journal is inter-denominational and inter-religious, representing a broad intellectual tradition of Christian and Jewish critique of contemporary society...
(August/September 1999): 56-58.: The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory, Richard A. Posner (Belknap/Harvard University Press). http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9908/reviews/smolin.html - Will International Human Rights Be Used as a Tool of Cultural Genocide? The Interaction of Human Rights Norms, Religion, Culture and Gender, Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 12, No. 1 (1995–1996), pp. 143–171.http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0748-0814(1995%2F1996)12%3A1%3C143%3AWIHRBU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-6
Conferences
- Organizer and presenter, "The Baby Market: The Future of High-Tech and Low-Tech Markets in Children", February 14, 2008.
- Speaker, Adoption Ethics and Accountability Conference, October 15–16, 2007, The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and Ethica, Inc., Arlington, Virginia.
- The Cultural Contexts of the Stem CellStem cellThis article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
Debate; Stem Cells: Diffusing the Rhetoric. North Carolina Central University School of LawNorth Carolina Central UniversityNorth Carolina Central University is a public historically black university in the University of North Carolina system, located in Durham, North Carolina, offering programs at the baccalaureate, master’s, professional and doctoral levels....
, Durham, North CarolinaDurham, North CarolinaDurham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
, April 13, 2007. Sponsored by Durham's Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Law Institute and the North Carolina Research Campus. - Speaker, Emory Law School, "What's Wrong With Rights for Children?" Oct. 20-21, 2005 Emory Law School Conference.
Quotes
- On international adoptionInternational adoptionInternational adoption is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple becomes the legal and permanent parents of a child that is a national of a different country...
- "The adoption myth is that the world is full of orphans who need families; celebrity adoptions remind us that the world is really full of poor families who need assistance. International adoption needs to be reformed by implementation of the subsidiarity principle: assistance toward maintaining the children in their original family and community must be attempted prior to any international placement. The money involved in international adoption needs to be controlled and transparent. ...Reform international adoption by putting a priority on keeping children in their original family and within their community." From Poor Children For Rich People
- On human injustice - "In considering the blind spots of other generations or cultures from a safe distance, it becomes clear that there is no atrocity, no horror, no injustice which human beings, under some circumstances, will not defend, or even posit as a positive good. Present an injustice or atrocity in a way that appeals to a combination of perceived self-interest, ideological fit, and group superiority, and all classes of human beings, regardless of intelligence, educational level, or social position, will likely embrace it. The atrocities we can critique from afar frequently fail to illumine our minds sufficiently to steer us away from those closer at hand, for self-interest, ideology, and pride are far more powerful blinders than we realize. Certainly it is difficult for a society as divided as contemporary America to come to a shared understanding on fundamental ethical issues." From Hardened Hearts, David M. Smolin, San Francisco Faith, 2001.
Education
- BA Applied Psychology, New College of FloridaNew College of FloridaNew College of Florida is a public liberal arts college located in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded originally as a private institution and is now an autonomous honors college of the State University System of Florida.-History:...
1980 - JD University of Cincinnati College of LawUniversity of Cincinnati College of LawThe University of Cincinnati College of Law is the fourth oldest continually running law school in the United States and a founding member of the Association of American Law Schools. It was started in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School...
1986 (1st in class) - Clerk Senior Judge George Edwards, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 1986–87
- Fellow of the Southern Center for Law and Ethics
Personal life
His mother is the playwright Pauline Smolin, and his father is Michael Smolin, an environmental and process engineer. His brother Lee SmolinLee Smolin
Lee Smolin is an American theoretical physicist, a researcher at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Waterloo. He is married to Dina Graser, a communications lawyer in Toronto. His brother is David M...
is an internationally recognized theoretical physicist.
His wife is Desiree Smolin.
Notable facts
- Smolin graduated first in his class and Order of the CoifOrder of the CoifThe Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. A student at an American law school who earns a Juris Doctor degree and graduates in the top 10 percent of his or her class is eligible for membership if the student's law school has a chapter of the...
from the University of Cincinnati College of LawUniversity of Cincinnati College of LawThe University of Cincinnati College of Law is the fourth oldest continually running law school in the United States and a founding member of the Association of American Law Schools. It was started in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School...
. - Smolin won Cumberland Law School's inaugural Lightfoot, Franklin and White Faculty Scholarship Award for the most significant scholarly work published during the preceding year for his paper Child Laundering published by Wayne Law ReviewWayne State University Law SchoolWayne State University Law School is located in the City of Detroit’s Cultural Center, and is one of the schools of Wayne State University. It is one of two public law schools in the state of Michigan. The Law School has educated and trained lawyers since 1927, and its 10,000+ alumni serve as...
. Co-winner was Professor Alyssa Di Russo for her paper.http://www.samford.edu/schools/law/news/archive/06-07/E-Newsletter%2004.02.07.pdfhttp://law.bepress.com/expresso/eps/749/ - The Smolin's adoption story was featured by National Public Radio titled Adoptions Stories Gone Bad.
External links
- Cumberland School of Law
- Selected Works of David Smolin
- Rushton Distinguished Lecture Series: Reforming Intercountry Adoption
- Child Laundering: How the Intercountry Adoption System Legitimizes and Incentivizes the Practices of Buying, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Stealing Children
- Q Magazine Radio Interview on Celebrity Adoptions Podcast for Tuesday June 16, 2009 with Jane AronsonJane AronsonJane Aronson is a doctor, with expertise in pediatric infectious diseases and adoption medicine.- Life and career:...