The FLC along with the UBalt Law Family Law Association, UBalt Outlaw, and FreeState Justice, held a panel on parentage and third-party custody rights. Speakers included Professor Nancy Polikoff, American University, Washington College of Law; Jennifer Kent, Managing Attorney, FreeState Justice; LaTreisha Cox, former client of the FLC; and Steffani Langston and Taylor LoSchiavo, Ms. Cox’s former FLC student attorneys. The panel addressed the developing law of parentage rights for same-sex parents. The FLC students prepared and circulated a detailed pamphlet summarizing Maryland, the Uniform Parentage Act, and other state laws this area.
FLC student attorneys created this blogpost about the multi-year project they have worked on as part of the Reproductive Justice Inside coalition to help support, pass, and monitor compliance of a Maryland law requiring correctional facilities to provide freely menstrual products to their residents.
"Since 1978, the Maryland female prison population has increased by more than 300% - a trend that is not localized only to Maryland. In fact, women are the fastest growing segment within the prison population in the United States. Jails, prisons, and other facilities lack in their response to the needs of this changing population. In Maryland, we hear stories of women who desperately need menstrual products. Some women on the inside go as far as making tampons from toilet paper and the insides of panty liners or mattresses. Other women tear up bedsheets to use as pads or choose to decline family visits because they have bled through their uniforms due to a lack of and/or the poor quality of menstrual products. Unfortunately, for one woman, this makeshift product led to toxic shock syndrome and an emergency hysterectomy.
The Bronfein Family Law Clinic at the University of Baltimore School of Law represents clients and engages in community-based projects regarding legal family issues. The Clinic joined the Reproductive Justice Inside (RJI) Coalition, a Maryland-wide project to address the needs of incarcerated individuals seeking quality and timely sexual and reproductive healthcare."