David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin
David M. Smolin
Born	New York City, US
Education	University of Cincinnati College of Law
Alma mater	New College of Florida
Known for	Director for The Center for Children, Law, and Ethics
Children	8
Scientific career
Fields	Law
Institutions	Cumberland School of Law

David Mark Smolin is a professor of law at

He 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,

Smolin is the author of over 35 articles, primarily published as law reviews, though some of his works have appeared in journals such as First Things.

Much of Smolin's academic work concerns

Reform international adoption by putting a priority on keeping children in their original family and within their community.[22]

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.^[21]

Debate with Jane Aronson

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.

Cumberland School of Law Symposium on International Adoption

On April 15, 2005 Smolin, with the cooperation of Cumberland School of Law, 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].".^[23]

Richard Cross, a senior special agent for

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.[25]

Adopting Internationally website

Smolin and his wife launched Adopting Internationally website, a website meant to provide information regarding "the complex issues associated with international adoption." The site includes personal stories and academic analysis.^[26]

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, a center unlike any other of its kind in the United States.^[27] Research focuses on contemporary bioethics 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

Smolin is a human rights 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.

Background

Education

• BA Applied Psychology, New College of Florida 1980
• JD University of Cincinnati College of Law 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

Smolin was born in New York City, USA. His mother was the playwright Pauline Smolin, and his father was Michael Smolin, an environmental and process engineer. His brother

His wife is Desiree Smolin. They have eight children, two of whom were adopted from India in 1998.

Articles

• Overcoming Religious Objections to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Emory International Law Review. [3] [4] ^{[permanent dead link]} [5] ^{[permanent dead link]}
• Child Laundering, Wayne Law Review [6]
• Religion, Education, and the Theoretically Liberal State: Contrasting Evangelical and Secularist Perspectives, 44 Journal of Catholic Studies 99 (2005) [7]
• Does Bioethics Provide Answers? Secular and Religious Bioethics and Our Procreative Future, 35 Cumberland Law Review 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) [8]
• Intercountry Adoption as Child Trafficking, 39 Valparaiso Law Review 281 (2005) [9] [10]
• 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). [11]
• 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 Quarterly 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 Journal 460 (1999)
• Review,
  Richard A. Posner (Belknap/Harvard University Press). [12]
• 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.[13]

Recent works

The first article won

• 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; [14] [15] and
• Intercountry Adoption as Child Trafficking, Valparaiso Law Review [16].

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 Cell Debate; Stem Cells: Diffusing the Rhetoric. North Carolina Central University School of Law, Durham, North Carolina
  , 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.

References

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 Aronson