Update: October 2000
Judge Raab sent us a letter
on October 2, 2000, along
with the opinion from
another judge in New York.
Judge Feinberg, of the
Surrogates Court, used the
term "non-marital child of
the unmarried decedent" to
refer to a child.
This shows that some
judges are getting our
message and are using
appropriate terminology to
refer to children born to
unmarried parents.
Stop the "There are no 'illegitimate' children" |
Dear Editor: There are no "illegitimate" children, just "innocent" children. I wish to raise this issue with my colleagues of the bench so that children born to unmarried parents would not have to go through life sitgmatized by references. Throughout a recent decision, Clara C. v. William L., 181 Misc.2d 241, 692 N.Y.U.S.2d 569 (1999), a Family Court Judge continuously referred to a child born to unmarried parents as "illegitimate." Nevertheless, the West Key Number Summaries of the New York Supplement used the headings "Children Out-Of-Wedlock." In writing decisions concerning children born to unmarried parents, Judges should follow the lead of West and refer to such children as "children born to unmarried parents," or "non-marital children." The archaic reference to such children as "bastards" was long ago changed to "illegitimate" children. However, the offensive stigma remains by reference, and can result in an everlasting emotional trauma. I therefore urge my colleagues to completely discard in their decisions any reference to "illegitimate" children. There are no "illegitimate" children, only "innocent" ones. Very truly yours, Judge Ira J. Raab |