Michael H. V. Gerald D.
a case study of political ideology disguised in legal thought
pp. 183-200
in: Jan Broekman, Francis J. Mootz (eds), The semiotics of law in legal education, Berlin, Springer, 2011Abstract
Semiotic analyses are applied to a question of family law. By examining the language used by the Supreme Court in the title case, Michael H. v. Gerald D., along with the case briefs, lower court opinions, other Supreme Court cases and prior legal scholarship, one determines the requisite relationships between father and child and father and mother in order for a legal tie to exist between a father and his biological child. The chapter focuses on the necessary circumstances and also the political ideology that distinguishes these familial ties. Legal semiotics delivers the tools to analyze the goals of such underlying political ideologies.