Levin College of Law
Welcome to UF LAW

Nancy E. Dowd

Emeritus David H. Levin Chair in Family Law
Emeritus University of Florida Distinguished Professor
Emeritus Professor of Law
Emeritus Director, Center on Children & Families

CV

SSRN

bepress (SelectedWorks)

Phone:
(352) 273-0930

About

Professor Dowd researches and writes in multiple areas, including critical theory, children’s rights, social justice, juvenile justice, family law, work/family policy, and nontraditional families. Her interdisciplinary scholarship and collaborative work have evolved along several paths. Her work has (1) fostered the interconnection between work and family law and policy, applying an overarching gender analysis of work/family policy; (2) elevated the understanding of single parent families as a distinctive nontraditional family form deserving of support; (3) incorporated masculinities analysis within feminist theory generally, and applied that analysis specifically to fatherhood; (4) comprehensively critiqued and offered reforms of the juvenile justice system; and (5) used critical analysis of the life course of Black boys to develop the concept of developmental equality and propose comprehensive public policy proposals to achieve developmental equality for all children.

Professor Dowd has recently partnered with renowned developmental scholar Dr. Margaret Beale Spencer of the University of Chicago on a project called “Radical Brown,” a re-reading of Brown v. Board of Education infused with developmental science and critical legal analysis to articulate Brown’s contemporary meaning and mandate. Their book will be published by Harvard University Press in 2022.

Her book Reimagining Equality: A New Deal for Children of Color (2018) focused on the life course of Black boys and interlocking systems that create a trajectory of failure. The book developed a model of developmental equality (the right of every child to be supported to their maximum developmental capacity), arguing this is the right of every child. She argues for developmental equality, which would require dismantling structures that create children’s hierarchies and putting in place comprehensive supports, outlining in a comprehensive legislative model called A New Deal for Children.

Her 2010 book on masculinities, The Man Question: Male Privilege and Subordination (2010), explored masculinities theories as a means to expand gender analysis and argued for incorporating other hierarchies that affect gender, particularly race and class. That volume was an outgrowth of her earlier analysis of fatherhood, Redefining Fatherhood (2000). Her earliest book in the area of families, In Defense of Single Parent Families (1997), identified the wrongful stigmatization of single parent families and proposed a new framework of family support.

She is also the editor of two collections on juvenile justice reform, Justice for Kids (2011) and A New Juvenile Justice System (2015). In Fall 2018 and 2019, Professor Dowd served as Distinguished Guest Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark, and was the 2017 Fulbright-Lund University Distinguished Chair in Public International Law at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and Lund University, Sweden. She served as Director of the Center on Children and Families from 2009-2015.

Education

J.D., Loyola University of Chicago School of Law (cum laude)
University of Illinois
M.A., University of Illinois
B.A., University of Connecticut (with honors)

Teaching and Scholarship

Constitutional Law, Family Law, Feminist Jurisprudence, Employment Discrimination

Courses

  • Constitutional Law
  • Race and Justice

Publications

Books

  • Radical Brown (Harvard University Press, forthcoming 2022) (with Margaret Beale Spencer)
  • Reimagining Equality: A New Deal for Children of Color (NYU Press, 2018) [Link]
  • A New Juvenile Justice System: Total Reform for a Broken System (editor) (NYU Press, 2015) [Link]
  • Justice for Kids: Keeping Kids Out of the Juvenile Justice System (editor and author of introduction) (NYU Press, 2011) [Link]
  • The Man Question: Male Subordination and Privilege (NYU Press, 2010)
  • Handbook: Children, Culture and Violence (Nancy Dowd, Dorothy Singer, and Robin Fretwell Wilson, eds.) (Sage Publications, 2006)
  • Feminist Legal Theory: An Anti-Essentialist Reader (Nancy Dowd and Michelle Jacobs, eds.) (NYU Press, 2003)
  • Redefining Fatherhood (NYU Press, 2000)
  • In Defense of Single Parent Families (NYU Press, 1997) [Link]

Articles and Book Chapters

  • Black Lives Matter: Trayvon Martin, the Abolition of Juvenile Justice and #BlackYouthMatter, 31 U. Fla. J. L. Pub. Pol’y 43 (2020) [SSRN]
  • Children’s Equality Rights: Every Child’s Right to Develop to Their Full Capacity, 41 Cardozo Law Review 1367 (2020) [SSRN]
  • Expanding the Framework of Family Issues: Bringing Children’s Rights and Children’s Perspectives into Immigration, 7 Oslo Law Review 6 (2020) [SSRN]
  • Children’s Equality: The Centrality of Race, Gender and Class, 47 Fordham Urban Law Journal 231 (special issue centered on Reimagining Equality, initial essay for the issue) (2020) [SSRN]
  • Children’s Equality: Strategizing a New Deal for Children, 47 Fordham Urban Law Journal 379 (special issue centered on Reimagining Equality, response essay for the issue) (2020) [SSRN]
  • Commentary on Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services Inc., in Feminist Judgments: Employment Discrimination, Opinions Rewritten (Ann McGill and Nicole Porter, eds) (Cambridge University Press 2020) [Link]
  • Rewritten Opinion, Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, in Feminist Judgments: Reproductive Justice Rewritten (Feminist Judgments book series) (Kimberly Mutcherson, ed.) (Cambridge University Press 2020) [Link]
  • Radical ACEs: Building Resilience and Triggering Structural Change, (symposium issue on early childhood), 71 (1) Fla. L. Rev. F. 1 (2019) [SSRN]
  • Early Childhood Matters, (introduction to symposium volume on early childhood) 71 (1) Fla. L. Rev. F. 1 (2019) (with Teresa Drake) [SSRN]
  • Equality, Equity and Dignity, 37 Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice 1 (2019) [SSRN]
  • A Time for Bold Visions for Children, 56 Family Court Review 346 (2018) [SSRN]
  • Straight Out of Compton: Developmental Equality and a Critique of the Compton School Litigation, 45 Capital L. Rev. 199 (2017) (Wells Lecture) [SSRN]
  • John Moore Jr: Moore v. City of East Cleveland and Children’s Constitutional Arguments, 85 Fordham L. Rev. 2603 (2017) [SSRN]
  • Bridging the Work/Family Divide: Implications of a Broader Sex Discrimination Analysis for Men’s Work/Family Issues, 67 Fla. L. Rev. Forum 122 (2016) [SSRN]
  • Black Boys Matter: Developmental Equality, 45 Hofstra L. Rev. 47 (2016) [SSRN]
  • A Developmental Equality Model for the Best Interests of Children, in Implementing Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Best Interests, Welfare and Well Being (Elaine E. Sutherland and LesleyAnne Barnes Macfarlane, eds) (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2016) [SSRN]
  • Introduction, in A New Juvenile Justice System: Total Reform for a Broken System (NYU Press 2015)
  • Collaborative Law at Divorce in the United States, in “Le ragioni degli altri”. Mediazione e famiglia tra conflitto e dialogo: una prospettiva comparatistica ed interdisciplinare (“The reasons of the others.” Mediation and family between conflict and dialogue: a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective) (edited by Elena Urso) 2014).
  • Unfinished Equality: The Case of Black Boys, 2 Ind. J.L. & Soc. Equality 36 (2013) (Symposium issue on social equality: looking forward and looking back) [SSRN]
  • What Men? The Essentialist Error of The End of Men, 93 B.U. L. Rev. 1203 [SSRN]
  • Asking the Man Question: Masculinities Analysis and Feminist Theory, in Exploring Masculinities: Feminist Legal Theory Reflections, edited by Michael Thomson and Martha Fineman (Ashgate 2013)
  • Conceptualizing Elder Law, in Different Approaches to Elder Law: Introduction to the Norma Elder Law Research Environment (Ann Numhauser-Henning, ed) (Norma Elder Law Workshop Lund 19 March 2013) (2013)
  • A Review of Fifty Years of Family Law: Essays for Stephen Cretney, 46 Fam. L.Q. 473 (2013)
  • Sperm, Testosterone, Masculinities, and Fatherhood (Nevada L.J. symposium issue on masculinities scholarship), 13 Nev. L.J. 101 (2013) [SSRN]
  • Fatherhood and Equality: Reconfiguring Masculinities, XLV Suffolk U. L. Rev. 1049 (2012) (Donahue Lecture) [SSRN]
  • Masculinities and Law: Feminist Legal Theory Meets Masculinities Theory (with Nancy Levit and Ann McGinley) in Masculinities and Law: A Multidimensional Approach (edited by Frank Rudy Cooper and Ann McGinley) (New York University Press, 2012)
  • Introduction, in Justice for Kids: Keeping Kids Out of the Juvenile Justice System (NYU Press 2011)
  • Asking the Man Question: Masculinities Analysis and Feminist Theory, 33 Harv. J.L. & Gender 415 (2010) (introduction to symposium issue on masculinities in feminist theory) [SSRN]
  • The “F” Factor: Fineman as Method and Substance, Book Review of Feminist and Queer Theory: Intimate Encounters, Uncomfortable Conversations (Martha Fineman, Jack Jackson and Adam Romero, eds. 2009), 59 Emory L.J. (2010) [SSRN]
  • (Re)Constructing the Framework of Work and Family, 16.2 Wash. & Lee J. C.R. & Soc. Just. (2010) [SSRN]
  • Foreword, Fla. J. L. & Pub. Pol’y, special issue on family law (2009)
  • Boys, Masculinities and Juvenile Justice, J. Korean L. (2009) [SSRN]
  • Masculinities and Feminist Legal Theory, 13 Wis. Women’s L.J. (2008) [SSRN]
  • Multiple Parents/Multiple Fathers, 9 J.L. & Fam. Stud. 231 (2007) [SSRN]
  • Family: Legal and Public Policy Perspectives in The Chicago Companion to the Child (University of Chicago Press 2008)
  • Parentage at Birth: Birthfathers and Social Fatherhood, 14 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 909 (2006) [SSRN]
  • Fathers and the Supreme Court: Founding Fathers and Nurturing Fathers, 54 Emory L.J.l 1271 (2005) [SSRN]
  • “Redefining Fatherhood: From Genes and Dollars to Nurture,” in Genetic Ties and the Family: The Impact of Paternity Testing on Parents and Children (Mark A. Rothstein, Thomas H. Murray, Gregory E. Kaebnick, and Mary Anderlik Majumder, eds.) (Johns Hopkins University Press 2005).
  • “Bringing the Margin to the Center: Comprehensive Strategies for Work/Family Policies,” U. Cin. L. Rev. (2005) (symposium issue, Women’s Work is Never Done)
  • “Race, Gender, and Work/Family Conflict,” for symposium issue on the FMLA, 15 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol’y 219 (2004) [SSRN]
  • Diversity Matters: Race, Gender and Ethnicity in Legal Education, (with Kenneth Nunn and Jane Pendergast), U. Fla. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y (2004) [SSRN]
  • “A New Vision for Work and Family: Review of Sandra Berns, Women Going Backwards: Law and Change in a Family Unfriendly Society, Griffith L. Rev. (2003)
  • Law, Culture, and Family: The Transformative Power of Culture and the Limits of Law, 78 Chicago-Kent L. Rev. 101 (2003) (symposium issue on law and culture) [SSRN]
  • “Single Parent Adoption,” in Naomi Cahn and Joan Hollinger, eds., Adoption Reader (New York University Press, 2004)
  • ‘From Genes, Marriage and Money to Nurture: Redefining Fatherhood,’15 Cardozo Women’s L.J. 133 (2003) [SSRN]
  • 2001 Annual Survey of Family Law: United States for the Journal of the International Society of Family Law (2002) (Focus on Troxel v Granville)
  • “Gender and Law,” essay in Oxford University Press Companion to American Law (2002)
  • Symposium: Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What to Do About It; Panel: Who’s Minding the Baby? Remarks. 49 A. U. L. Rev. 987 (2000)
  • Resisting Essentialism and Hierarchy: A Critique of Work/Family Policies for Women Lawyers, 16 Harvard Blackletter L.J. 185 (2000)
  • Women’s, Men’s and Children’s Equalities: Some Reflections and Uncertainties, 6 S.Cal. Rev. L. & Women’s Stud. 587 (1997 (symposium issue, Taxing Women: Thoughts on a Gendered Economy) [SSRN]
  • Equality and Families, 1 Yearbook of New Zealand Juris. 81 (1997)
  • Rethinking Fatherhood, 48 Fla. L. Rev. 523 (1996)
  • Stigmatizing Single Parents, 18 Harv. Women’s L.J. 19 (1995) [SSRN]
  • A Feminist Analysis of Adoption. Review of Elizabeth Bartholet, Family Bonds: Adoption and the Politics of Parenting (1993), 107 Harv. L. Rev. 913 (1994) [SSRN]
  • Book Review, Family Law and Gender Bias: Comparative Perspectives (Barbara Stark, ed. 1992), 28 Fam. L. Quart. 153 (1994). [SSRN]
  • Family Values and Valuing Family: A Blueprint for Family Leave, 30 Harv. J. on Legis. 335 (1993) [SSRN]
  • Liberty vs. Equality: In Defense of Privileged White Males, Book Review of Richard Epstein, Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws (1992), 34 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 429 (1993) [SSRN]
  • Work and Family: Restructuring the Workplace, 32 Ariz. L. Rev. 1 (1990) [SSRN]
  • Envisioning Work and Family: A Critical Perspective on International Models, 26 Harv. J. on Legis. 311 (1989) (symposium issue on legislative approaches to work-family issues) [SSRN]
  • Work and Family: Gender Paradox and the Limitations of Discrimination Analysis in Restructuring the Workplace, 24 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 79 (1989) [SSRN]
  • The Metamorphosis of Comparable Worth, 20 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 833 (1986) [SSRN]
  • Maternity Leave: Taking Sex Differences Into Account, 54 Fordham L. Rev. 699 (1986) [SSRN]
  • The Test of Employee Status: Economic Realities and Title VII, 26 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 75 (1984) [SSRN]

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The Florida Constitutional Law Endowment in memory of Justice Ben F. Overton was created by Judge Karen Miller in 2013. This fund supports lectures and presentations by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

HISTORY

Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.

 

Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.

 

Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.

Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.

You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.

Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.