William Fabricius
Research supports equal parenting time as protective for children
William Fabricius is Associate Professor of Psychology and Affiliated Faculty in Law and Behavioral Science at Arizona State University. His research examines the role of father-child relationships in protecting children’s mental and physical health, alongside basic research on children’s cognitive and social-cognitive development (including theory of mind). Fabricius has worked with Arizona state policymakers to translate this research into evidence-based family law — his work contributed to 2013 legislation establishing a de facto presumption of equal parenting time and decision-making for divorced or never-married parents.
Judge Philip Marcus
Retired family-court judge, writes and lectures in favour of the alienation framing
Judge Philip Marcus, born in the United Kingdom, pursued his legal education at Oxford University before immigrating to Israel in 1978. He served as a judge on the Jerusalem Magistrates Court and the Jerusalem Family Court from 1995 until his retirement in 2012. Throughout his tenure, Judge Marcus was instrumental in shaping family law in Israel, particularly in areas concerning child welfare and the rights of individuals with disabilities. Post-retirement, he has continued to influence the field through lectures and publications, sharing his extensive knowledge on family law and judicial practices with both national and international audiences.
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Joan S. Meier
Empirical research is widely cited by critics of the alienation framing
Joan S. Meier is a professor at George Washington University Law School, where she directs the university’s family-violence law research. Her empirical study of custody case outcomes found that courts credited abuse allegations less often when the accused parent raised a parental alienation claim in response — a finding widely cited by critics of how the alienation framing is used in family court. Her methodology has, in turn, drawn a published critique from researchers on the other side of the debate (Harman & Lorandos), and the exchange between them is ongoing and unresolved. See /understand/what-we-know for both sides of this specific exchange.