Supreme Court to Hear Adoption Case Involving Baby Veronica and American Indian Dad
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an adoption dispute involving a toddler named Veronica and an American Indian father who initially renounced his parental rights by text message.
The Supreme Court granted cert on Friday, report the New York Times, SCOTUSblog and The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. Matt and Melanie Capobianco are seeking the return of the daughter they adopted at birth who, at the age of 27 months, was ordered returned to her biological father. Though the father initially renounced responsibility for baby Veronica, he sought her return when he learned the mother had given up the girl for adoption.
At issue is whether a law designed to preserve American Indian families applies when a noncustodial father relinquishes rights to a non-Indian mother. The law, the Indian Child Welfare Act, seeks to keep children within Indian families and tribal settings in custody disputes.
The case is Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl. How Appealing links to a story on the case in Charleston City Paper.
