http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;The Supreme Court says a Native American child doesn’t have to be taken away from her adoptive parents and given to her biological father.
The justices ruled 5-4 Tuesday in a case about a federal law intended to keep Indian children from being taken from their homes and typically placed with non-Indian adoptive or foster parents.
This is a huge win.
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/2 ... y-veronica" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;he case hinged on the federal law aimed at placing American Indian children in foster or adoptive families who share their heritage. It arose in 1978 after advocates pointed out that a striking number of American Indian children were being placed outside their cultures, further diluting native societies.
Veronica was born to Brown, an Army reservist and member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, and Christinna Maldonado, a Hispanic mother of two.
The two had been engaged, but they broke off their relationship months before Veronica was born.
Before the birth, Maldonado gave Brown a choice between giving up his paternal rights or paying child support. Brown declined to give Maldonado money, but he later told attorneys that he didn’t mean to allow Veronica to be put up for adoption.
Meanwhile, the Capobiancos were stymied in their own efforts to have a child. After in vitro fertilization failed, they turned to adoption and met Maldonado through an agency.
They were with Maldonado when Veronica was born. Maldonado signed over custody to the Capobiancos, and the couple flew the infant to South Carolina, where adoption proceedings commenced.
