Shared Custody Battle Goes Federal
Last week a federal lawsuit was filed against the state of Pennsylvania by the Indiana Civil Rights Council and like-minded groups such as the American Coalition for Fathers and Children. These and similar organizations plan to sue all 50 states and U.S. territories. At least 40 suits have already been filed, according to the Council.
The lawsuits use a wide range of constitutional grounds to argue that a child's parents both have an equal right to custody and directly challenge the commonly utilized legal standard known as "the best interest of the child."
The lawsuits ...
Pepe Le Pew? The Commission’s Report on Children in Foster Care
In late May the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care released its final report. The Commission "was charged to develop a practical set of policy recommendations to reform federal child welfare financing and strengthen court oversight of child welfare cases."
I must admit that I was and continue to be a bit skeptical about the Commission and its underlying premise. Who exactly charged the Commission with this mission? Who identified "child welfare financing" and "court oversight" as the critical issues facing child welfare and foster care?
The Commission was ...
Pregnant by God or Blessed for Adoption?
First there was adoption music, then adoption sermons, even adoption recipes, jewelry and an ISP. Adoption.com is a virtual adoption marketplace; everything adoption is for sale except the children.
Then the National Center for Lesbian Rights sued Adoption.com for discriminating against same-sex couples.
The lawsuit alleges that among other for-profit services, Adoption.com permits prospective adoptive parents to post their personal profiles in hopes of connecting with potential birth mothers. They will not, however, permit same-sex couples to post their profiles.
Now ...
Confidential Child Welfare Records Released on the Internet
In another black eye for Florida's child-welfare agency, officials acknowledged that confidential records for nearly 4,000 abused and neglected children were available on the Internet until last week.
The files were accessible on the Web site of Kids Central, a privately run child welfare agency. They included the names of foster children, birth dates, Social Security numbers, photographs and case histories. They even provided directions and maps to children's foster homes.
Kids Central began phasing in the computer system, called CoBRIS, around April or May. It was ...
Pregnant by Jesus or Abducted for Adoption?
The story of Gilbert Deya, and his "miracle" babies, was first aired on the BBC Radio 4's Face the Facts. Apparently women are traveling from the UK to Nairobi to give "birth" to children in slum clinics.
According to a BBC investigation, Kenyan-born Deya prays over the childless women, some post-menopausal, and they are pronounced pregnant by Jesus. One woman gave birth every four months to a total of eleven children. Talk about faith-based initiatives!
When the British authorities did DNA tests on one of the "miracle" babies, however, the child was found to have no ...
States Clash Over Same-Sex Parental Rights
Four years ago, when courts in Vermont began recognizing the legality of same-sex civil unions, it was only a matter of time before cases came along to test whether sister states would give full faith and credit to those decisions.
The time has come.
One of the earliest cases to raise that issue is a same-sex parental rights challenge that has provoked a jurisdictional debate between Virginia and Vermont. According to an attorney for New York-based Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, it is also one of the earliest cases to test how state courts will respond to ...
The Circle School v. Pappert
Pennsylvania law mandates that all public, private, and parochial schools display the national flag in every classroom and provide for the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem at the beginning of each school day.
Like similar statutes in other states, the law allows private and parochial schools to opt out of its requirements on religious grounds, and gives students the option of refraining from participating in the recitation and saluting the national flag on religious or personal grounds. However, it also requires school supervising officials ...