Standing Strong for Native Families
A website from the Native American Rights Fund
An Allendale County Indian tribe, the Yamassee Nation, scored somewhat of a victory in court Monday afternoon. A family court judge determined a Philadelphia County court order demanding the tribe surrender a 2-year-old child has no legal standing in South Carolina. Read the full article at the Channel 12 WRDW website.
Protesters lined up in front of the courthouse while attorneys rushed inside for a closed-door hearing, where a biological father was fighting for custody of an Indian daughter. It was like hitting “replay” on the Baby Veronica case. Some of the same attorneys were in court again last week. And many of the same protesters … Read more
Baby Veronica returned to adoptive parents (Washington Post, 9/24/2013) ‘Baby Veronica’ Handed Over To Adoptive Parents, Matt and Melanie Capobianco (Huffington Post, 9/24/2013) Capobiancos returning to James Island with Veronica (wistv.com, 9/24/2013) “Baby Veronica” handed over to adoptive parents, Cherokee Nation confirms (CBS News, 9/24/2013) Biological father Dusten Brown hands over Cherokee child ‘Baby Veronica’ … Read more
In a case that is drawing comparisons to a long-running adoption dispute over a 3-year-old Cherokee girl, an Oklahoma County District Court judge awarded custody this week of a 4-month-old infant to the Absentee Shawnee Tribe following a South Carolina couple’s attempt to adopt her. Read the full story at the Washington Post website. Read … Read more
South Carolina governor comments on Baby Veronica (fox23.com, 9/9/2013) Father of Cherokee girl in middle of custody dispute files new appeal to Okla. Supreme Court (Washington Post, 9/6/2013) Baby Veronica case: Dusten Brown files second appeal with state supreme court (Tulsa World, 9/6/2013) In re Adoptive Couple of Baby Girl (“Baby Veronica”): Okla. Supreme Court … Read more
Baby Veronica to stay with biological dad for now, court rules (Today, 9/3/2013) New twist in Native American child custody dispute (CNN, 9/3/2013) Okla. Supreme Court issues stay in custody case (USA Today, 9/3/2013) Father of Cherokee girl in middle of custody dispute appeals to the Oklahoma Supreme Court (Washington Post, 9/2/2013)
Even worse, says Mason, is the blatant marketing and selling of Indian children by lawyers who make anywhere from $25,000 to copy00,000 in legal fees for these children. “Anyone can do the math and realize that this is an enormous industry in the trafficking of Indian children,” says Mason. “And they’re preying on poor, uneducated Native … Read more
Cherokees rally for Dusten Brown in Baby Veronica case (Tulsa World, 8/27/2013) Veronica case: Motion filed to suspend visits from Capobiancos (Native Times, 8/27/2013) Adoptive parents visit Baby Veronica, but future visits being challenged (Tulsa World, 8/26/2013) ‘Baby Girl’ Veronica Case: Lawyer Asks Judge To Suspend Adoptive Parents’ Visitation Rights (Huffington Post, 8/26/2013) Toddler’s guardian … Read more
The adoptive parents and birth father of a girl known as “Baby Veronica” have fought for custody of her since shortly after she was born in 2009. CNN provides a short timeline of events since Veronica’s birth in September 2009. See the timeline at the CNN website.
Charleston County sheriff working with agencies to locate Veronica (live5.com, 8/12/2013) Dusten Brown, biological father of ‘Baby Veronica’, posts $10,000 bail, released on bond (kjrh.com, 8/12/2013) Cherokee man cleared to go to Okla. for hearing on disputed adoption of his daughter, 3 (Birmingham Star, 8/12/2013) Brown’s whereabouts unknown; Tribal hearing set for Monday (abcnews4.com, 8/11/2013) … Read more
Baby Veronica’s biological family says their offer of shared custody was rejected (Tulsa World, 8/7/2013) Veronica’s Oklahoma family on edge as South Carolina authorities consider custody action (The Post and Courier, 8/7/2013) Baby Veronica’s family pins hopes on tribal, state courts (Tulsa World, 8/7/2013) SC judge orders Cherokee girl at center of adoption dispute transferred … Read more
The Supreme Court, over the dissents of two Justices, cleared the way Friday afternoon for a South Carolina couple to adopt the child known publicly as “Baby Veronica.” In a three-sentence order, the full Court turned aside — without an explanation — the plea by the birth father to delay a state court ruling permitting … Read more
Baby Veronica adoption finalized by S.C. court (Tulsa World, 8/1/2013) Baby Veronica’s father says she won’t go back ‘voluntarily’ (Tulsa World, 8/1/2013) Justice Roberts weighs decision on Baby Veronica custody (Tulsa World, 8/2/2013) Dusten Brown, ‘Baby Girl’ Veronica’s Birth Father, Asks Daughter’s Adoptive Parents To Reconsider (Huffington Post, 8/1/2013) Attorney: Okla. girl will be devastated … Read more
Read the press release. Read the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in South Carolina. From the press release…The litigation was filed on behalf of Veronica, by Angel Smith, an attorney appointed as counsel for the child by the courts of the Cherokee Nation, in U.S. District Court in South Carolina, and asks the … Read more
A family court in Charleston, S.C., plans to have a hearing Wednesday (7/31) to decide how – not if – to transfer custody of Baby Veronica back to her adoptive parents. Read about this in Tulsa World.
From the complaint: ICWA tells a single unmarried woman who wishes to choose adoptive parents for her unborn child—a choice that would be respected under her State’s laws—that she must either terminate her pregnancy, raise the child herself, or surrender her child to a Tribe that is a total stranger to her and to the … Read more
This decision follows the U.S. Supreme Court decision from May, 2013. The South Carolina Supreme Court held that the Indian Child Welfare Act’s (ICWA) placement preferences did not apply, and father’s consent to adoption was not required. Read the opinion on the National Indian Law Library website.
Native American Rights Fund, National Congress of American Indians, and National Indian Child Welfare Association announce pursuit of civil rights lawsuit for Baby Veronica. Three of the nation’s leading tribal organizations announced today they are in the early stages of pursuing litigation to protect the civil rights of Veronica Brown, acitizen of the Cherokee Nation … Read more
On July 17, 2013, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled 3 to 2 that the “Baby Veronica” case be remanded to the family court to finalize the adoption. Find the court’s opinion as well as press statements and news coverage at the Turtle Talk website. Read some of the initial responses to the decision below: … Read more
In response to the Supreme Court’s recent decision to hear Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, the New York Times recently featured this discussion of ICWA in its Room for Debate opinion pages. At http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/01/24/adoptive-parents-vs-tribal-rights : Should the adoption of American Indian children receive special consideration, or is it too focused on race? Kevin Noble Maillard, … Read more
The Guide is intended to answer questions and provide a comprehensive resource of information on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The online version at http://www.narf.org/icwa was created as a complement to the print version of the Guide, which was printed by the Native American Rights Fund in 2007. While the topical sections are identical … Read more