The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in 1978 to prevent state and local welfare offices from separating Indian children from their parents, many without good reason, and placing them in non-Indian homes. On Tuesday, in a case that turns heavily on the facts, the Supreme Court is scheduled to consider whether that law gave a member of the Cherokee Nation the right to revoke an adoption of his biological child. The law properly limits the breaking up of Indian families. But, in this case, the non-Indian biological mother, who was not married to the father, voluntarily placed her baby girl for adoption with a non-Indian couple after the father refused to provide any financial support and expressly renounced his parental rights.Get the Story:
Editorial: A Wrenching Adoption Case (The New York Times 4/16) South Carolina Supreme Court Decision:
Adoptive Couple v. Cherokee Nation (July 26, 2012) Related Stories:
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