Justice Scalia: He upheld the rights of natural parents

Veronica Brown at her father's home, 2013

While the country is reeling politically from the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, I am reminded that in 2013 he upheld the right of natural parents to raise their own children in a much contested case, Adoptive Couple V. Baby Girl. 

The majority decision took the child, Veronica, from the home of her father, Dusten Brown, and returned her to adoptive parents, Matt and Melanie Capobianco, who initially had custody of the girl after a sketchy adoption arranged by the girl's natural mother, Christina Maldonado.  

Veronica was nearly four at the time she was returned to the Capobiancos, and had been living with Brown and his new wife for 18 months, and from all evidence, was thriving. The Capobianco's had the girl for the first two years of her life, but the South Carolina Supreme Court, relying on the Indian Child Welfare Law of 1978, and the dubious way the adoption process had been carried out--designed to trick the father out of his parental rights--reversed the process

Dusten Brown: A father's parting words to his daughter

Veronica with her father, Dusten Brown

Please see this post

Dusten Brown: A Father's final words to his daughter

Baby Veronica: Now the media bias for the Capobiancos begins

Lorraine

I thought there was nothing more to say about the Baby Veronica case but then I happened to come upon Susan Estrich today on Yahoo that totally makes me sick--written as it is from the Capobianco playbook. I'll have to quote a bit here to give you the tenor of this:

"Why should the rights of the tribe trump the rights of the adoptive parents?
"What gives the tribe ownership of a child whose father has given up his parental rights and whose mother has decided that adoption is in her best interests?
"Why should the rights of the tribe force a woman to raise a child she may not be capable of raising — in which case, no one in the tribe could complain — rather than allowing the child to be placed with a loving family?

Reflections on Veronica Brown and being raised in a family different from your own

Veronica Brown yesterday

It was not on television, it was dignified, it was as private as possible, but it happened last night: Dusten Brown gave his daughter Veronica to the adoptive parents who treated her no more than a piece of property they had paid for. Now she was signed, sealed and delivered into the hands of Matt and Melanie Copabianco, and from reports, whisked immediately out of the county. It is likely they will be back home today in South Carolina, a thousand miles away from her father--her real father--in Oklahoma. 

From new reports we learned that Dusten Brown said goodbye to Veronica at Jack Brown House, the tribal headquarters where they have been living in Tahlequah. As Brown and his wife, Robin, watched from a window, a Cherokee County sheriff's deputy and a Cherokee Nation marshal led Veronica to the nearby marshal's building, where the handover occurred about 7:30 p.m.

Baby Veronica: How Dusten Brown could prevail in battle over his daughter

Veronica smiles in a bathroom of the Cherokee Nation Jack Brown Center

 MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World file

Perhaps there is a light at the end of this long tunnel for Dusten Brown and his daughter "Baby Veronica" (who will be four next Sunday) that would allow them to stay together as father and daughter. The legal trial has been so convoluted and involved so many courts that after the Supreme Court ruling in June against Brown, and the swift action of the South Carolina court in favor of the adoptive parents, it was hard to see how he could prevail, but as this case drags on, I'm having a change of heart.

Three factors give me hope:

Baby Veronica: Brown released on bail for second time

Lorraine

Baby Veronica's biological father was released on bail today after appearing in an Oklahoma court room to answer an extradition warrant signed by Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin. Sequoyah County Judge Jeff Payton ordered Dusten Brown released until an extradition hearing on Oct. 3. Brown was released on bail after he was arrested for a second time. 

The ultimate question is, will Dusten Brown go to jail rather than turn over his daughter to people who are now, and will always be, genetic strangers?

Those of us involved in adoption--on either side--are totally caught up in this modern-day tale of a child whom two families are fighting over. The two sides are

Why passions run hot in the Veronica Brown story

Veronica, happy with daddy Dusten Brown

Why does the Veronica Brown case affect us so much? Why does the story of a father trying to keep his daughter--and not let her go to people who want to adopt her--rivet our attention so deeply? Even adoptive parents have turned their attention more than casually to this story.

For first mothers, the answer is: Because we are reminded of how it felt to relinquish our own children. 

For adoptees: Because at some level we understand what is lost when we were removed from our own families and given to another.

For adoptive parents, the answer must be as personal: those who feel that the girl belongs with

Dusten Brown continues to fight for his daughter; the Capobiancos dig in deeper

 

Veronica and her father, Dusten Brown

Oh, pity the poor Capobiancos. Practically weeping on camera how they want "their daughter," to "come home." The girl is question is Veronica Brown, otherwise known as Baby Veronica in the media.

Then Chris Cuomo on CNN is arguing the "legal rights" in this case this morning, and how it has been settled--thus, the father of Baby Veronica (now Toddler Veronica, as she will be four next month), Dusten Brown ought to just get with the program, and turn over his child to the would-be adopters. He nods to the another member of the New Morning show, Michele Pereira, whose family "has embraced" adoption. (How, I do not know.)

A relationship with my daughter goes awry. Reason unknown.

Jane and Lorraine, 1983

Just when everything is going swimmingly for a couple of years there, the tide shifts and the life raft of our relationship breaks apart again on the rocky shoals of Jane’s divided loyalties. 

She and I speak frequently, send each other presents, and appear to have found a comfortable plateau in our relationship. Our closeness, even with the disruption of adoption, reminds me of my relationship with my mother after I left home—we talked about once a week, everyday chitchat, and now Jane and I do the same: Here’s a recipe for a canapé we call Memphis cheesies, made with Rice Crispies and cheddar. How’s Bill? He’s now working full time as a post man? Great. What’s Brittney up to? You got a steamer to “steam clean” your house? Whoa! Tony thinks I’m a clean freak, wait til he hears about this. Arthur is going to China to visit his daughter—you do remember she lives there? With Lulu, the girl she adopted from China? I’m painting the deck chairs white. You’re painting your bench yellow? You wanted that recipe for the turkey brine? Half apple juice, half water, cup of brandy, one and a half cups of salt.

Adoptive father John Roberts: Not impartial in the Baby Veronica case

Adoptive father John Roberts

Judges are supposed to be impartial and immune from cronyism but Chief Justice John Roberts seems to have crossed that line in joining the majority in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl. In a five to four decision, the Court gutted the Indian Child Welfare Act, ruling against father Dusten Brown. Brown, who is part Cherokee, lives in Oklahoma, and sought to stop the adoption of his daughter Veronica by Matt and Melanie Capobianco in South Carolina.

The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in Brown's favor and Veronica, went to live with her father. In June, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Brown and for the adoptive parents, the little girl--now almost four--had been living with her father for the past 18 months. Since the Supreme Court held the ICWA gave Brown no right to oppose the adoption, the South Carolina court approved Capobianco's petition to adopt Veronica and ordered that Brown transfer custody to them. Brown has applied for a stay from the Supreme Court. The justice who has jurisdiction in that case? Roberts, who oversees emergency petitions for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes South Carolina.

Adoptive parent shares thoughts on having returned a girl to her mother

NEW COMMENTS FROM JAY, BELOW ON 7/23/13

Received tonight as a comment at the last Baby Veronica post, but it is too worthwhile to leave as a comment alone:

A tree after Storm Sandy; the link not broken to the trunk

Jay Iyer said...Thanks for this comprehensive, sad post. I am writing as an adoptive parent of a boy who was taken from an abusive family and placed in foster care. I also write as a foster parent who helped reunify a little girl with her mother. These experiences helped shift my vision from an adoptive path focused on securing for myself a long-desired child to one of recognizing the importance, to a child, of an upbringing integrated with biological identity. I feel that adoption should occur only when all avenues for placement within a child’s biological family are exhausted. Much as I adore my son, I felt a profound loss on his behalf when no safe “forever” home was found among members of his first family.

'Baby Veronica' adoption will go forward

Dusten Brown and his daughter, Veronica. The Washington Post
Getty Images 

For Later Posts: 

Dusten Brown continues to fight for his daughter; the Capobiancos dig in deeper

Adoptive father John Roberts: Not impartial in the Baby Veronica case

Baby Veronica, now nearly four, will be taken from her natural father and returned to the couple who want to adopt her, Matt and Melinda Copabionco of South Carolina, following a 3-2 decision today by the South Carolina Supreme Court. Her natural mother, according to her attorney, is "over the moon."

This comes only weeks after a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that held that Dusten Brown, and his daughter, Veronica—both citizens of the Cherokee Nation—were essentially not protected under the Indian Child Welfare Act. After that ruling, Brown  attempted to adopt his own daughter in Oklahoma, where he has been living with her for the last 18

Supreme Court rules against Indian father, limits Indian Child Welfare Act

Veronica at her father's home

 UPDATED BELOW

Showing a clear disdain for the rights of biological parents--and a preference for the legal rights of adoptive parents--the Supreme Court today voted 5-4 in favor of granting custody of a three-year-old girl with Native American blood to the non-Indian couple who had adopted her, Matt and Melanie Capobianco of South Carolina. Now the case will head back to South Carolina family courts, which will determine where she will live and who will raise her. The girl, named Veronica, has been living with her biological father, Dusten Brown, in Nowata, Oklahoma, since December of 2011, but spent the first 27 months of her life with the Capobiancos.

The decision in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl* is both bad policy and bad law. The Court, in overturning a decision of the South Carolina Supreme Court, held that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) did not prevent Matt and Melanie Capobianco from adopting Dusten Brown's daughter Veronica, because--although

Returning a child to her father is the right decision

Jane

Finally, a voice of sanity in a contested adoption case. South Carolina law professor Marcia Zug defends the decision of the South Carolina Supreme Court last month to return two-year old Veronica to her father, Dusten Brown, cancelling the adoption to Melanie and Matt Capobianco in a article in Slate.

Zug's August 23 article in Slate, "Two year old 'Baby Veronica' was ripped from the only home's she ever known. The court made the right decision"* is a welcome change from the media blizzard chastising the South Carolina Court. The popular refrains "ripped from the only family she has ever known and "what about the best interests of the child"? repeated endlessly in this and similar cases are simply wrong.